Quote:
Originally Posted by canagirl
Ugh, I think I live in fantasy land. I was really hoping the burning and stinging would go away with gabapentin.
Mike - you are able to sleep through the night? Was that always the case or did your pain wake you up and keep you awake before taking med?
Also, why did you switch to gralise from gabapentin? Also, you down dosed? how did you know you could do this? why did you try it? how long have you been on it?
One more thing, if you don't know it's doing anything but feel it if you miss a dose then that doesn't seem like it gives much relief?....
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I know everyone is different and respond different to different drugs. My story is different than most, my nueropathy is a direct result of a critical illness. You can read about at the bottom of the post.
Taking the Gralise seems to help me sleep since its taken before bed and the side effects of Gabepetin or Nuerotin are drowsiness or tiredness.
I started at 100mg, then 300mg, then 400mg then 600mg during much of this I was still in physical therapy trying to get stronger from being sick. As I would complain to my Pain Dr, he would up the dose. As I got most of my strength back I was getting tired of the drowsy foggy feeling and was given the ok to scale back my dose to level where I could deal with the pain, 400mg 3X a day worked fine.
When Gralise came out my pain Dr thought I would be a good candidate for it so we started the dance with the insurance company to get it on my list of approved drugs. Its one of those that need special approval since its not a generic.
Once I get back to normal on Gralise I hope its the way it was before they had me try Lyrica. Where I really didn't have any ups or downs during the day since Gralise is a once a day time release drug verses taking a pill every 8 hours.
I still have bad days, flares as they call them, days that shoes, socks, blankets, water in the shower and even a cool breeze seem to hurt. In the 4+ years I've been dealing with this I've learned to savor the good days and more little things in life to be thankful for. The really bad days I've learned to give in and take a pain pill, sit down and not push it. I have an understanding wife that knows I'm just not sitting because I'm lazy, its because I really hurt.
I know I got lucky when my PCP referred me to a pain clinic, and I got a good doctor there. Once he understood I wasn't looking for narcotics and was in pain looking for a solution all was good.
Starting to take Nuerotin or Gabepetin isn't easy. You don't get immediate relief it slowly builds over time. If you take it 3X a day you might notice more pain at the 7 hour mark, sometimes you don't and its not until you feel the pain you realize its time for a pill because its been 10hrs. Then you take a pill and don't notice its working since its very gradual.
I hope you find a Dr to help you, one that will listen and help to give you something to help you sleep.
Sorry if this was long and some of it helps you.