Can Gabapentin make neuropathy pain worse?

Blurred vision, shortness of breath, anxiety etc are serious side effects. Anyone experiencing these should consult with a physician and not depend on medical advice from social media. I was on this medication for months and my symptoms only got worse along with my pain, pain which has subsided since I quit taking this medication for a pinched nerve.

@mccamankk
I don’t claim to be an expert on anti-convulsant or any other types of medication, however I have taken them for over 50 years and have been on many of them. I have talked to thousands of people who have taken all sorts of seizure meds gabapentin included. Many people I have talked to If they have any side effects they are usually mild (usually but not always.) I’m not saying yours aren't serious. You may indeed be be a more rare case but generally cases requiring medical intervention are the rare exceptions. Admittedly not everyone processes medication the same. I took Neurontin the brand of gabapentin at the maximum dose which was at the time 3,600mg. Also my brother takes 3,600mg and neither one of us of ever had side effects from it. I once knew someone who took 7,000mg a day and although I don’t remember if he had side effects I doubt he would continue the medication if they were in fact serious.The fact is gabapentin actually has fewer side effects than many of the other seizure medications. However I am not saying that there aren’t people out there who do in fact get the more rare and more serious side effects. Just trying to say they are not common. I had no problem whatsoever discontinuing, there is a lady on this forum who had a horrible time discontinuing it. She said it was the worst drug ever tried to stop. I don’t buy the way get my information from social media. I hope you were able to decrease your dose or discontinue this medication without medical intervention and I wish you the best of luck.
Best of luck,
Jake

Got it, thank you and all the best!

I take 3600 mg of Gabapentin each day, but also take Mg supplement. This is the first I heard of Mg cancelling effect of the drug.
Is there a report on this in the literature?

Hello terrydclaar and @hotfooted, I am Sunnyflower. I hope you are going much better than tolerable today. I haven't been around too much lately and have missed tons of messages so please forgive if this is a repeat. I take Gabapentin as well but only recently am up to 900mg daily, 3-100mg. caps, three times a day. I have been on Gaba for about a year and a half. I have MANY of the unwanted side-effects and hate this drug, however, it helps me tolerate my pain. I MUST take magnesium b/c of the brutal muscle tetany I experience way too often for years. I don't have them in the arch of my foot nor my calves like most people rather on the tops of my feet, around my ankles, inner thighs, hamstrings and quads and then hands/fingers. I had it for 12 hours the other day. So many meds, homeostasis is off. I have increased my magnesium to 400mg, three times per day, last dose at bedtime. I read on Mayo Clinic that it's only Magnesium OXYBATE that can have an interaction with Gabapentin. I still can't sleep well and wonder if it's the Gaba??? I wish you all a blessed Christmas and a safe happy New Year. Many blessings, Sunnyflower

Hi Terry, I take 400mg. magnesium and gabapentin 1xday 300mg. for 3 years and have never experienced any less effectiveness of gabapentin. Helen

what is the name of the cream ? I would really like to try it.... I try biofreeze for feet you can olnly get at walmart and its good stuff.

CBD Salve, full spectrum in addition to Gabapentin.

Hi John, I have a rare vascular disease (fibromuscular dysplasia), and have wondered if the FMD has been a contributing factor in my progressing nerve pain. What started in my feet and hands is now all over. In fact, when I climb the stairs, not only do my legs hurt, but my diaphragm burns. There is a condition called vasculitic neuropathy that I’m wondering has any connection with FMD. Doctors say all our pain has nothing to do with FMD, but it makes no sense that we all have the same pain, and we keep getting brushed off. It’s infuriating and we suffer in silence.

Right now, I’m taking 5 different anti-seizure medications on top of 1200 mg of neurontin, as well as 5-325 norco. It’s way too much, a stab in the dark/not targeted therapy. . . And not helping. I had 5 cerebral aneurysm, and had 2 brain surgeries to clip 3 of them. I now have trigeminal neuralgia, my neurologist thinks the surgical scar is causing that, I disagree. I started feeling that pain immediately after my surgery, because I had to stop taking my oxcarbamazapine for my surgery, so I noticed the pain. When I started taking my meds again, it went away but it’s not working anymore. My doctor has increased the dosage so hopefully it helps ease the symptoms.

Nerve pain sucks.

Hi @hyeary, Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. Nerve pain does indeed suck. I just wish we could "wish it away". I have no experience with Fibromuscular Dysplasia (FMD) but do think you are asking a good question that hopefully someone can shed some light on or provide an answer. I did find some information that may be helpful.

Fibromuscular Dysplasia of the Lower Extremities: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3595825/

There is an older discussion that has entries from 2019 if you go to the top of the discussion and select "Newest to Oldest" for order of the posts in the discussion.
- Fibromuscular dysplasia (FMD): https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/discussion-fmd/

The following link by @kariulrich in the above discussion has some useful links for FMD organizations around the world and a study from 2016 - Living with FMD Quality of Life Study: Diagnosed and living with fibromuscular dysplasia: A qualitative inquiry
- https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/discussion-fmd/?pg=4#comment-109309

Do you mind sharing how you found Mayo Clinic Connect?