@pfbacon, @jmicoumiller48, @jakedduck1, @johnbishop Good morning....all. It is a very dreary, rainy day so it was time for Connect and I landed on this page where the issue under discussion appears to be the pros and cons of gabapentin. My experience includes the fact that gabapentin was the first medication I was given 5 years ago when my SFN (small fiber neuropathy) was confirmed with the skin punch biopsy. At first, I was taking 300 mg 3 times a day. The early side effects were right out of the textbook. What I didn't realize was that it was really helping with the tingles and needle-like pain in my arms, wrists, and especially my hands.

So..here is what we did. (a shared decision with my neurologist). We modified the daytime doses by adding nortriptyline in the morning and stopping the gabapentin. Pain control during the day was turned over to medical cannabis and the gabapentin was taken at night to diminish the numbness and needle-like pain. How do I know it works? My hands begin to tingle at about 8 pm every night. By 9:30 when I take the gabapentin they are pretty painful and useless. The gabapentin (900 mg) works within 30 minutes and my hands, wrists, and arms calm down by bedtime. I would like to taper off it but hang on because it works. Last year my PCP and I decided to cut the dosage to 900 mg from 1200 mg. That works very well. A little dry mouth and some light-headedness, if I get up during the night, come with the program.

We try and take so many medications. New ones take time for our bodies to adjust to them. Old ones may falter and need to be withdrawn gently and over time.

How would you approach managing your medications?

May you be free of suffering and the causes of suffering.
Chris