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← Return to Gabapentin side effects?
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I have been on low dose Gabapentin 100mg daily since knee replacement in 2012. No problem and it reduced pain. PCP increased dosage to 400mg daily Jan 2023, then 900mg daily March 2023, 2400mg daily July 2023,
August 2023, VIOLENT DIARRHEA, unable to attend Physical Therapy! August 2023 self prescribed reduced Gabapentin to 600mg daily & Walgreens Anti-Diarrheal Loperamide/ Diarrhea stopped. PCP increased dosage to 900mg daily. Two days later Violent Diarrhea returned.
I saw PCP yesterday Sept 12, reduced to 600mg daily. We will see???
Replies to "I have been on low dose Gabapentin 100mg daily since knee replacement in 2012. No problem..."
My doctor at Mayo gave me a schedule how to increase or decrease daily dosage. You will get stomach upset if changing dosage too quickly.
I use roll-on pain relievers after my knee replacement. Like
Icy Hot, Biofreeze, and two more. I do not like taking pain pills.
This way I can use the roll-on when I have pain that is intense, rather than taking pills everyday for possible pain, and maybe never have pain each day.
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I can only imagine how much GI upset you have, and maybe even an imbalance in your flora in your GI tract. Do you feel your PCP is increasing your dosage slow enough over a period of time so that your body has time to adjust to the higher dose of Gabapentin? If so, you may want to try to add Greek yogurt into your daily diet, unless you react negatively to dairy.
I am currently on Gabapentin, 900 mg per day, and was just diagnosed 2 weeks ago with Polymylasia Rheumatica (PMR) which racks your body with pain; been sick for 3 years and the last 14 months I was incapacitated. I am also currently on 60mg of Prednisone which causes horrific GI upset (nausea, reflux, burning, abdominal pain, diarrhea, etc.). I am now in the weaning process, reducing my Prednisone dose by 10 mg per week, until I get down to 20 mg (takes about 4 weeks) and then I have a follow-up appointment with my Rheumatologist.
I mention this, because my GI issues (GERD flare-up) were unbearable after a while. Someone mentioned to me from this wonderful support group, just eat 1 small container of Greek Yogurt (I used Danon Light & Fit Vanilla, love vanilla). I thought that is way too easy of a fix. So I started doing that daily (and will continue until my dose is lowered on the Prednisone). I could not believe how I could feel it working with the very first spoon full I ate (my Omeprazole dosage that was increased to 2 pills a day, 1 in the morning and 1 at night, didn't even touch the issues I had. As I was eating the yogurt I could feel it coating and soothing my entire GI tract as it went from my mouth, through my esophagus. It repaired everything from top to bottom (literally put out the fire). I know everything doesn't work for everybody, but at this point it probably can hurt. Let me know how you make out.