Guide to the management of gabapentinoid misuse

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Guide to the management of gabapentinoid misuse
THERAPY FOCUS ■

Guide to the management of
gabapentinoid misuse
GRAHAM PARSONS

In light of the

                                                                                                                       SPL
government’s proposals
to reclassify pregabalin
and gabapentin as Class
C controlled drugs due
to the risk of misuse,
this article examines the
extent of the problem of
gabapentinoid misuse
and its effects, and
provides practical advice
to prescribers on reducing
these harms.

P   regabalin was launched in the UK
    in 2004 while gabapentin was first
authorised in the UK in 1997. Both drugs
were originally licensed for seizure dis­
orders but now have multiple licensed
indications. In England during 2016, over    current (licensed and unlicensed) indica­
12 million prescription items were dis­      tions and the pharmacology of the two
pensed for gabapentinoids as a group.1       drugs, aspects of their misuse potential
The Advisory Council on the Misuse of        and effects of this misuse on the indi­
Drugs (ACMD) reported that pregabalin        vidual. Finally, it provides advice for
prescribing in the UK increased by 350%      prescribers on managing the misuse of
in the five years to 2012 while gabapen­     gabapentinoids and supporting patients
tin prescribing increased by 150% during     who are discontinuing a gabapentinoid.
the same period.2
     There has been growing concern          Licensed uses
about the misuse potential of the gaba­      The gabapentinoids have a wide range
pentinoids as a group and in particular      of licensed uses. Pregabalin and gaba­
pregabalin, as reported in the 2016          pentin are both licensed for neuropathic
ACMD review of this class of drugs.2 This    pain and epilepsy.3,4 Pregabalin also has
concern led to the government launch­        a licence for the treatment of generalised
ing a consultation on the reclassification   anxiety disorder (GAD).3 Pregabalin is
of pregabalin and gabapentin as Class        recommended by NICE as a second-line
C controlled drugs under the Misuse of       pharmacotherapy for GAD if a patient
Drugs Act, which ended on 22 January         cannot tolerate SSRIs or SNRIs.5 NICE
2018.1                                       recommends offering a choice of amitrip­
     This article discusses both drugs but   tyline, duloxetine, gabapentin or pregab­
with a particular emphasis on pregaba­       alin as initial treatment for neuropathic
lin, which presents with a greater misuse    pain (except trigeminal neuralgia).6 Off-
potential than gabapentin. It explores the   label uses for gabapentinoids include

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■ THERAPY FOCUS l Gabapentinoid misuse

