since this has all been happening to me. ie. burning feet and hands itching all over sensitivity on skin being put on gabapentin. this in the last 4 weeks. I have stopped going to the gym. I used to go everyday and work out atleast 1 hour if not two. I feel tired all the time from the gaba I guess have only been on it for 1 week. so my question. does anyone exciercise. does it help or make things worse.

Hi Jolena
when I started taking Gabapentin I had no energy whatsoever, in fact I took 5 weeks off work and slept most of the time. I am now in year three with this med and am still tired but not as much - you will get some tolerance through time. I am still not at the gym stage but am ever hopeful.

Malawigirl,
what symtoms did you have at first. How old are you if you dont mind me asking. I dont see many young people on this board and am wondering what the age group is. I am 38 and am just at my wits end with this and I have only had it for 4 weeks. I am on 200 gabapentin and am not feeling like it is working. I have been on it for 1 week. any advice would be great. tried to walk 2 miles today and at 1.5 my feet felt like lead weights. so I stopped at that.

Hi well I take a walk everyday. I am limited in what I can do and how fast. I lack range of motion. All the doctors I have seen for my condition I have rsd and pn said I must move or I will atrophy. When this condition first started I was in bed full days. When I went to Cleveland Clinic pain program the amount of pt was too much so I gradually started to walk. I think for me starting slow with any new activity is key. Otherwise I get hit with pain too hard and mentally things fall apart too.
I am 32 and was dx at 28.
200 of neurontin? Some people need 3500 to see a benefit. I am on this med as well though don't think it has helped. Did your rx doc set a plan to increase it? Also it often takes a combo of meds and a lot of trial and error.
What type of doc is helping you?
Hang in there

what is RDS?? until they actually diagnose me I dont think they want me on too much stuff. I go in for nerve testing next friday.

The symptoms I have are intense pain in both feet-pins and needles, numbness and a burning pain as though I have placed my feet in boiling water.I have got progressively worse in the past 14 yrs.
I am 44 and have been taking Gabapentin for almost 3 years, I take 4x600mgs per day alongside 8 x Cocodamol(30/500 strength) and
20mg of Imipramine. The pain is still with me, some nights I don't sleep until 4am and then I am up for work at 7.30-I still work full time but it' s getting increasingly more difficult as well as coping with my two children(although my husband is fantastic but sshh dont tell him). I dont have aproper family life now as I just sleep and rest at weekends
I also have Lignacaine Infusions every so often and they give me a few weeks respite at a time- I am trying to get this treatment more often but you need to be admitted to hospital and bed space is at a premium in my country.
If I walk for any length of time at all I pay for it in the days to follow - and I can identify with the lead weight feeling.
My advice would be wait until the testing is done and try to get referred to a Pain Management Specialist, also stay positive, once the pity party starts you will have lost - I just look around me and see there are others much worse off than me.
Mrs D from this forum has given me some of the best advice of my life-Alkaseltzer helps with the burning ( I have been using this for two weeks and so far so good) and steep regularly in Epsom Salts(this gives some pain relief also).
Good luck

Jolina, Thanks for asking your questions. I'm just starting down the treatment path myself. This is my experience so far; I'm 37 years old, your not alone.

I was just diagnosed with Small Fiber Neuropathy after 3 years of medical testing. We are now looking for a cause.

I am up to 900mg of Gabapentin a day and have been on it for several months now. It wipes me out. From what I understand, someone please correct me if I am wrong, there is a very wide dosage range. I personally know someone that is on 4000MG a day and wouldn't be able to function without the medication. I am also on Tramadol that I take as needed. I am supposed to take 1 50mg Tramadol 4 times a day but I find that I usually take 2-3 of them at a time, only when I need it.

As far as supplements go, I recently started taking 400mg of Alpha Lipoic Acid 2x a day on the recommendation of my neurologist.

I take a mens multi-vitamin and take 6000mg of Fish oil.

I'm just trying to find a way to survive at this point. I also have range of motion problems like Daniella. I was pretty much told that if I didn't keep moving, I'd become disabled and suffer far more than I am already.

I have a very narrow exercise threshold, if I over do it, I'm done for a few days.

My pain involves the whole body with my thighs are the most painful. It feels like a ran a Marathon yesterday, 24x7x365. I have problems with my feet, swelling if I'm on them to much but haven't really focused on finding relief for them. I wish you luck.

I would ask the Dr to get a Skin Biopsy and Muscle Biopsy, right up front. It might save you years of testing and Dr's scratching their heads.

I would look around for the Best hospital in the area, and use their doctors. I bounced around between specialist for years and have finally had a few breaks at the Cleveland Clinic.

Best of Luck to you,

Brian

Brian,
3 years to find SFN?
A "SKIN PUNCH BIOPSY" should have been in your first panel of tests and you would have known the results in about 6 weeks! (3 yrs ago)
If your medical facility doesn't do it, there is a mail-order kit
from Johns Hopkins - the guys who invented the test.

Tramadol is designed to work not as an as-needed med but to be at a steady level of med in your system 24/7.
Two or 3 at a time can lead to severe complications.
I take Tramadol (Ultram) 100mg 3x day along with my Lyrica (used to be gabapentin til I switched) to help reduce symptoms & pain.

What kind of doctor are you seeing? Seems to be a day late, on mostly everything. A PN specialist should be seen, not just any neurologist.

many/most docs aren't that up to date on such processes...
First off? THINK what/when where did this all start? Then chart whatever anti-b's you mite have been on for a prior problem... if no prior problem? Then what else was going on in your life? Stressors such as family illnesses, deaths etc can and do help us neglect some normal life eating, sleeping and coping mechanisms.
THINK Back? For me, it was finishing my third course of anti-b's that triggered my own onset a couple of months later, then leading to an autoimmune neuropathy. Only YOU can analyse yourself? And it can drive you near crazy in that analysis? Just go back and create a CALENDAR of what's happened from the start and go forwards.
As for exercise? GO SLOW! Is the motto of the day...little bits each day of different types of exercises, building up to MANY little bits many times a day. The more you do in little bits? The less exhausted you'll be, but, you will be able to build up to LOTS of many bits in the long run! They add up.
My goals are still the same as they've been from the start, first is to be able to walk a mile without a week's worth of 'pay-back', The second is more personal and specialised. I'm still trying to meet the first goal...Almost had it, but had set-backs. DO NOT EVER GIVE UP!!!!!
'S!!!!!!!!!!
Don't worry about a 'cause'? Per-se???? Find out what to do to treat how you are NOW. Why? Because you are in the here and NOW, not in what's been. The past can be a clue, but it's not gonna do much for you NOW!
- j

My SFN also as DX after 3 years. most doctors don't think of SFN. what was said to me is that ll in my brain.