I hope it works! and that you are right, I might not wake up like I have been.

and now when I read my response to en bloc my reply is stuck up in his quote...oh dear, I apologize guys. Still getting used to the forum I guess. Sorry for the confusion en bloc

[QUOTE=Enna70;1137028]I didn't do well on gabapentin....or it's real one Neurotin...it added to my stress...but I have read that others here are doing well with it and others...

Hmmm...if gabapentin doesn't work, should I try Neurontin? Does anybody find that the brand works but the generic doesn't?

[QUOTE=canagirl;1137051]Sorry! I meant to say, per day. So upping the dose a little each day. So that's over 8 days. Then I'll stay at 900 per day (3 x 300) for awhile I guess. I hope it's enough.

No problem...just keep us posted on your progress.

Did you stop the nortriptyline? I think you will have better results if you take both.

I notice an increase of side effect soon after taking the increased dose, but so far, it's tolerable and decreases over the day a bit (the blurred vision and drowsiness). Still adjusting to it, again, tolerable....I've been able to do everything I normally do (but I'm not driving right now). But I have been sleeping better and hardly wake in the night. I hope you have relief from it!

Neurontin (gabapentin is generic) is one of the faster acting in that class in that you don't need a loading period. Hopefully you'll notice something in a matter of days. I took it for several months and found it helped quite a bit with shooting pain and brought the stinging down even though I only took 300 mg at bedtime. I quit taking it because I am one of those few people who gets depressed on it. Since you have daytime duties you might want to try the bedtime routine a couple of days just to see how you do or have them give you the 100mg caps so you can start low during the day and add on later. It should help with anxiety and mood swings. Neurontin works by down-regulating nerve signals, so the signals are not as strong and the system is more calm. It doesn't work by blocking pain receptors.

I hope you find relief soon

Did you stop the nortriptyline? I think you will have better results if you take both.[/QUOTE]

No, I didn't stop. I did decrease by 10mg to prep adding the gabapentin because after going through old posts and finding people that take both I didn't find anybody on 50mg of nortriptyline and gabapentin.

although, I just got a call from my dr receptionist saying he is sick today and won't be in tomorrow either and they rescheduled me for wed! ugh.... I know it's only one more day but it's been so hard to wait for Tuesday...now I have to wait to wed.

I know everyone is different and respond different to different drugs. My story is different than most, my nueropathy is a direct result of a critical illness. You can read about at the bottom of the post.

Taking the Gralise seems to help me sleep since its taken before bed and the side effects of Gabepetin or Nuerotin are drowsiness or tiredness.

I started at 100mg, then 300mg, then 400mg then 600mg during much of this I was still in physical therapy trying to get stronger from being sick. As I would complain to my Pain Dr, he would up the dose. As I got most of my strength back I was getting tired of the drowsy foggy feeling and was given the ok to scale back my dose to level where I could deal with the pain, 400mg 3X a day worked fine.

When Gralise came out my pain Dr thought I would be a good candidate for it so we started the dance with the insurance company to get it on my list of approved drugs. Its one of those that need special approval since its not a generic.

Once I get back to normal on Gralise I hope its the way it was before they had me try Lyrica. Where I really didn't have any ups or downs during the day since Gralise is a once a day time release drug verses taking a pill every 8 hours.

I still have bad days, flares as they call them, days that shoes, socks, blankets, water in the shower and even a cool breeze seem to hurt. In the 4+ years I've been dealing with this I've learned to savor the good days and more little things in life to be thankful for. The really bad days I've learned to give in and take a pain pill, sit down and not push it. I have an understanding wife that knows I'm just not sitting because I'm lazy, its because I really hurt.

I know I got lucky when my PCP referred me to a pain clinic, and I got a good doctor there. Once he understood I wasn't looking for narcotics and was in pain looking for a solution all was good.

Starting to take Nuerotin or Gabepetin isn't easy. You don't get immediate relief it slowly builds over time. If you take it 3X a day you might notice more pain at the 7 hour mark, sometimes you don't and its not until you feel the pain you realize its time for a pill because its been 10hrs. Then you take a pill and don't notice its working since its very gradual.

I hope you find a Dr to help you, one that will listen and help to give you something to help you sleep.

Sorry if this was long and some of it helps you.

did anybody try an antidepressant first (like nortriptyline) didn't get good enough relief but tried gabapentin and got good relief?