       the treatment of migraine, alcohol use
                                                      •P  resenting intoxicated, impaired or dishevelled (especially if this is a change to
       disorders, mania and bipolar disorder.7
                                                         the normal presentation)
           NICE recommends early and regu­
                                                      • Loss of interest in alternative pleasures or activities (the medication becomes
       lar assessments of patients prescribed
                                                         the focus)
       pharmacotherapies for neuropathic
                                                      • Early requests for prescriptions
       pain, including the gabapentinoids. The
                                                      • ‘Lost’ prescriptions
       assessment should include dosage titra­
                                                      • Increasing use of current prescription due to unsanctioned dose increases
       tion, tolerability and adverse effects. 6
                                                      • Concurrent misuse of related illicit drugs
       While markers for potential misuse (see
                                                      • Acquisition of medication from other sources, eg out-of-hours services
       Table 1) may emerge later in treatment,
                                                      • Subjective and objective withdrawals when the patient does not have the medication
       prescribers should always be alert to
                                                      • No interest in the diagnosis (the medication becomes the focus)
       these even at the start of a treatment
                                                      • Failure to keep appointments for further diagnostic tests or refusal to see
       episode so that misuse can be avoided.
                                                         another practitioner for consultation
                                                      • Worsening mental health presentation
       Pharmacology                                   • Aggressive complaining
       Both gabapentin and pregabalin are
                                                      • Reporting unintended psychotropic effects from prescription medication
       structurally similar to the inhibitory neu­
                                                      • Prescription forgery
       rotransmitter gamma-amino­butyric acid
       (GABA) and rapidly cross the blood-brain
                                                     Table 1. Markers for potential misuse of gabapentinoids
       barrier. The gabapentinoids bind to the
       alpha-2-delta subunit of the voltage-de­      bility is reported as 60% for a 300mg          needed to provide a similar psychoactive
       pendent calcium channels in the CNS           capsule.4 Gabapentin is also eliminated        effect. Mixed misuse with antipsychotic
       resulting in a decrease in the excitatory     unchanged through renal excretion with         drugs can also be a problem – as demon­
       neurotransmitters glutamate, noradrena­       an elimination half-life of between five to    strated in a case report describing the
       line, substance P and calcitonin gene-re­     seven hours.4                                  misuse of gabapentin and quetiapine.9
       lated peptide. Both drugs produce                                                            Pregabalin and gabapentin have also
       pharmacological effects that are sim­         Why are gabapentinoids                         been used to enhance the effects of
       ilar in nature to those produced by the       misused?                                       alcohol and other prescribed and non-pre­
       inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA, ie they     Gabapentinoids have been reported to           scribed drugs including methadone.7,8,10
       exhibit GABA-mimetic properties.              produce alcohol/gamma hydroxybutyrate          Animal models also support the hypoth­
            Pregabalin is rapidly absorbed on        (GHB)/benzodiazepine-type effects              esis that the effects of morphine and
       an empty stomach with peak plasma             mixed with euphoria. Rates of euphoria         pregabalin are potentiated when taken
       concentrations occurring within one           have been reported at between 1 and            together.
       hour. It has a high bioavailability (≥90%)    12% but this has been for therapeutic              The onset of action of the gabapenti­
       and a mean elimination half-life of 6.3       doses.8 Other reported actions include         noids ranges from between 10 minutes,
       hours and undergoes almost no metab­          dissociative effects, improved sociability,    ie quick acting, and two hours depend­
       olism with the parent drug being largely      relaxation and sense of calm, and psy­         ing on the route of administration and
       excreted unchanged in the urine. The          chedelic effects.                              both dependent and recreational use
       linear pharmacokinetics of pregabalin              Schifano et al. reported that signifi­    has been reported. Rapid development
       (compared with the non-linear phar­           cant psychotropic effects are associated       and extinction of tolerance to the effects
       macokinetics of gabapentin) allows            with higher doses and “idiosyncratic (ie       of gabapentinoids has also been docu­
       straightforward dosing regimens and a         IV, rectal, intranasal) drug intake modali­    mented.11
       predictable response. Pregabalin also         ties” but the most common route of mis­            The effects associated with pregab­
       has a higher binding efficiency than gaba­    use remains oral.8                             alin at increasing doses, as reported by
       pentin and higher potency (2.5 times               Polydrug misuse remains a signifi­        users, is summarised in Box 1.
       greater than gabapentin). The higher          cant concern with the cohort of service
       potency, quicker absorption and greater       users that may misuse gabapentinoids           Evidence for and prevalence of
       availability of pregabalin vs gabapentin      and has been implicated in the recent          gabapentinoid misuse
       makes pregabalin more attractive as a         rise in drug-related deaths for the gaba­      There is now a rich source of anecdotal
       drug of misuse                                pentinoids. A recent review in the jour­       reports that support significant misuse of
            The absorption of gabapentin follow­     nal Addiction suggests that pregabalin         gabapentinoids both in the UK and inter­
       ing oral administration is less rapid than    is used to enhance the effects of heroin       nationally, such as the user reports on
       pregabalin. Peak plasma concentrations        but for some people it may also be used        the Erowid website.12 Following the intro­
       are observed within two to three hours        to help support the reduction in use of        duction of pregabalin to the UK in 2004,
       with oral bioavailability decreasing with     heroin.7 This synergistic effect can also      the Medicines and Healthcare products
       increasing dose. Absolute bioavaila­          be used to reduce the amount of heroin         Regulatory Agency (MHRA) received its

       26 ❚ Prescriber April 2018                                                                                              prescriber.co.uk
Gabapentinoid misuse       l THERAPY FOCUS ■

