Gabapentin side effects?

My husband also had an intrathecal pain medicine delivery pump implanted, with morphine as the medicine of choice. That also failed to give him relief from his cancer pain. We were told how helpful it would be, with lower side effects from less medicine and maximum benefit. Nothing worked. The surgery to implant the pump left him even worse off and he never really recovered from what was an outpatient procedure. His last two months following the pain pump surgery were not worth living. It was as bad of an outcome as could have been scripted. I am deeply regretful of the entire experience, and we went to two of the country's top experts in his form of cancer.

In reply to @veteranshouseinpain

With any drug that isn't life or death, I like to every so often, taper off the drug until I'm sure that it is actually doing what it is supposed to do. That is how I ended up realizing that Lyrica, (Pregabalin), was doing me no good. This is more important than ever now that we are in the age of, "no new drugs, just new names", as one of my doctors likes to put it. We pay extremely high prices for drugs in the U.S. New versions come out and cost 10 times what the old ones cost. We need to keep in mind the new version has to only be a tiny bit better than the old version to claim it's a major break through. Also now that they want no one getting narcotics no matter how dire your situation is, we will be offered any form of snake oil they can dole out to assuage their conscience form the guilt of doing nothing at all and being unwilling to stand up for what they no is right. When ever a doctor wants to give me a different or new drug, the first thing I ask is, "was this drug designed and tested for treating exactly what I have or was this drug intended to treat something else and this is an 'off label', use of the drug". You see, once a drug is tested for one thing, if it has been proven to be safe or at least the side effects are known, a doctor can try that drug for any reason they wish. Neurontin and Lyrica are both proven safe and effective for helping to control seizures. There primary purpose was never as a pain med. Because they helped to stabilize one kind of brain malfunction some doctors thought they might help control neuropathy, which is a very specific kind of nerve pain that can have many, many different origins. Anecdotally, it would seem that some folks get relief from that pain with the use of these drugs. Reading through this thread I think it is obvious that very few people find relief from pain from taking it and many people have serious aside effects from it's use. My own experience with this drug was that it was worthless despite the fact that Lyrica is very expensive. It also has a unique pricing structure where by you don't pay based on how much you take, you pay based on the fact that you do take it, i.e. a prescription for 50 mgs. per day would cost me the same amount as a prescription for 1200 mgs. per day.

When you ask yourself how badly is the pharmaceutical industry willing to treat it customers remember that a vial of insulin, which is manufactured under a patent that it's inventor sold for $1.00 so he could be sure everyone could get it as it is a life saving drug, costs $6.00 to manufacture and in the U.S. it sells for $600.00 dollars. The industry has no research or development costs to recoup, which is what they always use to explain high drug costs. In addition, most research into new drugs is funded by the U.S. taxpayers.

It will be interesting to see what happens to the production figures for opiods no that almost no one can get them. But alas, we will never know one way or the other since our government has made it illegal for the Drug Enforcement Agency from investigating the manufacturers of opioids.

I am appalled that he was given those drugs for cancer pain. I was given Lyrica for the tingling in my feet caused by large doses of chemo. I was in a very compromised situation when this happened, not thinking clearly and definitely experiencing "chemo brain". Lyrica is really expensive and they know damn well it doesn't do much for pain. Lyrica is no better than gabapentin but costs much more. What is really insidious about the scam is that if you take 25 mgs. per day and I take 1200 mgs. per day, which was my actual dose,m we both pay the same price. There is no relationship between how much you use and what you pay. You pay for the privilege of using the drug. Lyrica was instrumental in inspiring the now common term among honest Doctors and Pharmacists, "There are no new drugs, just new names. The thing with pain is that it can really vary in intensity from day to day based on your activity, your mood and the amount of stress you are experiencing due to Medical personnel treating you like a drug addict. It's one thing to pull this smoke and mirrors game on someone with a bad back but to do it to someone with cancer is absolutely unconscionable. Most things like off label uses for drugs that don't work for pain, CBD oil, stretching, meditation, back braces and all forms of electrical stimulation are mostly snake oil and lies that at best will trigger a placebo effect, which can be very helpful but there are better, more effective and cheaper ways to use the placebo effect to improve your health. I am treated for chronic and persistent pain resulting from cancer by one of this countries most respected authorities on pain treatment and deep brain stimulation. According to him, implanted stimulation works for some people with back pain, the rest of it is a bunch of b.s. I saw him yesterday to have my intrathecal pain pump refilled. A little ritual we repeat every 12 weeks. I get the miniscule dose of 3.5 mgs. per day of hydromorphone. It has the effect of about 1000 mgs. taken orally. It has the side effects of 3.5 mgs. or no side effects at all. No sleepiness, no constipation and certainly doesn't get me high. The patient is beyond the suspicion of half assed doctors and nurses who think anyone on pain meds is a drug abuser. That's the best part right there. The availability of these pumps is increasing and just about all insurance and medicare pay for them. I don't think the availability will continue to increase as the number of Medical students pursuing the field of pain management is dropping. When the truth is known about the opioid crisis it will be revealed that the manufacturers were selling these drugs out the back door to organized crime and that well meaning doctors were not the cause. That's what we learned about Quaaludes in the 1970's. If you don't use opioids to get high, you don't experience the euphoria they can create and you do not get addicted. Truth, Love and Blessings

