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.
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.
Oct 24, 2022- Nervive contains no ingredients known to interact with gabapentin or Lyrica and is considered safe to use with these medications. The alpha-lipoic acid in Nervive has been studied alongside gabapentin and shown to be effective for nerve pain when used together. Always check with your pharmacist or doctor before combining any over-the-counter product with prescription medications.
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 has 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.
Nervive With Gabapentin or Lyrica
As mentioned, none of the ingredients in 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.
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 & sources
- 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
Glossary — Terms in This Answer
- Dietary supplement
- A product containing vitamins, minerals, herbs, or other ingredients intended to support health but not approved as a drug by the FDA.
- Drug interactions
- Changes in how medications work when taken together, which can reduce effectiveness or increase side effects.
- Antioxidant
- A substance that helps protect cells from damage caused by harmful molecules called free radicals.
- Diabetic neuropathy
- Nerve damage that develops as a complication of diabetes, often causing pain or numbness in the feet and legs.
- Polyneuropathy
- Disease affecting multiple nerves throughout the body, typically causing weakness or numbness in the extremities.
- Neuropathic pain
- Pain caused by damage to or dysfunction of nerves rather than injury to tissues.
- Nociceptive system
- The body's network of nerves and pathways that detect and transmit pain signals.
- Curcumin
- The active compound found in turmeric that gives it its yellow color and health-related properties.
Dr. Brian Staiger, PharmD
Doctor of Pharmacy, board certified clinical pharmacist (BCPS), American Herbalist Guild, Medication Therapy Management certified
Brian Staiger, PharmD, BCPS, is a licensed pharmacist with more than 13 years of experience across retail pharmacy, clinical pharmacy, medication safety, pharmacy program development, and healthcare administration. He is the founder of HelloPharmacist.com, where he helps patients...
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