--are very, very common with Gabapentin/Neurontin, and, indeed, with many of the other anti-epileptic medications used for neural pain and abnormal sensations (parastheses). They are at least partly due to the central nervous system downregulating effect these are designed to have (they were originally developed to control the spread of seizures).

Other side effects that are common with these drugs are fluid retention, carb craving, and weight gain. Many find, however, that with time the side effects lessen as the body adjusts to a given dosage.

Many who have neuropathy use a combination of meds to control the sensations; the most common pairing is an anti-epileptic like gabapentin or pregabalin with a small dose of anti-depressant like amitryptyline (Elavil). The two often seem to have a synergystic effect on the sensations. Some also use more traditional opiate based pain relievers, or some of the synthetic opiates (i.e., Tramadol).

It's very hard to determine what the ultimate prognosis is with neuropathy--a lot depends on the cause and what types of nerves are affected. "Axonal" refers to the primary damage here being to the axons, the transmitting "cable" of the nerves, as oppose to damage to the myelin sheathing, which can be thought of as the "insulation" of the cable (at least in those larger-fiber sensory and motor nerves that have such sheathing--"small fiber" nerves that subsume pain and temperature sensations do not have this sheathing so damage to them is by definition axonal).

You may need a lot more extensive work-up at a neuropathy center--if the cause is even findable (there are a lot of us around here who remain stubbornly "idiopathic").

Do see, as comprehensive test listings:

www.liajane.org

http://www.questdiagnostics.com/test...ripheralNeurop