Hi all and thanks for reading this. I have suffered with back pain for many years but what i thought was standard aches and pains. I have quite an arched back and am quite tall, working a desk job, so put it down to this. At the start of this year, things changed and i started to get shooting pains in my leg leg. To cut a long story short i was diagnosed with sciatica. I have been to physio, seen a private chiropractor and also another specialist physio who referred me for an MRI. Up until then, i had only been prescribed standard painkillers which did nothing. The specialist recommended Gabapentin to the GP and i have been on them since Tuesday. Just one 300mg capsule has made me feel quite spaced out and about 90 mins later when trying to speak with clients on the phone at my work, i lost my train of thought and struggled. I am worried about the long term effects and given that i am still in pain, i feel like i don't know what to do for the best? Do i stick with them, it's obviously very early days? Should the pain be gone? Range of movememt is no better. I'm strong willed but this is really starting to get to me. Any info / advice is appreciated and welcomed.
Regards to all, Craig.
Yes, stick with them Craig. I have been on them for over 1 year, it will make you a bit spaced out to begin with but eventually you should feel the benefit. You have to build up very slowly to eventually take a much higher dose. If necessary get yourself signed off work until you feel the benefit.
I've also been for an MRI, had physio and also acupuncture which didn't help at all. Hope this helps you.
Hi Craig
I have just been put on Gabapentin 600 gm`s aday and I am now eighty years of age. At first I thought that I could not take these as they made me so spaced out and really confused. I would suggest that you stay with them and eventually you will get used to them. (Well at least they have not stopped me driving). They are very good for nerve pain and I could not get any sleep without them.
So stay with them Craig, nerve pain is a very sad place to be.
Thank you for your reply. I mistakenly took two the first day...and boy did I know it! I've taken one a day since and will stick with it. It's hard as I feel like I burden friends and family, it's a constant pain. Having an outlet such as this helps. Thanks again
Hello and thank you for your reply. It's comforting to not feel alone and I will continue to stick with the medication and post here. Your words have helped, best wishes to you.
If you only take one per day, try taking it in the evening instead of the morning.
Update: after checking things over with the GP today he has recommended that i actually increase the dose and do so every few days, at least to the point whereby i'm taking them morning, noon, then night. I am apprehensive of this but will try and suggested. Does anyone have any thoughts on this?
Hi there. I have tried this and still seem to be groggy. I am hoping as i get more used to them, the negative effects will start to reduce. It seems to be a case of side effects or pain and i have to pick!
Hi Craig,
I remember when I was first offered Gabapentin that it sounded far too high a dose. I started on 1 x 300mg capsule three times a day, gradually increasing it. Eventually I went up to 3 capsules x three times a day but found I was too sleepy and have now (slowly) cut back to taking 1 x 300mg capsule at breakfast, lunch and dinner followed by 3 last thing at night (together with paracetamol and codiene several times a day) this, I find, gives me 4/5 hours of solid sleep each night which does seem to make the remaining hours more bearable.
I know how severe pain can make you feel but, believe me, once your system gets used to it, gabapentin really does help make life more bearable.
I hope this helps you in your quest.
Hi Jayive. Thank you for your reply, it is very informative and useful. I'm going to increase from tomorrow and see how it goes...I feel more encouraged now. How long have you taken it for, can I ask? Thank you
I can't quite remember but it is over 1 year now and has not done me any harm so don't worry about it.
I have has a history of herniated discs, had lumbar surgery 12 yers ago, with success. in April 2013, my back symptome prior to surgery returned. My MRI did not show severe herniation as my MRI did when I had lumbar surgery. Have been using Gaberpentin, prescribed by an pain doc, and have has good results. Although recently, my nerve pain has returned from buttocks area to left foot. I have been a lifelong swimmer, and what ever I am doing to agrevate the nerves has continued, unless I stop swimming. Have had side effects of some dizziness, that seems to be all. Plan to increase usage, because the last time I saw the pain doc, he said the goal is to get up to 1600 milligrams a day. Sure sounds like a lot. Has anybody else increased their dosage and had sucess with managing the nerve pain?....Thanx, Will
Hi William
3600mg is generally the max therapeutic dose; so 1600mg is not that high.
