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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Gabapentin didn’t work for me. I had side effects. Felt dopey the next day. So I stopped and my doctor prescribed baclofen which is a muscle nerves relaxer. I take 10 mg in am and 20 mg at night. Helps me get a deeper sleep and wake refreshed. No side effects or feeling drugged. I’d say gabapentin works for some and not others. Just like any drug or remedy. Hope you find something that will help you!! Keep trying!!

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@intlguyct

I tried all of the above meds unsuccessfully, made me feel loopy. Just started Venlafaxine and very good results thus far. Night pain is gone, able to walk much better, so far doing well with half dose (37.5 MG) - supposed to double the dose after 14 days but I may stay at current dose until needed. Not a fan of chemicals but this drug is a nice reprieve. Time will tell!

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I take it all back…I took a reduced dose of Venlafaxine (37.5 mg) successfully for five days, it immediately stopped night pain and moderated foot numbness and pains. Enjoyed the relief but it didn’t last.

Unfortunately, on the sixth day the weird, space feeling began, much like my reaction to Gabapentin and Pregablin before. Been off the med two days now and now feel the stability returning.
Dr. says he has another med to try - Stay tuned.

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Gabapentin didn’t do much of anything but Lyrica with a few over the counter supplements has helped me a lot with the neuropathy in my feet. Good luck to you.

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@intlguyct

I tried all of the above meds unsuccessfully, made me feel loopy. Just started Venlafaxine and very good results thus far. Night pain is gone, able to walk much better, so far doing well with half dose (37.5 MG) - supposed to double the dose after 14 days but I may stay at current dose until needed. Not a fan of chemicals but this drug is a nice reprieve. Time will tell!

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This may not be related to your post, but I decided to bring it up anyway.

I’ve been on Gabapentin many years, even though I never had pain, only numbness. Needless to say, I never got any relief after taking it years and years (27,000 mg per day). I kept taking it, in hopes it would help my ever-so-hbothersome numbness. Well, of course, it never did.

When I finally decided to call a halt to taking useless Gabapentin, I stopped it waaaay too fast. I had insomnia for DAYS. Truly, I didn’t know if I’d ever sleep again - it was that bad. So, to counter this, I reintroduced a small bit of Gabapentin into my regimen, which helped a little. At least I don’t feel like the Walking Dead anymore, but I’m kind of leery to try stopping it altogether.
Anyone have advice on the weaning process?
Thanking all who respond.

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Yes I was originally prescribed Duloxetine For my neuropathy but what I went to see a pediatric he changed me over to gabapentin because I was having breakthrough with the other but I had some serious side effects to it and had to stop it within a week. I am not very sensitive to medication and have never had anything I've taken Uber my 80 years that I've had a reaction to but I sure did to that so you might be smart and not taking it. But you might give Duloxetine a try if he will prescribe it for you. The only side effect I have from that is that my hands are a little shaky if I'm trying to do something like thread a needle The only side effect I have from that is that my hands are a little shaky if I'm trying to do close up work, something like thread a needle, etc. And although not the normal dosage I got bad enough that I was doing 3 a day for a while as I was having terrible breakthrough pain.

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I should have read my reply more closely as that was supposed to say podiatrist not pediatric.

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@wascaly

This may not be related to your post, but I decided to bring it up anyway.

I’ve been on Gabapentin many years, even though I never had pain, only numbness. Needless to say, I never got any relief after taking it years and years (27,000 mg per day). I kept taking it, in hopes it would help my ever-so-hbothersome numbness. Well, of course, it never did.

When I finally decided to call a halt to taking useless Gabapentin, I stopped it waaaay too fast. I had insomnia for DAYS. Truly, I didn’t know if I’d ever sleep again - it was that bad. So, to counter this, I reintroduced a small bit of Gabapentin into my regimen, which helped a little. At least I don’t feel like the Walking Dead anymore, but I’m kind of leery to try stopping it altogether.
Anyone have advice on the weaning process?
Thanking all who respond.

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I was on Gabapentin and stopped taking it post shoulder surgery cause the oxycodone eliminated symptoms. I too had insomnia. It's a side effect if you stop without titrating down. So check with your doctor about the weaning process.

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My neurologist does not recommend the gabapentin because it won't be any good for just numbness. Mostly it helps pain.

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@rca

My neurologist does not recommend the gabapentin because it won't be any good for just numbness. Mostly it helps pain.

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@rca
Does your Neuro know of anything that helps numbness?
Jake

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In reply to @daj3333 "Thank you" + (show)
@daj3333

What type of doctor prescribed it for you and exactly what do I look for? My internist really knows very little about what to do for neuropathy outside of “the box”!!

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