Can Gabapentin make neuropathy pain worse?

My experiemce with Gabapentin is different than many on this Blog. I fought for a few years using drugs until it was not worth it. I have been on gaba 300 mg 3x and it makes a hige differemce in my idiopathic PN symptoms. So far after a few years no issues other than positive relief from nasty Idiopathic PN.

Hopefully you have a substitute to take. I took Gabapentin without any symptoms but everyone is different. Good luck.

Have you tried Pregabalin ( Lyrica?). It's been great for me. Just a thought.

Dear @lwisely
That med I have the 1500, 3 times a day. Not pain, but anti-sezure (sp?).
Thx
Greg D. @greg1956

I was prescribed it for diabetic neuropathy and I have mild Parkinson's. I take plenty of meds for other problems. The VA takes good care of me and my other doc's elsewhere. I use Insulin, (long and short acting), Jardiance, and Metformin. My A1C is at 6 and well managed. I use pain meds and don't feel guilty, that's what they're for. I'm not a junkie but a pretty old veteran who was in a bad chopper crash 55+ years ago. I never took my 100% disability for personal reasons. So, I'm not a complainer. Early on it was tough adjusting my GI to Metformin but otherwise I've never had crazy side effects from any other drugs in my long life other then Gabapentin! Gabapentin was like arsenic to me. Right after taking it my lower jaw started uncontrollably opening and closing. I'm telling you it was very fast and rough and quite painful. Trust me, I know pain and strange events but I can't say if was an adverse reactions versus a side effect! I don't scare easy either. I've walked next to water moccasins outside where I live and made them way for me. I will never take Gabapentin again! I take over 12 drugs and my give my care teams credit for keeping me alive. But, I'm 100% sure the Gabapentin had that adverse reaction on me. A one off event happening within 30 minutes of taking it in a long life. That's not a fluke event but a warning! I guess I'm older then many posters here but that crazy anomaly could've been my heart. It's a muscle that contracts. I'm not a test patient and Gabapentin is out! There are plenty of bad reviews on it and my neuropathy I can deal with and pain meds for pain. I hardly sleep but that's life. I take pills at 11pm for that and still see 1 and 2am go by. But Gabapentin is DOA.

In December 1993, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted approval for gabapentin, under the brand name Neurontin, for adjunctive therapy of seizures. Subsequently, the FDA approved gabapentin in 2000 for treatment of seizures in children aged 3 years or older and in 2002 for treatment of postherpetic neuralgia.

JAMA, updated Cochrane review on the use of gabapentin for neuropathic pain. The authors concluded that gabapentin is associated with reduction in acute pain associated with postherpetic neuralgia and peripheral diabetic neuropathy (the later indication is not approved by the FDA), and that there is no evidence to support the use of gabapentin for other types of neuropathic pain and pain disorders.

@kinggypo
did you contact your physician and/or pharmacist regarding what happened?
If so, what did they have to say?
Take care,
Jake

Perioperative Gabapentin Linked to Harms for Older Adults
Anita Slomski
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JAMA
Published Online: November 1, 2022
For older adults, the use of gabapentin to manage pain after major surgery can lead to adverse events in the hospital.

Perioperative gabapentin has increasingly been added to analgesia regimens to reduce opioid use among surgical patients. But studies in JAMA Internal Medicine casts doubt on the drug’s benefit for people aged 65 years or older.

J: Yes, I told my internist who prescribed it and the head pharmacist at the hospital that fills my scripts. I'm very close to the pharmacist and was told that Gabapentin is off-label use for me. I have no idea why I was prescribed it other then a lame reason for neuropathy. I usually get scripts, because I inquire about it and do my due diligence/homework. Surprisingly, there's very little positive feedback on it. It's highly unusual for me to have adverse reactions to prescribed drugs. This happened within 1 hour and that never happened in my long life over a RX. I once was given adenosine for a chemical stress test and it caused a heart attack that almost killed me. I didn't need a chemical stress test and was capable of doing a standard physical stress test at that time. I tried to find if the cardiologist ordered the chemical stress test or the physicians assistant/nurse practitioner took it upon himself. The doctor played dumb and I refuse to see him because he's a hack. I went to college with a great guy, who went on to become a cardiologist. He's in Houston at Baylor but I'm not flying in to see him. In the 70s I worked at NASA (JSC) and it was great seeing him and other ultimate professionals. My 'kid' brother is a pediatric craniofacial plastic surgeon at the medical center there and teaches. He hasn't charged a fee in decades, so he donates his time and gets hospitals to pitch-in too. No ACA or Medicaid expansion in TX. I seriously considered seeing an attorney over that stress test. I heard many horror stories from many other men immediately after adenosine, or regadenoson, was administered. I didn't feel like Gabapentin might kill me, I was just blown away how it immediately adversely affected me. I'm not going to be an avenger over it like that over chemical stress tests with adenosine, or regadenoson! I was immediately rushed into ER and a "code blue" declared. I wouldn't take Gabapentin on a bet. It's been around a long time and now being pushed on patients. I've seen that on numerous meds over the years. I've told doctors certain drugs are going to get black box labeled from the FDA. My Internist said about my research is because being retired I have time to read and he's a working stiff. Which to me was BS because I did it in the Army flying choppers. I had my life and others to consider! Gabapentin was like me taking strychnine, a Victorian era medicine widely used. Maybe I need leeches or bloodletting? Just too much time on my hands before I die!