                                                                                             which increased to 15–22% within “opi­
 According to pregabalin (mis)users, different doses are associated with a vast
                                                                                             oid abuse samples”.18
 range of effects:
                                                                                             Drug-related deaths and
 600mg: stumbling, disorientation, increased physical and psychological
                                                                                             gabapentinoid misuse
 awareness, difficulty driving, slurred and broken speech, hearing and visual
                                                                                             The CNS depressant effects of the gaba­
 alterations/hallucinations, double and blurred vision, uninhibited behaviours,
                                                                                             pentinoids and opioids (drowsiness,
 talkativeness, increased body energy, increased sexual performance
                                                                                             respiratory depression and respiratory
                                                                                             failure) are a significant risk and have
 900mg: strong feelings of drunkenness, difficulty walking, alteration of colour
                                                                                             been implicated in drug-related deaths.
 perception, little euphoria
                                                                                             Deaths where gabapentinoids were men­
                                                                                             tioned on death certificates in England
 1200mg: drowsiness, euphoria, entactogenic (empathetic) feelings, ie similar to
                                                                                             and Wales have increased from less than
 Ecstasy
                                                                                             one a year before 2009 to 137 deaths in
                                                                                             2015.7 In 79% of these deaths, opioids
 >1500mg (to 5g): uncontrollable drowsiness, frequent hallucinations, great
                                                                                             were also mentioned. This increase in
 euphoria, frequent dissociative events (described as dextromethorphan/DXM-like
                                                                                             drug-related deaths was also shown to
 dissociative effects), behavioural inhibition, anxiety, and necessity to move
                                                                                             correlate highly with prescribing data, ie
                                                                                             increased prescribing of gabapentinoids
Box 1. Online user accounts of pregabalin effects, according to dose8
                                                                                             (see Figure 1).
first report of withdrawal symptoms in          of patients with a history of drug or sub­       In summary, we have the “perfect
2005. Following this, the first report of       stance abuse.3,4                             storm” of the summation of CNS effects
drug use disorder was reported in 2006              International reports from Finland,      through polydrug misuse, an increase in
and drug dependence in 2009.13                  Germany and the USA suggest a global         prescription numbers, and drug effects
     Evidence from UK secure settings           problem with gabapentinoid misuse. In        that cannot be reversed with an antidote
suggests significant use of gabapenti­          Finland, a study of toxicology reports of    (although naloxone will support the rever­
noids. Prescribing of gabapentin and            drug-related deaths between 2010 and         sal of the opioid element of a drug over­
pregabalin occurs in 2.8% of the prison         2011 suggest a “substantial increase”        dose), which all contribute to the risk of
population, which is twice the rate found       in drug-related deaths involving pregab­     drug-related death.
in the general population. Category A           alin and opioids, with opioids present in
prisons having the highest rates and 47%        90% of deaths involving gabapentinoids.      How can patients be supported
of prisoners in this cohort are also pre­       The study also reported a seven times        to discontinue gabapentinoids
scribed opioid substitution treatments          greater incidence of pregabalin misuse in    safely?
(OST).14 The ACMD has also noted that           drug-related deaths compared with gaba­      Although there is insufficient evidence to
the prescribing of the gabapentinoids           pentin.7 In Germany, pregabalin misuse       support practitioners in helping patients
in secure environments often does not           has been reported to the German med­         discontinue gabapentinoids, there are
meet “best practice guidelines”.2 The           ical regulatory body with an increasing      some practical guidelines that provide
Pain Management Formulary for Prisons           frequency since 2008, while the USA          a framework for the development of an
classifies the gabapentinoids as drugs          placed pregabalin under the Controlled       appropriate recovery plan. Harm reduc­
for “limited use” and aims to challenge         Substances Act in 2005, citing that mis­     tion also remains an important compo­
current practice and introduce a frame­         use may lead to “limited physical depend­    nent of the advice practitioners should
work around the management of pain in           ence or psychological dependence”.2          provide to patients.
secure settings.15                                  The prevalence of gabapentinoid              Discontinuation symptoms of gaba­
     The DrugScope 2014 street survey           misuse has been assessed in two sys­         pentinoids are varied and will be depend­
highlighted the problem of misuse quot­         tematic reviews. An international sys­       ent on the dose consumed and the route
ing “significant use… chiefly among             tematic review of 59 studies indicates       of administration. Table 2 summarises
Britain’s opiate-using and prison popu­         a gabapentinoid abuse prevalence of          these symptoms for both gabapentin
lation”.16 The effects of gabapentinoids        1.6% in the general population. This         and pregabalin for patients reducing
are described within the report as “hor­        prevalence increased to 3–68% among          from therapeutic doses, as outlined in
rendous and life threatening” with one          opioid abusers. Risk factors for misuse      the summaries of product characteris­
drug worker reporting the prevalence of         were identified as a history of substance    tics. The manufacturer of pregabalin has
use in one homeless hostel at 70% of            abuse (particularly opioids) and psychi­     noted that the severity of symptoms and
residents.16 The manufacturers of both          atric co-morbidities.17 Another system­      their incidence “may be dose-related”3
drugs have also warned prescribers of           atic review looking at gabapentin only       and prescribers should take this into
the risk of abuse and dependence, high­         reported a 1.1% prevalence of gabap­         account when managing a pharmacologi­
lighting the need for a careful evaluation      entin misuse in the general population,      cal withdrawal episode.

