I am new here just diagnosed a month ago, with PN. I was Rx'd Neurontin and than gave up and discontinued. Now I am in a lot of pain..


My question does this medication really work for anyone in the long term? Are any of you using this on a daily basis. I tried it for 3 weeks but I had some side effects. I read a lot of bad info on this drug so i dont know what to do?

Thank you
Eyeball

If any med has too many side effects, or does not work for you, please call your doctor & tell them, so another med can be tried.

There are many posts here with other self care ideas, vitamins, therapies and such to help with pain & symptoms.
Explore the sticky threads at the top of the main PN page.
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/forum20.html

It is quite common to have side-effects with Neurontin. In most cases, the side-effects go away over time. It also takes weeks to months to work up to the proper dose. These side-effects will ususally stay with you during these increases, then finally settle down after a while of being at the same dose and your body adjusting to the medication. Taking it for 3 weeks isn't long enough for this process (slowly increasing to the right dose, and allowing the body to adjust).

There are many threads on Neurontin here and they might be helpful for you to read about other's experiences on this medication. There are some that cannot tolerate the side-effects, but you may have been started on too high of a dose. Talk to your doctor about your side-effects and whether an adjustment (down) in dose might be helpful (with a SLOWER increase over time).

The best way to describe Nuerotin or Gabapetin is you really don't feel them work like a traditional pain reliever. You don't notice immediate relief like something you take for a head ache or muscle pain. You notice they work when you miss a dose or are late for a dose and the pain and other symptoms increase.

It might take weeks before you notice them working and longer to get used to the foggy feeling side effect.

I take Gralise which is time release Nuerotin once a day before bed so I sleep through the fog.

Hope this helps

The bottom line for Neurontin is that only about 30% get any significant positive relief in the long run from this drug.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21412914
this link explains the results of a meta study into many studies on effectiveness.

Typically there is a tolerance to Neurontin, leading to dosage increases. Some patients just do not tolerate the higher doses.

Neurontin (gabapentin) works fine for my Small Fiber Neuropathy. I take a very large dose. But I know about side effects. Those of us with 'problems' often have problems with medications, too.

I just a 'cocktail' of Aleve, Cymbalta, and Gabapentin for all of my pain.

There are other RX for the pain of neuropathy. Some people use Lyrica. Most of the anti-convulsants can be helpful.

Hugs, ElaineD

and thought it wasn't working until I quit it. Then the pain was worse but I stubbornly stayed off. If it gets too rough I will try it again. My side effects were a little brain fog but nothing too bad. Good Luck, Ken in Texas.

I tried neurontin and lyrica. They didn't help and the side effects made it impossible to even try a higher dose.

I tried Cymbalta (caused perfuse sweating), Gaba (did little and made me drowsy) and Lyrica (similar to Cymbalta). Now I am on 10 mg's of Nortryptiline. Side effects on NorT are immaterial although not sure to what extent if at all it is helping with pn symptoms.