Thanks for making this known re: real chronic pain patients are the one’s who have been left to suffer needlessly by the opioid drug crisis. Opioids have been on the market for decades and have worked very well to control pain for those who do not have an addictive personality. The “crisis” arose when many of the MD’s themselves started popping an opioid so they could still stand at an operating table to crank patients “needing” bank surgeries, shoulder pain, knee and hip replacements and even dentists were rx’ing it for simple extraction procedures and giving pts scripts for 50 or 100 tabs! Mom left hers in the medicine cabinet and kids began taking them like candy because their friends told them they’d get a nice high. If you don’t have 7 plus scale pain or you have an addictive personality, you will get high....no REAL PAIN.....no opioids. The phara companies lied to their reps who lied to their physicians so they would Rx it in greater quantities and at the end of the day, big pharma made billions of dollars, doc’s were told the drugs were safe and could easily be titrated up to keep their patients pain free and patients could go about their lives, working, playing sports, working out, doing carpentry, waxing the hardwood floors, biking with the grandchildren and living a fairly normal life despite chronic painful surgeries, accidents that would have made them disabled otherwise. Once the pharma folks began reining money out of their ears and their stock prices went thru the roof, not only did the cartels begin illegally selling, but unscrupulous doc’s set up pain “shops” all over the country and the “customer” would go down to the famous drug docs and pay big time cash to them for scripts under the table and unscrupulous pharmacists, with stores next to the drug doctors place set up shop next door. No one seemed to care much about “the druggies” that we’re the result of this $$$$ crime UNTIL the affluent realized their kids had become addicts and started stealing from the folks to get their fix and parents started screaming at their Congressional leaders to “do something to save our kids, cash donations poured into their representatives campaign accounts......well you know how it all went down the tubes for people who were suffering with ligit pain that no more surgery could fix. Yes, even hospitals and surgeons are afraid of giving a monthly script for their
Chronic pain suffering patients. The docs who know and regularly follow these patients have come up with a good idea to continue their patient’s prescriptions and allow honest patients to live a Fairly normal life despite their pain. The patient, hospital, pharmacists and honest pain mgmt doc,s have a legally binding agreement that is signed by all every three months to take only as prescribed and keep their quarterly doctors appointments to continue treatment. Most pain management physicians even run unannounced drug screening tests on their patients which protects both parties. But it is abhorrent that the corporations, physicians, parents, schools, etc did not stop this behavior from the beginning. The old saying “where are your kids and what are they doing tonight?” Ad campaigns of the 60’s and 70’s needs revitalization!

So true wish66. Thanks. Smoke some good marijuana that will help with a lot of things with no side effects. Take care

<p>My Dr prescribed Gabapentin 300mg caps last Friday. I took one at bedtime & woke up at 3:30a.m. in horrible pain. Has anyone else experenced anything like this?</p>

<p>My Dr prescribed Gabapentin 300mg caps last Friday. I took one at bedtime & woke up at 3:30a.m. in horrible pain. Has anyone else experenced anything like this?</p>

I still find Tylenol to be very useful and Amitriptyline helps with my nerve pain caused by the combination of neuropathy and needed compression, both the result of cancer treatment and surgery. That is also an off label use for Amitriptyline but it is used because it is also an antidepressant and a sleep aid and many pain patients need both.

I was prescribed 300mg Gabapentin three times a day, and it did absolutely nothing for my sever chronic pain. The only thing that’s helped is opioids, and low dosages of morphine (long term tabs along with short term tabs). In today’s Anti-opioid political environment those that requires pain killers can’t get these medications prescribed as a result of those whom abused them and, or doctors whom over-prescribed for minor aches and pains.

What makes me think I need them? I’m 100% service connected disabled American Veteran who’s had both hIps TTL replaced, 13 titanium plates and screws inserted into my jaw / skull, both shoulders rebuilt, osteoarthritis in cervical spine and L4/L5, left knee requires replacement, and both Sciatica Nerves are compressed.

Good luck.