Small back history for those who don't already know me:
I'm not diabetic. I do have other physical problems unrelated to my PN.

I have Sensory Axonal PN and it began way back at the end of 1993.
No known cause.

Long story made short.....
Mostly effected by my PN is my right leg and foot,
the left leg and foot is effected but not as bad with PN as the right.
The left arm sometmes gets creepy crawlies and other symptoms even though I take my pills but I've had no problem with the right arm yet.

My Neurontin dosage is gonna make you fall over in disbelief it's so low.
I get the Gabapentin (generic Neurontin) capsules prescribed in just 100 MG's.
Every morning I take 2
3 or 4 hours later I take another one

I don't have to watch the clock. My foot and leg tell me it's time for the med.

3 or 4 hours after that dose I take 1 more.
If it's long day my leg will tell me to take another one later in the evening.
Before bed I take 2

If I "up this" to 2 each time I take a dose I really get paranoid driving, and become sure the guy in back of me will drive into my back seat. That is the reason I decided the daytime doses to be lowered down to just 1 pill each time.

I am very aware that you must be careful with any pill like this so I am careful.
Most people on this med take 3 times as much as I do.
But there have been warnings about some unlucky people becoming extrememly depressed..and worse things.

I'm very lucky that this low dose takes care of burning electrical painful pains. Those were so horrid!
I don't mind a few creepy crawls. When the creepy crawlies become a hord running up and down my skin then it means take one more pill.

Actually I take a rather unbelievablely small doseage of Neurontin (mine is generic)

If I up the dosage even a tad, I get more paranoid about driving (Truthfuly I am a very nervous driver to start with)

True, it does keep me a bit tired but not sleepy, just a sort of lack of energy.
I switched to Neurontin from Carbamazepherine (However it's spelled) about year 2001 or there abouts because the Carbamazepherine (Which I had taken faithfully for 6 or 7 years with great pain relief) suddenly began keeping me really really drowsey. After a Sleep Apnea test (which I didn't have) the neuro decided it was an effect of the meds and changed me to Neurontin.

The Neuronton does not do as good a job for me at keeping the creepy crawlies at bay.
But it does a wonderful job for me of getting rid of the hot electrical burning painful interior shocks.

I find with Neurontin I also have more ability to feel under my feet. Not a comfortable feeling, rather "zingy yet marshmellowy" (for lack of a better description) but it is awareness and I need that to know what my foot is doing on gas petals and such.
I also find I began to be able move my toes very soon after I began Neurontin where as before they were numb and dead.
With Carbamazepherine my foot had much less awareness.

Really it was only a few days after changeing to Neurontin that I actually felt the carpet under my foot area and my foot knew it was carpet! I was really amazed. And the ability to move my toes up and down had me walking on the carpet all day long wiggleing my toes as I went. True, I could still not seperate 3 of them sideways but to regain up and down toe movement itself was thrilling.

BTW The 3 toes still like to normally stay glued together but I can now seperate all my 10 of my toes sideways If I put forth enough effort. Causes odd buffered "crackly burnt toast" kind of pain in the side of my foot to do it but that's OK..that's just the foot telling me something in there is still working.

Please excuse my weird descriptions of the PN feelings. They are hard to describe.

Sadly, I'm a fat 61 yr old lady anyway, but yes it did make me gain maybe ten pounds. Like I said I take very little of it.No, I've never tried Lyrica.

I don't even see a Neuro anymore. It got so I was just going and getting my perscriptions so we agreed that unless something changes I can just get the perscription from my PCP instead. So that's what I do.