Helen, I am taking 600 mg gabapentin 3 times a day. for "idiopathic peripheral neuropathy" Tried taking only 300 at mid day but pain increased so I had to increase the amount back to what the doctor prescribed. That being said my pain specialist (who is in same practice as my neurologist) prescribes tramadol for what I call "breakthrough pain." That's 50 mg but I only take 1/2 tablet 1 to 2 times a day as needed and sometimes not any. I try to soldier through without taking the tramadol but the pain doctor says they would rather I did not do that. I asked the neurologist what I could take to get off tramadol and that's when he prescribed the gabapentin. I had more side effects from the gaba the first week or so (dizziness, fatigue) than I am having now. If I get enough sleep I am better. I frequently go back to bed after my morning dose and I sleep for an hour or so but this is probably because I am not sleeping enough at night. I tend to read in bed and often read too long. Sometimes I nap in the afternoon for an hour or so. You may not have the luxury of such laziness but for me it is part of the price I pay to control my pain. Also, I have been used to drinking as little water as possible because of an overactive bladder. The result of that is that several times I had symptoms that sent me to the ER only to find out I was dehydrated. Now I try harder to drink small amounts more frequently during the day to prevent that. I also recognize the symptoms of dehydration (extreme dizziness, weakness, goofiness) and when I suspect that I am alerted to the fact that I am not drinking enough. Bottom line: get plenty of sleep and drink small amounts frequently to get maybe 6-8 glasses of fluids a day (no caffeine). If you can exercise. Hang in there.

Amen!