Quote:
Originally Posted by groucho
Taking 3 years to feel the need to up your dose doesn't sound too bad. I just started taking the Gabapentin at the end of June, & I had to go up to the same dose you are taking to get relief from the "folded sock" behind the toes, which causes me the greatest pain, when AI walk. I really feel that it's wearing off before the next dose, and that I should be taking it 4x a day. I've had a slight weight gain, a bit of short term memory loss, and I feel a bit tired, but that's about it. In a way I'd like to switch to the Nortriptyline, but worry about new side effects.
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I think what we are taking is about the minimum effective dose, if it is going to work at all, as Mrs. D said. A lot of people, especially men, seem to be on 2400-2700 mg. I am 6'2", but women, even big ones, seem more sensitive to meds. I have not heard of Nortriptyline as a substitute for gabapentin, rather in combination with it.
My neurologist seemed to view the primary job of the gabapentin as making sure I could sleep at night. My first dose is when I wake up, but the two later ones are at dinner and bedtime, no more than four hours apart usually, so I have it built up when I go to sleep. It does work. I can't take oxycodone at night as it wires me up. I use it for housework, walking, shopping, etc. I have the feeling of walking on large stones, probably the equivalent of your folded sock feeling. I wanted to take my boots off yesterday and check whether my socks had slipped down and bunched up, but of course they hadn't. My pain med muffles the feeling, but it never goes away.
It doesn't hurt to try different things, in fact you must to have any quality of life. PN is really idiosyncratic and everyone seems to have a different pain protocol. I blame the memory loss on being a 51 year old woman, but I do have slightly blurred vision which may be the gabapentin. I have (had?) a photographic memory so still get by, but am relying more on lists. Then I forget the lst...