This is probably a worn-out question... Just wondering if you can share your experience with Neurontin (Gabapenten). I used to take it years ago when it first hit the market for fibromyalgia but I do not really remember if it helped or what dosage I took. My specific questions are:

1. Does this drug work well for your nerve pain?

2. What is your effective dosage?

3. Side Effects?


I am taking 300 mg at night and it has done nothing for my nerve pain. I know this is a weak dosage, so I called my neurologist today for consult and he has increased my dosage to 300 mg x 3x day after a ramp-up over two weeks time. He said that I could go up from there, if necessary - up to 3,600 mg max per day.

Mere

I was on Gabapentin for maybe four or five months. It didn't do anything noticably good or bad for me, even at the 3600 dose. I guess it made me a little sleepy/spacey for a little while at first, but after that passed, I didn't have any side effects nor any pain relief. I was taking it with Tramadol.

I'm on 1800 mg daily. That dose alone helped only some. Rather that increase the gabapentin, my neuro added amitriptyline and Mirapex. That combination keeps most of the pain at bay.

I take 300 mg with each meal. At bedtime I take the remaining 900 mg along with amitriptyline and Mirapex.

The side effects I have had since starting gabapentin are weight gain and brain fog.

Hi. I am on 2700 and worked up from the 300 like you are at. Did your doctor lay out a plan to increase? Each increase is ruff on me where I feel out of it and dizzy but the side effects lessen after a few days. I am on other similar meds like Cymbalta too so at this time I am not sure what is working and not. Right now I am in a flare up which is turning into more then a flare up so at one time I thought it was working more. Everyone is different in how they respond to meds. Hope you feel better

I was on it for 6+ years and finally was up to 4200mgs/day when I switched to Lyrica.
The only s/e for me was weight gain (220lbs to 248lbs). But I lost most of it (25lbs) on Weight Watchers.
Sadly I gained it back with Lyrica, and I've not been able to lose much this time around.

Thanks for your replies. I have a ramp up of:

week 1: 100 mg morning and afternoon, 300 mg at night

week 2: 300 mg morning and afternoon, 100 mg at night

week 3: 300 mg morning, afternoon and night

I tried Lyrica twice and both times had debilitating side effects that did not resolve with time. I was also on Mirapex but discontinued because it made my flushing and congestion even worse than they are now. I also had a tendancy to spend money to a degree that is not characteristic of me. Long ago, I took elavil for depression (of course that was when my ex doctor told me all of my problems were due to stress and depression...)

I always seem to gain weight on these antineuroleptics. I love to exercise, but have felt unable to do so for quite a while now. Maybe, I will try walking again... there is a nice park close by with walking paths.

Mere

Can you please let me know what you think of Lyrica for effective pain relief any side effects? Thank you.

Hi, I was given neurontin by my rheumatologist a few months before my surgery, I can only say it helped me sleep at night and did minimal relief of pain and numbness in left arm. I was given 300 mg at night and 100 mg 2 times daily I do not take it anymore. Everyone responds different to medication, I did read a few weeks back that neurontin had been recently studied about it's effectiveness for pain relief. It reported it had no reason to be given for pain relief. If i remember where i read that report i will let you know. Good luck, Oh my doctor wants me to try lyrica, maybe you should ask your doc about it. I have not yet tried it again ,good luck.