Gabapentin Use Increasing Along With Abuse Concerns: Report

Researchers indicate some states’ expanded prescribing authority may be leading to an increase in gabapentin prescriptions from nurse practitioners and physician assistants.

Amid growing concerns over potential gabapentin abuse, new research suggests that prescriptions for the medication have climbed by nearly 200% in the past 15 years.

Gabapentin is a prescription anticonvulsant most often used to manage partial seizures and nerve-related pain. However, doctors also prescribe it “off-label” for conditions such as anxiety, alcohol withdrawal and menopausal hot flashes, due to its sedative properties.

In more recent years, health officials have raised concerns about widespread misuse of gabapentin, with some calling for it to be reclassified as a controlled substance, while other reports indicate that individuals often take the drug to enhance the effects of opioids or to experience a high on its own. Officials warn that these patterns of abuse increase the risk of dependence, overdose, respiratory depression and even death.

Additional research published last month states that a global rise in the amount of pain prescriptions related to the drug has corresponded with increases in reports of gabapentin misuse and dependence, potentially mirroring the current opioid crisis.

Adding to the concerns raised by these findings, a report published in the Annals of Internal Medicine on September 30 indicates that the number of individuals prescribed gabapentin nearly tripled between 2010 and 2024.

In the report, researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reviewed prescription records from 2010 through 2024, using the IQVIA National Prescription Audit and Total Patient Tracker databases, analyzing both overall prescribing patterns for gabapentin and the number of individual patients who received the drug during that period.

The team, led by Andrea E. Strahan, PhD, found that gabapentin use rose sharply over the past decade, with prescription rates climbing from 79.5 per 1,000 people in 2010 to 177.6 per 1,000 in 2024. During the same period, the number of patients receiving the drug grew from 18.9 per 1,000 to 46.9 per 1,000. Prescription rates doubled between 2010 and 2016, then continued to rise at a slower pace through 2024.

According to the findings, much of the increase came from nurse practitioners and physician assistants, a trend researchers suggested may be tied to expanded prescribing authority in some states. However, those conclusions require further review.

Strahan’s team did not examine prescriptions that came from outside retail pharmacies, such as hospitals, long-term care facilities or mail-order pharmacies, yet they caution that all prescribers, including physicians and advanced practice providers, should remain vigilant about potential side effects and risks linked to gabapentin.

Known side effects of gabapentin use include drowsiness, dizziness, blurry vision, and difficulty with coordination and concentration. The FDA also warned about serious breathing problems linked to the medication in 2019, which may occur especially in gabapentin patients with other respiratory risk factors, including taking opioids or other drugs that affect the nervous system.

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