Gabapentin dosing

I would love to be able to come to a major medical center like Mayo. The task seems so daunting. How to get there from Dover, DE, how much time to schedule to be away from home(I’m retired), where to stay, whom do I contact, etc.
I am hacienda trial of Boston Scientific WaveRider SCSin about two weeks. It’s kind of my seemingly last resort. I have become so discouraged by doctors giving me ten or fifteen minutes before sending me on my way with no answers.
Are you associated with Mayo or know the process? I am gratefufor your response. Have a blessed weekend.
@heisenberg34

We’re any of them being treated for neuropathy?

Thank you to everybody for your replies. You are appreciated . And for the information about what you've tried.

My story started about three weeks after I had I an immeciate eaction to a flu vaccine. It was with about 2 minutes and start to an anaphylactic reaction which was treated in the doctors office as I was still sitting from having had it . . 2 weeks later I simply fell flat on my face ....on my bed fortunately. I could not move and figured I had had a stroke. 5 days in hospital being treated less than optimally ,I came home not walking properly, wanting to fall and being very dizzy. Short story...a wonderful physiotherapist decided that whilst I did have some ear crystals, which she cleared for me, I needed more assessment than the doc was offering. I had endess tests and was informed I had no balance on one side. At that time I started to get sore feet. Eventually sent to a neurologist and had more tests and Dx with neuropathy.
Was sent to one of out better docs at another hospital who did more tests.....balance...yes gone, BP unstable, temperature control lost (heat affects me badly) and neuropathy most definately confirmed with the info that it would progress. I started on Gaba which was of good use but as the years have rolled on I need more and more and like others find normal walking around or trying to shop effectively impossible.
My life is of limited interest which is not what it used to be
I have had to resort to Valium at night to help sleep and added Tramadol.
My hands are so sore !!
I have done several pain management courses, seen two pain mgt docs who were simply unimaginably unprofessional and useless. They wanted to do the spinal implants but the other side effect of all this is an intolerance of many drugs and especially local. i do have it for injections into my back but it is then a huge mess with BP medications and monster headaches ....and a major increase in pain for several days (another weird side effect of all this )

THEN....I had some shock wave therapy to my feet due to plantar fascitis when I used to walk endless endless miles because I could and then with busy, busy beautiful dogs 🙂 . After a couple of weeks people started to tell me what I thought was true.....i was walking better and some days I would forget to take my Gaba til after lunch. !!!! I improved and was sleeping better and not waking for another round of meds at 4-5 am. I was estatic and wrote to my neuro to tell her

Then i had a covid shot. All the others had had no effect on my neuropathy. This one which had the added new virus strand protection added gave me an immediate tiny tinynegative feeling. feeling that something was not OK, That has now, after 5 weeks, cemented in massive increase of pain like no other. I am seeing my GP tomorrow re up dosing the Tramol and will updose the Gaba.
I have arthritis in all my bones and a terrible load of pain in my back from initially a work related injury 40 years ago....and then 40 years of nursing . I get steroids in several lower lumbar levels and that helps but not the neuropathy pain. I have seen assorted good back surgeons who have said to have surgery only if nothing else helps. The steroids do... so i am not having surgery . I will not be able to have an implant into my spine as i am simply not prepared to put up with the issues around the local anaesthetic involved ...even tho I now have a great doc who does this and whom I trust

That is about it...I am in Australia .I would love to cycle 🙂 ....but with loss of all balance on one side I am not game to do it . I cannot do the hard floors of so many places so i online shop in the main . Carpet is not so bad, I wear booties to bed at night and that helps my feet and stops them rubbing on the bottom sheet.
I think that the disease is way underestimated and not at all understood enough in terms of its destruction of what was once an extremly active life for me.....and you guys too. Some nights I just want to cry and scream with pain but my brain tells me it will do nothing so I dont and I go and get another downloaded book from the library to my tabket. Fill up with pills and go to bed and wait for them to work for a few hours. When i wake at say 4 am I listen to our beautiful native birds the Kookaburras as they sing and then the Cockatoos screaming at the lightening of the sky. It is very peaceful then once I get my Tramol again in and working and I think the peace I then feel is from the CBD oil (no THC) which is taken for assorted things but sleep and anxiety. I am not anxious but it is interesting how I have found some peace awake and reading and listening to the birds

So ends my story.....sorry it is so long. I have some more replies to read and I thank you all for your responses to me. All I can say about Gaba in the negative is.....I put on a lot of weight with it but when I take it....it sure helps. Half and hour to kick in. Love it but nothing helps my fingers

i once worked in LA of 10 months and then went to Canada. I nearly returned to work in Dallas but a parent was dying so had to come home...and here i have stayed. 🙂

900 did not do much for me. I am taking 600 mg 3 times a day. That is definitely helping, though not as much in my spine. It did help a lot with the deep pain in my feet and the burning on my calves. My hands have less tingling and burning too. I read reports from the NIH that said most people with neuropathy are often under medicated. 1800 sounded like a lot to me until I read that dose is more effective for many with peripheral neuropathy. Some people need even more.

Thank you for this information. A friend of mine was upset with me that I went up to 900mg total as directed by my neurologist and it still does not seem like enough. ‘Do you have a lot of side effects at that dosage?

I would find a new medication. I was prescribed Gabapentin 3 x a day and was in a fog all day. I almost got into an accident so I stopped. I was prescribed it for lymphedema in leg. When two of my doctors saw I had been taking it 3 x a day, they said they only prescribe it to help with sleep issues and I should not have been prescribed it for daytime use. The doctor who prescribed it was my primary care and had made errors in judgement about medications before and it was brought to my attention by the pharmacist. I left her and got a new PCP.

I went right from 900 to 1800, so there were side effects for a few weeks. During that first week, I also got my first bout of covid, so I had a lot of weird symptoms. I am not noticing many side effects now. The side effects for me at first was some tiredness, dry mouth, and a shaky hand. I have no tiredness now, the dry mouth has lessened, and the shaky hand comes and goes, but that is part of my PN and inflammatory arthritis perhaps. I think going slower on increase is a good idea, but I was in a lot of pain.

That's interesting.

Gabapentin dose range is huge, like 100-3600 mg a day, depending on how it’s tolerated. It’s always best to start out low and see how you respond. It can be gradually increased as needed and sometimes the side effects of drowsiness get better with time. It’s also common to take a lower dose during the day so you can function better and higher dose at bedtime to help you sleep. Common to be on 3-4 times a day for sustained pain control. Your doctor should be helping you figure this out so you aren’t chasing the pain with mini dose additions all day. A regular dose schedule should work better. Good luck and I hope it works well for you!

my legs swell badly when I take gaba. is there anything I can do?