Hi ,
Please help guys.I am very upset.Gabapentin made me break out everywhere in huge red itching boils like I was infected with the bubonic plague.PLUS...diarrhea.I was terrrified of what was happening and slowly discontinued use ( as of Nov 3 last pill).Feel better yet also the tingling and burning has returned.Spend 20 hours since then trying to get an appointment to see a neurologist(in Berlin,Germany )and get a precription for a different pain medication.Also called and visited office of the oral surgeon who performed surgery Oct 23 .Said pain was burning except at night and normal pain medication did not stop the burning fiery pain that I experience at the end of every day.Well get this.the oral surgeon said that if the pain was THAT BAD I would have continued taking Gabapentin.Right,and look like a leper? The oral dentist said that I was not feeling pain.Get this::I then cried and said stop lying to me is my case hopeless? I am university educated do not treat me like an idiot!!The dentist mellowed and said " You will feel pain for up to six months when the bone augmentation will have had time to work".Well, thanks, but I paid A LOT of money to get pre-op information and HE DID NOT TELL ME THIS! SIX MONTHS:::The only neurologist who could see me quickly told me "Gabapentin is wrong for you.You are not feeling burning.Take aspirin." I showed him the 3D exam of the injuries caused by the dental implant and he said well dental implant NEVER CAUSE neuropathic pain.he said i should take aspirin. He said i was acting hysterical when i told him about the pins and needles and the burning and numbness.I said pleae prescribe the strongest painmedication you can to get me over the next month.The neurologist refused saying the dentist caused the problems and the dentists should deal with it.???THis i swear is happening in EAST BERLIN .Elaine55

Hello Elaine,

I'm very sorry to hear about your pain. I like you can not tolerate Gabapentin (Neurotin). I do not have the same side effects as you but I still can not take it. I can't function mentally when I take it. I have had 3 different neurologists try to prescribe it to me over the past year even after I told them that I can not tolerate it. Believe me, I feel your frustration.

There are 2 other nerve meds on the market here in the US. One is Trileptal (didn't work for me) and Tegretol which I take now. (200mg twice a day). I still have terrible nerve pain in my feet.

Is your pain nerve related? Where is the pain? I take it, it is in your jaw/face?

I have had Trigeminal Neuralgia since 2010. It affects the nerves in the side of your face. That is when I started on the Tegretol. At one time I was on 1200mg a day.

Please do not take a medicine because I said that I do. I'm am not a medical professional.

I was wondering about the Trigeminal Neuralgia because some people get it after having a dental procedure. You can read about it here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trigeminal_neuralgia

I had a neurologist appointment on the 7th of this month and I was totally frustrated after I left. Another $225 for the visit and I did not get anything accomplished. All he did was raise my dosage of Elival from 25mg to 50 mg. I'm at the point now that I'm ready to stop going to them.

Anyway...I hope you get to feeling better....I know it's hard.

Ken

Hi Ken,
Thank you for updating me re pain medication other than gabapentin.Sorry I am not that used to posting on online forums and have much to learn! I appreciate information re what helps others re livng a pain-free life a lot.Thank goodness I am slowly seeing improvemet ie yesterday I had most of the day without meds and no pain.My injury was caused by a dental implant that pierced the soft tissue that encases the jaw bone(periost).The dentist made a terrible mistake when he inserted the titanium implant but he also lacked diagnostic training so the piercing and crushing of the soft tissue caused pain for many months.The correct diagnosis was made just a few weeks ago and then surgery was performed.The surgery truly saved my life.Thge pain you describe sounds awful. i have heard from others that it can be debilitating.I hope science comes up with better trreatments soon.Thanks again.Elaine55

Hi Elaine,

There's an oral neurological condition called Burning Mouth Syndrome (BMS). I'm not suggesting you have it, but there appear to be some similarities. It's been discussed here.

Burning mouth Syndrome

My point is that treatments for it are similar to those for PN—one being R-Lipoic Acid (RLA, a.k.a. thioctic acid, et al) which is also discussed here often.

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/se...Lipoic%22+Acid

I can't say that it will work for you, but it's inexpensive, available without prescription, has excellent results with BMS, and I think it would be worth trying.

Burning mouth syndrome (BMS): double blind controlled study of alpha-lipoic acid (thioctic acid) therapy.

Quote:

RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Following treatment with alpha-lipoic acid, there was a significant symptomatic improvement, compared with placebo, with the majority showing at least some improvement after 2 months, thus supporting the hypothesis that burning mouth syndrome is a neuropathy. This improvement was maintained in over 70% of patients at the 1 year follow-up.

Burning mouth syndrome (BMS): controlled open trial of the efficacy of alpha-lipoic acid (thioctic acid) on symptomatology.

Quote:

RESULTS: Significant improvements were shown in the symptomatology of BMS in up to two-thirds of patients with BMS receiving alpha-lipoic acid, in about 15% of those using placebo and also in up to two-thirds of those who, having tried placebo, were switched to ALA.

Doc