Has Gabapentin helped anyone out there?

Posted by allegheny @allegheny, Jun 19 9:12am

Has Gabapentin helped anyone out there with idiopathic neuropothy ? If so what mg were you taking? Dr wants to up my dosage from 200mg a day to 400 mg a day, not sure I want to do this. So far after 6 months of 200mg I do not feel any different....... Thank You in advance.....

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I took my first dose 100 just last night. I was diagnosed with small fiber neuropathy from taking statin, Rosuvastatin. My symptoms have started getting better since discontinuing the statin 6 wks ago. The neurologist suggest I take a very low dose at night to help me sleep without tingling of my fingers and toes. I must say it worked!

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@janieel

I took my first dose 100 just last night. I was diagnosed with small fiber neuropathy from taking statin, Rosuvastatin. My symptoms have started getting better since discontinuing the statin 6 wks ago. The neurologist suggest I take a very low dose at night to help me sleep without tingling of my fingers and toes. I must say it worked!

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I am hoping that it continues to work for you and you do not have to increase dosage. There are side effects from any drug, my opinion. I am taking Rosuvastatin 20mg, have been for years. My dr. never addressed the fact that my neuropothy could be from the statin. I will bring it up to her next appt. I am not sure what type of neuropothy I have. How do you know that you have small fiber neuropothy? I have not been able to find a good, caring, neurologist who listens and answers questions, so the layman can understand. I will continue the hunt. Thank You

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I take 600 mg, twice a day. BUT, I have only taken it once a day, before I go to bed to keep my legs from hurting.
Hope this helps.

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@allegheny

I am hoping that it continues to work for you and you do not have to increase dosage. There are side effects from any drug, my opinion. I am taking Rosuvastatin 20mg, have been for years. My dr. never addressed the fact that my neuropothy could be from the statin. I will bring it up to her next appt. I am not sure what type of neuropothy I have. How do you know that you have small fiber neuropothy? I have not been able to find a good, caring, neurologist who listens and answers questions, so the layman can understand. I will continue the hunt. Thank You

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My EMG and nerve conduction study came out showing no long fiber neuropathy. The fact that my symptoms of tingling (pins/needles) and numbness are at the furthest areas of my body, fingers and toes, there the nerve fibers are at their smallest makes it small fiber neuropathy. Think of a limb at its thickest…that would be the closer to your spinal column. As the nerves branch out, they become smaller. Hence the smallest at the finger tips and toes.
Definitely tell your doctor about my case, especially if your symptoms started about 2 months after starting the Rosuvastatin 20 mg like it did with me. As it got progressively worse is when I went to seek help and stopped taking the rosuvastatin. That was afterabout 5-6 months of taking it. It’s been 6 weeks since I stopped taking it, and I’d say I’m 50-60% better already!
Wishing you the best of luck!

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I take 900 mg at bedtime. It helps me sleep through the night, good restful sleep. I´ve taken it for about 10 to 12 years, since my first spinal surgery. I decreased the dosage gradually, as an experiment, and found that if I want a good night´s sleep, I do need to take it. I got as low as 200 mg at night but my sleep was erratic and I was a mess for lack of good, consistent, restful sleep. I am now back up to 900 mg at bedtime.

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@janieel

My EMG and nerve conduction study came out showing no long fiber neuropathy. The fact that my symptoms of tingling (pins/needles) and numbness are at the furthest areas of my body, fingers and toes, there the nerve fibers are at their smallest makes it small fiber neuropathy. Think of a limb at its thickest…that would be the closer to your spinal column. As the nerves branch out, they become smaller. Hence the smallest at the finger tips and toes.
Definitely tell your doctor about my case, especially if your symptoms started about 2 months after starting the Rosuvastatin 20 mg like it did with me. As it got progressively worse is when I went to seek help and stopped taking the rosuvastatin. That was afterabout 5-6 months of taking it. It’s been 6 weeks since I stopped taking it, and I’d say I’m 50-60% better already!
Wishing you the best of luck!

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Hi Janieel, thank you for the very informative info.Now, are you not taking any statins? I need to be on a cholesterol lowering drug or else my levels go very high, scary.

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@allegheny

Hi Janieel, thank you for the very informative info.Now, are you not taking any statins? I need to be on a cholesterol lowering drug or else my levels go very high, scary.

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What cholesterol number goes up, your LDL? Don’t worry about your total number, as the total cholesterol factors in your HDL and triglycerides as well with some formula. Your HDL should be at least 40. That’s the good cholesterol that draws the plaque OUT of your system. Mine has always been high(100-140 area) which is a great number. Unfortunately, how’ve, it dies my total number up into a zone that appears petty scary above the 250 range!
My LDL, or bad cholesterol that puts the plaque IN your system, which should be 100 or below, is higher than it should be, like 139. But remember, my good HDL cholesterol is extremely high an a great thing! The higher the better with HDL.
I’m going to try and stay on a healthy diet of foods that lower bad LDL cholesterol and stay away from saturated fats that raise the bad cholesterol.
I used to know the formula for figuring out heart risk using the numbers from total cholesterol, HDL and LDL. I’m going to try and see if I can look it up somewhere.

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@allegheny

Hi Janieel, thank you for the very informative info.Now, are you not taking any statins? I need to be on a cholesterol lowering drug or else my levels go very high, scary.

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Found the formula for heart risk! Try it out and see if you should really be afraid of your cholesterol number. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/cholesterol-ratio-calculator#how-to-calculate

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I took Gapapentin for a couple of years with a lot of success. My pain was pretty severe so I was on a really high dosage. When it stopped working, we switched to Lyrica. Hope you receive the relief I did.

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@allegheny

I am hoping that it continues to work for you and you do not have to increase dosage. There are side effects from any drug, my opinion. I am taking Rosuvastatin 20mg, have been for years. My dr. never addressed the fact that my neuropothy could be from the statin. I will bring it up to her next appt. I am not sure what type of neuropothy I have. How do you know that you have small fiber neuropothy? I have not been able to find a good, caring, neurologist who listens and answers questions, so the layman can understand. I will continue the hunt. Thank You

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Good evening, @allegheny and @janteel. I just noticed your question about small fiber neuropathy. In my experience, a skin biopsy in the ankle area is the best and most accepted way to diagnose small fiber neuropathy. My neurologist also insisted on a brain MR I . Evidently, some older folks like me need to prove that their brain is still working appropriately.

I think that my skin biopsy was sent to a special facility in Texas for the diagnosis. I recall how sad my neurologist's voice was when he relayed the information about the evidence of small fiber neuropathy.

Good luck with the rest of your "hunt". Let me know what you find out and how you decide to control what the biopsy revealed.

May you be safe, protected, and free from inner and outer harm.
Chris

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