Is ‘Nervive Nerve Relief’ Safe With Gabapentin And Lyrica?

In our latest question and answer, the pharmacist discusses whether or not Nervive is safe to use with either gabapentin or Lyrica.

Question

I have had problems with nerve pain for years. I saw a commercial for Nervive and wanted to know if that was safe to take with what I already take for pain (gabapentin). I have some Lyrica too.

Asked by Sanj On Oct 24, 2022

Answered by
Medical Content Reviewed By HelloPharmacist Staff

Published Oct 24, 2022
Last updated Mar 29, 2024

Key points

  • There is no known interaction between Nervive and gabapentin or Lyrica.
  • Preliminary studies show that the combined use of alpha-lipoic acid (contained in Nervive) and gabapentin may be helpful in the treatment of nerve-related pain.

Answer

There are no known interactions between the ingredients in Nervive and gabapentin or Lyrica. They are considered safe to use together.

It is important to point out that Nervive is a dietary supplement, which generally have few studies evaluating potential drug interactions. Nevertheless, the ingredients in Nervive have not been shown to have clinically relevant interactions with gabapentin (or Lyrica), which I discuss more in the next section.

What Is In Nervive?

As mentioned, Nervive is a dietary supplement and is marketed to help support the relief of nerve-type pain. It contains several ingredients:

  • Alpha-Lipoic Acid
  • Turmeric
  • Ginger

All of these ingredients have some evidence for benefit for certain types of pain conditions, but it is the alpha-lipoic acid that has the most studies for nerve-type pain specifically.

Alpha-lipoic acid is an antioxidant that is naturally produced in the body, and also very often consumed as part of our diet.

While more studies are needed, preliminary ones have found it may be useful for painful nerve conditions, like diabetic neuropathy. It may help reduce associated symptoms, such as burning, pain, numbness, and prickling of the feet and legs. One such study concluded the following:

These preliminary findings indicate that oral treatment with 600 mg of TA t.i.d. [600mg alpha-lipoic acid three times daily] for 3 weeks may improve symptoms and deficits resulting from polyneuropathy in Type 2 diabetic patients, without causing significant adverse reactions.
Diabet Med . 1999 Dec;16(12):1040-3.

Nervive With Gabapentin or Lyrica

As mentioned, none of the ingredients Nervive are known to interact with Lyrica or gabapentin, two commonly prescribed medications used for neuropathic pain.

In fact, there are several published studies that have found the combination of gabapentin and alpha-lipoic acid can be effective for neuropathic pain:

The best response was obtained with the combination of ALA + GABA [alpha-lipoic acid and gabapentin}, with a 70% of the cases with reduced burning in this group and a 13.2 times greater chance of presenting positive changes for these patients than those taking placebo. The combined use of drugs that act at different levels of the nociceptive system can be useful for the treatment of this syndrome.
Med Oral Patol Oral Cir Bucal . 2011 Aug 1;16(5):e635-40

Now, this doesn't mean that Nervive is safe with all drugs. Even though Nervive contains only a small amount of turmeric (curcumin), that is a natural supplement that does have potentially serious interactions with some prescription medications (such as warfarin and aspirin).

Always be sure to check with your doctor or pharmacist before combining an over-the-counter product with your prescription medication.

Final Words

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References

  • Treatment of symptomatic diabetic peripheral neuropathy with the anti-oxidant alpha-lipoic acid. A 3-week multicentre randomized controlled trial (ALADIN Study), PubMed
  • Effects of 3-week oral treatment with the antioxidant thioctic acid (alpha-lipoic acid) in symptomatic diabetic polyneuropathy, PubMed
  • The sensory symptoms of diabetic polyneuropathy are improved with alpha-lipoic acid: the SYDNEY trial, PubMed
  • Combination of alpha lipoic acid and gabapentin, its efficacy in the treatment of Burning Mouth Syndrome: a randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled trial, PubMed
  • Switching from pathogenetic treatment with alpha-lipoic acid to gabapentin and other analgesics in painful diabetic neuropathy: a real-world study in outpatients, PubMed
  • Alpha lipoic acid: a new treatment for neuropathic pain in patients with diabetes?, PubMed

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