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■ THERAPY FOCUS l Gabapentinoid misuse

                                                                                                                                        • Tight chest
                                      120                                                                   160                         • Sweating with alternate chills
                                                     Gabapentinoid prescriptions (100,000s)                                             • Inability to think or concentrate properly
                                                     Deaths mentioning pregabalin                           140                         • “No energy”.
                                      100
        Pregabalin and gabapentin
        prescriptions per 100,000

                                                     or gabapentin
                                                                                                            120

                                                                                                                  Drug-related deaths
                                                     Deaths mentioning gabapentinoids                                                   Both service users describe their with­
                                          80
                                                     and opioids                                            100                         drawals from therapeutic doses of pre­
                                                                                                                                        gabalin (450mg and 600mg respectively)
                                          60                                                                80                          as “hellish”.12
                                                                                                            60                               The summaries of product character­
                                          40                                                                                            istics suggest that both pregabalin and
                                                                                                            40                          gabapentin should be discontinued over
                                          20                                                                                            at least one week. However, this is pri­
                                                                                                            20                          marily to minimise the risk of increased
                                          0                                                                 0                           seizure frequency where they are being
                                               2004 2005 2006 20072008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015                               used for patients with a seizure disorder.
                                                                         Year                                                           Public Health England (PHE) recommends
                                                                                                                                        a more gradual reduction to reduce with­
                                                                                                                                        drawal symptoms. 14 Considering the
                                      5
                                                                                                                                        link between dose and symptoms sug­
                                                                                                                                        gested by the manufacturers, a collabo­
                                      4                                                                                                 rative and more conservative approach
               Log number of deaths

                                                                                                                                        seems a pragmatic response. Patients
                                                                                                                                        on supratherapeutic doses of gaba­
                                      3
                                                                                                                                        pentinoids should have a reduction plan
                                                                                                                                        discussed that allows for an illicit reduc­
                                      2                                                                                                 tion in the community. If the prescriber
                                                                                                                                        decides to prescribe above the maximum
                                                                                                                                        dose in the summary of product charac­
                                      1                                                                                                 teristics, this should be for a short period
                                                                                                                                        of time with an aim to reduce the patient
                                      0                                                                                                 to below the licensed maximum dose
                                                                                                                                        in a short period of time and within the
                                           0            20         40            60         80              100                         guidance provided by PHE. The maximum
                                                        Gabapentinoid prescriptions (per 100,000)                                       reduction rates suggested for the gaba­
                                                                                                                                        pentinoids within the PHE guidelines are:
                                                                                                                                        • 50mg to 100mg a week for pregabalin
       Figure 1. Gabapentinoid drug-related deaths and correlation with increase in gabapentinoid
                                                                                                                                        and
       prescribing in England and Wales7
                                                                                                                                        • 300mg every four days for gabapentin.
            A more varied presentation of with­                              with akathesia, catatonia and seizures.19
       drawal symptoms has been reported in                                  Where gabapentin was reintroduced the                      There is insufficient evidence to suggest
       the medical literature for both gabapentin                            withdrawal symptoms resolved.                              what adjuvant medication could be used
       and pregabalin. A review of gabapentin                                     A case study from Grosshans et al.                    to support patients, so no recommenda­
       misuse case studies by Mersfelder et                                  presents the withdrawal symptomology                       tions can made. Nevertheless, a reduc­
       al. reported withdrawal symptoms begin­                               associated with pregabalin at supra­                       tion in the pharmacological agent used
       ning between 12 hours and seven days                                  therapeutic doses. The authors report                      to manage the primary indication should
       after cessation of use with the majority                              the case of a 47-year-old male consum­                     necessitate a review. For example, the
       of cases occurring between 24 and 48                                  ing the equivalent of 7500mg pregabalin                    treatment of GAD may necessitate a
       hours. Agitation was reported in more                                 daily. On reduction, the patient experi­                   transition to an SSRI. This should also
       than half of the cases with confusion and                             enced sweating, unrest, arterial hyperten­                 include a review of the psychosocial inter­
       disorientation reported in 45% of cases.                              sion, tremor and craving for pregabalin.20                 ventions both to support the patient in
       Other common symptoms included                                        Two reports on withdrawals from pregaba­                   managing the withdrawal from the gaba­
       diaphoresis (36%), non-specified GI                                   lin from the user website Erowid describe                  pentinoid and to support the patient in
       symptoms (23%), tremor, tachycardia,                                  the following:                                             managing the presentation of the primary
       hypertension (each 18%) and insomnia                                  • Insomnia, anxiety and depression                         indication. This may include, for example,
       (14%). Individual cases also presented                                • Suicidal ideation                                        engagement with cognitive behavioural

