Gabapentin side effect, feeling lost in space: How long will it last?

@nschall
Depends on how long it takes you to get used to it but possibly a week or so.
If it were me I’d cut the pill in half for your next dose and continue your tritation more slowly.
Take care,
Jake

After a week or so, I had no pain relief, but it had screwed up my speech. Hopefully yours will kick in by then instead of doing something strange! That said, Ive a medical history of strange and unknown, so dont be put off, my friend finds it very helpful for multiple pain conditions 🙂

Hello @nschall and welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. Starting a new Rx sometimes comes with more immediate side effects, like you are experiencing, as your body adjusts to taking it. Did you doctor mention how long it may take to adjust?

I never got over it. Had to stop it. But partner was good on it for many years with no side effects and high doses. So I guess give it some time.

I was in a severe car accident Jan. 2020. I’ve been on Gabapentin for over 30 months. I can’t be without it. It helps with the the extreme pain I have in my feet that flares up at night. A lot of items or events are described as “thing”- and the word delay is aggravating but I don’t have a choice.

Welcome @tdscott, I can't begin to imagine how hard it is to deal with the extreme pain you must feel at night when it flares up. You mentioned it started with a bad car accident in Jan 2020. Do they think your pain is due to injured or compressed nerves caused by trauma from the accident?

I take 1450 mg of Gabapentin(Neurontin) everyday for a few years now for nerve pain. If I forget to take it within the time prescribed I get nervous feelings. I call them the Hibby Jibby's. I ran out one time and could not get my refill until the next day. 10 hours after not having one I was in excruciating pain. They say the only thing that compares to nerve pain is child birth. I just know that I have a high tolerance of pain but only two types of pain have ever made me cry and that is nerve pain and severe migraine pain. The extended release does not work as well as the regular Gabapentin and starts losing its affect about 4 hours in instead of the 8 hours it is suppose to.

He told me I had to deal with the issues.

I took Gabapentin for several years. It did nothing to help any of my pain, ever.

The withdrawal when you go off needs to be gradual, the detox is really bad, you
can google. It is a horrible and one of the hardest detoxes.

So maybe taking it needs to be gradual, too. I think that is true of many meds.

What a jerk comment that you 'deal with it', from ur doctor. My internist has
me taking 2 aspirin am and pm, and 2 extra strength Tylenol (650mg I get on
Amazon, their brand), and he prescribed some Norco for when it is unbearable.
Not a druggie, don't want to get hooked on Norco, but again, is it really Oxy?

Sadly all the overuse of pain meds has killed it for many of us. I mean just to
take when it is super bad, we should be able to have real pain pills, in my H.O.

Does gabapentin effect ? Does it make you swell? Does it make your blood pressure raise?