Can Gabapentin make neuropathy pain worse?

From my experience oh God yes!! I was taking 2400 a day. Seemed the higher it got the pain would intensify. The pain was so bad I could barley walk. I am not a doctor but get off of it. There are other medications that can help. I just found so far it only takes the edge off. If only there were a cure.

Gabapentin makes your feet swell. If your neuropathy is in your feet. Amazon Topricin helps compression socks help more

I agree if only there was a cure I would never take that high of a dose of 2400 mg a day that can definitely have side effects I find that taking two 300 mg at night is the best thing to calms my feet from the burning and tingling it helps me to sleep through the night I also take a very low dose of Cymbalta/ Duloxetine of 30 mg in the morning my doctor says the two work good together I have been doing this for several years it does not take everything away but it sure does help get a good night's sleep

6 years Been on 400 mg x 8/ day, it’s the best thing of the 8 meds I’m on, can’t sleep or function without it. That’s just me.
Good luck

@salsa, @cwallen9, @lauraj155, @johnbishop, @lisalucier This is a great discussion on Neurontin/gabapentin. It makes me realize that all of us have unique medication challenges and different reactions which must make it difficult for our medical providers to help us choose our treatments and medications wisely. The one thing they need is good feedback. Not only are we our own advocates, but we also have a responsibility to take notes and then inform our medical team accurately so they can modify dosages and medications based upon how our bodies responded. I remember my first few days on gabapentin. I was pretty fuzzy. My neurologist changed the time for taking the gabapentin to an evening dosage to ensure a restful sleep because I was consistently awakened by the zaps or electric shocks throughout my body almost daily at 5:30 a.m.

My body, within a few weeks, settled down and responded to that dosage and time with the eradication of the zaps and unfortunately, an introduction of the burning across the abdomen and chest. And so I requested the addition of one more 300 mg of gabapentin at bedtime. So far so good.....I am sleeping right through my hurdle of 5:30 a.m. I would never have gotten to this point based on my first experience with gabapentin.

I am now thinking that my providers have gotten it right. Introduce a medication "gently" as in starting with the minimum dosage.. Give my body time to adjust to the new medication. That may be 2 or 3 weeks. Or at least that has been my experience with everything including my MM program. After giving my feedback, the dosage and time may be adjusted as necessary by my provider. I think what I am advocating is to find providers who introduce medications gently, evaluating reactions which just might include symptom relief over a certain time and then adjust, eliminate or increase with attention to side effect management. It might also be the case that a new medication has been introduced which might be more beneficial and so a replacement plan is delineated.

In the case of medical marijuana for pain control, I have been my own provider and have had to evaluate, modify, enhance, increase, decrease, as my condition changed and the available products increased amazingly. Good luck on your journey, just don't try to take a short cut or give up on an option too soon. And please be free of suffering today. Chris

After reading the experiences, I now understand why the doctor probably thinks I am hopeless because I reject the drugs for my problems. If I can't stay awake enough to get out of bed, I quit the pills and don't try to stay on them. living alone means I must take care of myself and I can't do that if I am not awake. I can't stay on drugs that drug me for weeks waiting for me to get used to them. I don't intend to check into a nursing home so I can lay in an expensive place half asleep waiting for problems to improve. No, no, that is not the answer. I was diagnosed with trigeminal neuropathy, and prescribed 12 months of gabapentin after one painful attack. The pain went away and I have only had a couple of attacks in the past several years which I control with hand pressure on my face. The doctor never checked to see how I was getting along, and I have not mentioned it to him since. I have no problems with the face now, but have no idea why I am getting along well. I do have neuropathy in my left foot and take nothing for it nor do I mention it to my primary doctor.
The neurologist I saw said to take a wait and see attitude about the future. I eat carefully and exercise some, but not enough. My numbness never lasts very long, and is mostly at night or early in the morning. I wear socks to bed which seems to help. I have an uncharted future, I know, and take it one day at a time. I only took two gabapentin pills with that first encounter. I intend to be a tough old lady in the end rather than try to live half awake and unfed, unclean, and on drugs. Let me know when the docs learn how to successfully treat some of these neuropathies. I had back surgery and I can walk and bend over with a cage in my back. That's it for now. Dorisena

Hi, @kimchi19 - I have taken gabapentin personally, for postherpetic neuralgia after shingles, and I had no ill effects and it helped control the pain and itching. You might check out this Mayo Clinic list of side effects for gabapentin https://www.mayoclinic.org/drugs-supplements/gabapentin-oral-route/side-effects/drg-20064011

I take gabapentin for rthritis in my foot. If you are feeling very tired try drinking more water it might help.