       28 ❚ Prescriber April 2018                                                                                                                                   prescriber.co.uk
Gabapentinoid misuse      l THERAPY FOCUS ■

 Pregabalin symptoms                          Gabapentin symptoms                             advice on the management of this ser­
                                                                                              vice user group.
 Insomnia                                     Insomnia                                        • Improve your knowledge as a prescriber
 Headache                                     Pains                                           to ensure you can provide appropriate
 Nausea and dizziness                         Nausea                                          advice and treatment when needed. This
 Anxiety, nervousness, depression             Anxiety                                         article and the associated references
 Diarrhoea                                    Sweating                                        should help to support your learning.
 Flu syndrome, pain and hyperhidrosis         Convulsions
 Convulsions                                                                                  Summary
                                                                                              Pregabalin and gabapentin remain impor­
Table 2. Discontinuation symptoms for pregabalin and gabapentin withdrawal, as outlined       tant evidence-based treatments for a
in the summaries of product characteristics                                                   number of conditions. However, emerg­
therapy services for supporting patients      • If a gabapentinoid is used for neuro­         ing evidence suggests that prescribers
in the management of their GAD.               pathic pain, review at eight weeks follow­      should adopt a cautious approach to
                                              ing initiation and discontinue (gradually)      the assessment and management of
Practical advice for prescribers              if ineffective.                                 patients who are prescribed gabapen­
To prevent the emergence of problems          • Misuse of any psychoactive medication         tinoids. Both misuse and dependence
and to support patients in reducing harm      is often linked to either a mental health       have been reported with gabapentinoids,
associated with the misuse of gaba­           co-morbidity and/or inadequate man­             and they have been widely implicated in a
pentinoids, some practical steps can be       agement of the primary physical health          number of drug-related deaths.
employed. These practical advice tips         presentation. Ensure this is reviewed and           Prescribers should make a balanced
have been brought together from a vari­       managed appropriately especially if the         judgement on prescribing gabapentinoids
ety of sources. An excellent document         gabapentinoid is removed from the phar­         based on a robust assessment process,
supported by the Northern Ireland Public      macotherapies available.                        especially when prescribing to patients
Health Agency – Pregabalin: Guidance          • Harm reduction advice for illicit users       who may be at risk of misusing the medi­
for People Working with Pregabalin            should include advice to take the medica­       cations. Patients should be provided with
Users – is available, 21 which provides       tion orally and avoid injecting, and to fol­    information about the benefits and risks
more comprehensive advice, especially         low the adage of “start low and go slow”.       of taking gabapentinoids and should be
around harm reduction, for patients mis­      The dangers of polydrug use, including          supported if they want to undertake a
using pregabalin.                             the increased risk of drug-related death,       detoxification programme. Harm reduc­
• Ensure a robust assessment process is       should also be discussed.                       tion interventions remain an important
undertaken and careful consideration is       • Ensure naloxone (Prenoxad injection)          approach to this complex phenomenon.
given before prescribing gabapentinoids       is issued to service users who also use
to patients with a history of substance       opioids (and provide advice on its use          References
misuse or those who have recently been        as well as basic harm reduction advice).        1. Home Office. Pregabalin and gabapentin:
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       30 ❚ Prescriber April 2018                                                                                                                 prescriber.co.uk
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