Many people on gabapentin comment that the dose often has to be increased over time to maintain effectiveness.
thanx plushly, I plan to see the pain doc again, or at least and call for advice on increasing dosage. It is a result of a work comp injury, and am considering asking for anotjher MRI to see if further deteriation has occured since last MRI, Feb.this year
Hi Plushy
I take gabapentin and have found that my weight has increased dramatically I'm now trying to cut down to see if I can lose the weight again, but with less gabapentin I find it more difficult to control my pain - its a win some lose some I guess.
Hi Jayive
With any drug you have to weight the benefits vs the side effects and pick the lesser of two evils.
Yes the weight gain can be a problem. I am currently on Lyrica and have been astounded at how quickly I put on weight. I cut the dose in half, but have still put on 12kg in 3 months. I must add though when I went of Lyrica for a short stint and went back onto gabapentin and cymbalta, I lost 6kg in 2 weeks. So I guess a lot of the weight gained is fluid retention.
The extra weight is starting to have negative side effects on my health; loss of energy, reduced strength, sleep apnea (for which I require CPAP now). Prior to the weight gain I rarely even snored.
I've read a lot of people seem to have success with Topamax for neuro pain (off label) and apparently people generally lose weight with it if anything. I will look into this with my doctor to see if it is a viable alternative.
Hi all. The replies in the thread are very insightful and certainly help those feelings of aloneness and helplessness. I am today starting 4 x 300mg per day and must say the change from when i first started them to now is considerable. I am still getting side effects, i do feel cognitive function is impaired but generally speaking things are improving. I revisited the GP yesterday to discuss the dosage increase and she suggested increasing as previously advised, to a maximum of 6 x 300mg per day. She also stated to re-introduce paracetamol 4 x daily and ibuprofen 3 x daily. I will try this from tomorrow. When i asked what sort of pain reduction i should expect, she said 50% was seen as a successful reduction. At the moment i would say it's 30% but certainly there is help from the Gabapentin. I suppose i worry about long lasting impact and hope when i stop the meds, i return to the previous me! i.e. being switched on fully and "on the ball".
Wishing everyone well
Craig
Hi Craig. I have a herniated disc which mri confirmed.
GP thought it was just sciatica but another dr.said there's always an underlying reason for the nerve pain. She was right.
I am on 100mg 3 times a day and do feel a tad strange but able to function ok in the office. I take gabapentin 6am. 2pm. 10pm with ibuprophen every 4 hrs & cocodamol in between.
Gabapentin makes my mouth tingly like when you have an anasthetic. It is strange.
Trying to drink lots of fluid to protect my kidneys!
It is helping with the pain but not 100%.
Maybe the dose is too high?@ 300mg?
I find if every hour I walk away from the desk it helps walk for about 5-10 mins and up n down stairs gently is good too. Seems to help get the pain down to manageable level again. Hope you get on OK.
Take care.
Hi Margeret
If anything the dose is too low; therapeutic dose for Gabapentin is up to 3600mg per day.
I also found it was difficult to focus with Gabapentin. It was ok when I started on it as I was on vacation, but when I got back to work it seemed to impact my performance too much. I changed to Lyrica (Pregabalin) which does not seem to have as much of an impact on cognitive function (though a possible side effect is listed as dementia), but it seems to make you gain a lot more weight.
OMG. I think I will stick with my current plan. I would like to lose w8. Not gain and as for the dementia.......sorry...what was I talking about?
All joking aside..dementia is very hard for both the patient and their family. I know I cared for my mother. It is a very cruel disease indeed.
Wishing everyone all the best.
Keep blogging..at least we have the support of each other, that alone is very helpful to me. Thank you all. Take care.