Gabapentin side effects?

Has she tried amitriptyline? Headache med. Anti depressant and neuropothy drug. Helps me.

Geesh Chris - You have a LOT to deal with!!!

I was on Nortriptyline almost 3 decades ago, and I remember the horrible constipation 🙁 I may not have to go that route, but if I do hopefully I will be on a low enough dosage that it won't be as much of a problem. Although I suffered from depression and anxiety for most of my life, it has been a non-issue since I met my husband (about 13 years ago). I feel incredibly blessed at this point of my life, and I'm quite desperate to protect that peaceful way of being. BTW - I don't remember having any issues taping from the Nortriptyline - although I do remember the horrific brain zaps when tapering off Effexor..

Wishing you the very best of luck with your tapering goals!

@wsh66 - What dosage are you on? And have you had to increase the dosage over time?

@georgiey1 - We should all be so lucky to be loved like you love your wife <3 Hopefully you can get some information on things that may help her experience less pain.

Thanks @iceblue. I appreciate your validation of everyone's "Oh No". And your BTW......my other taping issue was pain every time I jumped down a level. We're not going there tonight. Be safe and protected.

25 mgs. At bedtime. I started at 12.5, then went to 25. I stopped taking it to make sure it was helping with a very specific pain caused by a combination of neuropathy and heavy duty compression of my left leg and foot. It was very helpful so i decided to try 50mgs. Too much. I went down to 37.5 but still too much. Larger doses made me too sleepy even though I took it at night. This was pain that Lyrica did nothing for. I tried dropping each of my meds, one at a time to make sure I really needed them. Amitriptyline is a winner for me. Doesn't hurt that is an antidepressant either. I also like it because it's a sleep aid and my compression can be quite uncomfortable at night and it helps me sleep through. I have lymphedema on my left side because I had 21 lymph nodes removed during cancer surgery.

Eating things like prunes and dried apricots and really increasing your water intake can help with constipation. So can stool softeners and vegetable laxatives. Amitriptyline never affected me that way. Don't give up hope oh, there is a solution. I deal with depression too that's one of the things I liked about amitriptyline. Picking psychotropic meds can be a real crapshoot but it doesn't have to be. Check out Gene Sight Testing. That's a company name. You go to their website and put in your zip code and it will give you the names and addresses of doctors in your area who are registered to administer the test. It cost the doctor nothing to register and only takes about 15 minutes on the phone. The way they do it is to send you a swab kit and you swab the inside of your cheek and you mail it off to them. What you get is a very long involved report which analyzes which meds your body can metabolize and which meds you will metabolize poorly. It also tells you if there are specific meds that you will need larger doses because you don't metabolize them well or you need smaller doses because you metabolize them too well. Their test covers drugs for psychotropic meds pain meds and mood stabilizers like antidepressants. I found out that I was taking just the rate narcotics but I've been taking the wrong antidepressant for a number of years and switch to the one the test predicted would work and got great results. Some doctors don't want to have a gene test telling them what they should prescribe but doctors like that are way behind the times. Maybe they're so busy they can't take the 15 minutes to register but your doctor doesn't have to be the one who gets you the test. You get a copy of the report and you can show your doctor the page that tells them what drug they should try first rather than having you go from one drug to another looking for the right drug for depression. Even worse is what people with serious mental illness like schizophrenia and other psychosis go through trying to find the right Med that works for them. It takes weeks to months to get a drug started hey, weeks to months to taper off and if it doesn't work and then you start the whole process over again. This test doesn't guarantee that a certain drug will work for you but it does guarantee your body will be able to properly digest the drug which is way more than half the battle. This test is the most hopeful thing that is coming along in ages. Mayo Clinic is now offering their own version probably for a lot more money than Gene Sight is but Gene Sight is the original

Good luck

I take 600mgs of Gabapentin daily and have never had that happen...however, I do have times where I feel as though my body is going into some kinda of jerking movement after I take it and relax at night.

I'm glad you have no side effects that's cause you to stop this drug, but my question is does it help with your pain? I tried it twice already and it just doesn't fly for me as I can't leave the house once I am on it.

I take it and it makes a significant difference in my pain level. It does more for me than morphine, oxycodone or MS Contin (and tons of other meds). I hate when people make statements like “it does nothing for pain”. Because while it may not work for THEM in helping with their pain- it may work different for a different patient. It has helped me a lot and makes a HUGE difference in my pain level. I’ve taken it for years and can’t see not taking it.