Neuropathy: Anyone have any experience with gabapentin?

Posted by sjhedcon @sjhedcon, Mar 21, 2020

I have loss of feeling in my feet and tingling sensation. My doctor prescribed gabapentin. I read the side effects and decided not to take this med.
Anyone have any experience with gabapentin?

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@lk3xs

I took it for shingles then realized it was helping my knee prior TKR. Six months later told my family dr I wanted to stop so I did. OMG! No one said it was addictive and needed to slowly taper off. I got severe migraines and shakes. It took me two months to get off! It was horrible.

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My Neurologist had me on 300 mg. 3 times a day. I cut back to 600 mg. at bedtime to help me sleep. Now I am down to 400 mg. at bedtime and soon will try 300 and keep reducing. SDince it only covers up the symptoms and does not cure NP and I developed vision problems.
Yes, from what I have been reading it does have some serious side effects if you go cold turkey.

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@centre

I was started on 100mg Gabapentin for ferocious pain waking me up at night. My adult kids first noticed and brought to my attention that my breathing had become very “heavy”. I started paying attention and they were right. I’ve never had any lung issues, never a smoker, no second-hand smoke, etc. I dug out the pharmacy brochure and breathing issues are right there in the potential side effects. I went to the Mayo Clinic website and the PN Foundation website and began to follow their recommendations for using your brain to beat back the pain. It took constant attention and determination to make it succeed, but it has. Something that really helped was to remind myself often that I had my two children during the 70’s fad of “natural childbirth”, using the Lamaze breathing and mindfulness techniques successfully during long labor. A doctor told me the techniques were essentially self-hypnosis to divert your brain from the explosion of pain signals traveling up. If you research the current Pain Management Clinics, a big part of their programs is this brain “technique training”.

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I started on gabapentin about 2 years ago, 100mg. 3 times per day then 200 mg. 3 times per day, all the while the Dr. touted it like it was some super drug that just needed time to work. By the time he took me off of it I was up to 800mg. 4 times per day, and every time he asked how I was feeling, it was always the same....no change. It was almost like he was expecting some kind of psychological cure after time I'd finally say it's working. Then he put me on pregabalin which is in the gabapentin family, again nothing, and all that time I was in real live pain.

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@dodgebob

I started on gabapentin about 2 years ago, 100mg. 3 times per day then 200 mg. 3 times per day, all the while the Dr. touted it like it was some super drug that just needed time to work. By the time he took me off of it I was up to 800mg. 4 times per day, and every time he asked how I was feeling, it was always the same....no change. It was almost like he was expecting some kind of psychological cure after time I'd finally say it's working. Then he put me on pregabalin which is in the gabapentin family, again nothing, and all that time I was in real live pain.

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I too was on gabapentin at 2700 mg a day and all it did was make me sleepy. It did not help at all.

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I was finally diagnosed with a spinal infarct, later finding out they are very rare. Less than 1% of strokes are of the spinal cord and I still haven't found a Dr. to treat me. My neuropathy was caused by a spinal cord injury between T9-T10 which took months and the right Dr. to diagnose. Now I just have to find the right Dr. to treat it. There is a device called a spinal cord stimulator, but it has to be approved by insurance. We must have tried 4-5 different medications including Gabapentin and pregabalin, now I'm on opiates and I hate them, but I get temporary relief.

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I have non-diabetic neuropathy. Pain, numbness, and tingling in legs and feet. I take 60 mg/day of Cymbalta. I am taking Gabapentin and experiencing with dosages and timing of them. What is the minimal amount of gabapentin that seems to work for you?

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@mack43

I have non-diabetic neuropathy. Pain, numbness, and tingling in legs and feet. I take 60 mg/day of Cymbalta. I am taking Gabapentin and experiencing with dosages and timing of them. What is the minimal amount of gabapentin that seems to work for you?

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Welcome @mack43, You will notice that we moved your post to an existing discussion on the same topic so that you can read the experiences with gabapentin shared by other members.

-- Neuropathy: Anyone have any experience with gabapentin?:
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/neuropathy-13/
@dodgebob, @issacmrobinson77, @dipperlip1 and others may have some thoughts on timing the dosages of gabapentin.

Has your doctor offered any suggestions based on your symptoms?

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Yes. I have been taking 300 mg. 3 times a day = 900/day. I have upped it to 1200/day by taking 600 at might. It seems to help. I do not want to go much higher on dosage. The pain seems to come in episodes, peaking for a few days, then subsiding a bit. Pain is intense. Numbness all the time.

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@mack43

I have non-diabetic neuropathy. Pain, numbness, and tingling in legs and feet. I take 60 mg/day of Cymbalta. I am taking Gabapentin and experiencing with dosages and timing of them. What is the minimal amount of gabapentin that seems to work for you?

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I worked my way up to high
doses, with minimal relief, and had memory issues with Cymbalta. The only one of those type meds that help me is Lyrica. For the burning, I use a balm of carrier oils, several Essential Oils, and beeswax. This balm helps greatly with burning feeling— for many years it eliminated burning completely and immediately.

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@johnbishop

Welcome @mack43, You will notice that we moved your post to an existing discussion on the same topic so that you can read the experiences with gabapentin shared by other members.

-- Neuropathy: Anyone have any experience with gabapentin?:
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/neuropathy-13/
@dodgebob, @issacmrobinson77, @dipperlip1 and others may have some thoughts on timing the dosages of gabapentin.

Has your doctor offered any suggestions based on your symptoms?

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It’s hard for 1 person to tell another how much gabepentin will work for their neuropathy pain.
Trial and error seems to be the way it goes. Start low and increase if needed. Remember, in many people, this drug takes a few weeks to kick in. Good luck.

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@dckuke

I worked my way up to high
doses, with minimal relief, and had memory issues with Cymbalta. The only one of those type meds that help me is Lyrica. For the burning, I use a balm of carrier oils, several Essential Oils, and beeswax. This balm helps greatly with burning feeling— for many years it eliminated burning completely and immediately.

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Could you share your recipe for your balm?
TY

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