I was recently diaganosed with SFN. i have been taking a tricyclic antidepressant and 30 mg of cymbalta. my doc wants me to start on Neurontin 300mg a day in the morning,and then increase to optimum level. from every i am reading, it sounds scary. i am worried an=bout the tired ness, the fog and coming off it when needed. I didnt mind the cymbalta because i was on it up to 60mg a few years back, but was ok for me to come off.

I am a 47 year old male. my hands and arm feel numby (Not total numbness-but has a numb feeling) with pain in the fingers.

can someone who is on neurontin now, please offer some insights into neurontin.

I have also been prescribed Neurontin for SFN pain. I have severe pain in my arm, neck and shoulder and fleeting pains elsewhere. The problem I have is that when I go up to 900 mg (300 mg/ 3xday), I develop pitted edema up to my knee. The dosage of 600 mg seems to be okay, although I don't think that I am getting the full pain relieving benefit.

I also have started on Savella and hoping that it will help with the pain, depression and fibromyalgia. I am still ramping up but so far all I am experiencing are GI side effects. That is pretty normal for me.

Good luck with the Neurontin. Many people do not have any problem with the larger dosages.

Mere

thank you mere.

has it made you sleepy and foggy at all?

how was it when you lowered the doasge- any problems?

did you get your diagnoses also with the skin biopsy?

I also have SFPN and I am also taking 60mg Cymbalta and 900mg Neurontin a day and I have no side effects, I take 600mg of neurontin at night and 300mg in the morning, the neurontin helps a lot with the pain and pins and needles in my legs, as the cymbalta makes it worse.
I have not had a skin biopsy but I am seeing a neurologist in July.

if cymbalta makes it worse why do you continue to take it?

To echos Long Ago,

Not really sure, when I first went on the cymbalta it did help with some of the pain I was having but was still having terrible Leg pain, but it is now not helping that pain, I have thought about going off it and see what happens, but I am worried about withdrawals. I do not see the neuroligist until July.

I get brain fog with my afternoon dose sometimes, and weird sensation in my arms. I just recently replaced the middle of the day dose with nortriptylene 25 mg., gone is the brain fog so I'm down to 600mg x2. I take a second 25mg dose of nortriptylene at bedtime, fairly new to this drug, and so far have no problem with it. Of course theres a few other meds I take everyday too, but the ones I mentioned are strictly for PN. This isn't fun but it can be done, welcome aboard.

Yes, it does make me a bit sleepy, foggy and emotional - but I feel that way normally - some days better than others. But yes, initially, it was worse, but seemed to get better with time.

No problem in lowering the dosage. In the past, I d/c cold turkey with no s/e. I have read more recently that the cold turkey method is not an intelligent way to d/c the drug. I did not have any difficulty in doing that at the time, however, I would not repeat the rapid d/c in the future...

I did get my diagnosis from my neurologist based on medical history and confirmed with a skin biopsy that showed "significant' peripheral neuropathy. I am in the long and drawn-process of finding out the reason "why" I have peripheral and autonomic neuropathy. I am beginning to think that I may never have a diagnosis as to "why" I have these problems - but we will see with time...

Mere

I hope you get your answers also Mere, I know how hard it is waiting, waiting and not really knowing.

"Idiopathic" what does it really mean? I know they can't find an answer but why?

Idiopathic stinks! Most likely, that will be what my neuropathy will be labeled as...