As far as I know, gabapentin is not addictive in the way that perocet and the other opiods are; however, the body can become used to it, so one cannot just stop taking it without stepping down on it. The biggest side effect is drowsiness, which hit me hard for the first month, but then went away.

There are many other medication options. A drug that works for one of us might not work for you. But pain is a resource hog, so it's important to get it under control, especially if you want to stay in school.

While I have no proof of this, I believe that my working 12 hour days 6 days a week leading up the election caused the spread. The pain was super concentrated before that. Of course, stay in school if you can; I just urge you to pace yourself and try not to get super stressed and overwhelmed. It might be a great idea to see a therapist to help with relaxation techniques to get you through the stressful times, like finals. There are things besides medication, like positive thinking, mirror box therapy, desensitization, laughter therapy, yoga, meditation, thai chi, and qi quong that can help with the pain and reduce stress. Try out each and see what works for you. There might even be videos at your school or a free class. For me, most of that didn't work until the pain went from intolerable to tolerable with medication. Mirror box therapy and desensitization were the only things that moved the pain notch a little before we found meds that worked. I wish you the best. You are welcome to PM me if you ever want to talk. I'm so glad my post made you feel less alone. There is power in feeling like you aren't the only one. Take care!