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Old 05-06-2008, 11:24 PM
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jarrett622 jarrett622 is offline
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Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Galax, Va
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jarrett622 jarrett622 is offline
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jarrett622's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Galax, Va
Posts: 651
15 yr Member
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Quote:
Originally Posted by EarlG View Post
EarlG:
Groskilly, I agree with your physician. I also tried this and actually found them both to be rather antagonistic. There is no question that Lyrica is more effective than Gabapentin. However I wonder if over time Lyrica will be no more effective than Neurontin. I can remember how impressed I was when I first took gabapentin but over the years it lost its effectiveness except in very high doses. I am a retired physician (45 years a doctor) and developed painful neuropathy and like all of us searched for relieve avoiding at all costs narcotics. I also found that by giving a bolus of the medication (i.e., daily dose all at once) the medication was very much more effective. Although I would not recommend that for everyone only for old veterans like me. Also let your physician know. The biochemical theory why this may be more effective lies in the ability of drugs to saturate receptors (in this case the nerves or brain cells). In fact I really believe the basic lesion in this disease may lie within receptors in the brain which explains why when a sudden episode of pain occurs in the feet it is always bilateral. This is my first time on this forum and I may not have done this correcting- but I suppose the administrator will let me know. SO\o excuse me this time. EarlG
Nope...ya done good!

Bilateral huh? I don't know...guess that might depend on the Dx? My left foot has always been more painful than my right. No idea why. My Dx is idiopathic PN. So far anyway. At some point when and if I can afford more testing I plan on seeking out a specialist in PN. I want more than just the basics ruled out.

Can't take Neurontin. Made me suicidal. So I manage with Tramadol and recently added Mirapex. So my symptoms are well under control for now. Yep, been blessed with PN and apparently some RLS thrown in for good measure.

And yes, we do all we can to reduce our symptoms to levels manageable for us. During the day I'm a 1 or less most of the time. Toward 9:00 or 10:00 PM I escalate to about a 4 or 5 before I take a Tramadol. That's much less than my levels were about a year ago when I first found this wonderful message board.
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