Since being "officially" diagnosed with idiopathic peripheral neuropathy a few months ago, I have been taking , what many say, is a very low dose of gabapentin (300mg). It has helped to relieve my burning feet when I sleep and gives me a pretty good uninterrupted night of sleep.
However I know, after reading so many comments, it doesn't work for everyone. As far as side effects, other than being a little more tired in the morning, I haven't noticed any.
As an aside, when my "highly recommended" neurologist diagnosed me he had nothing to recommend to me for the pain. Everything I have learned about my condition is from sites like this and doing my own research that includes information from the United Kingdom's site: http://www.nhs.uk. That is now one of 7 sites that I go to for my information!