Muscle pain crippling this morning
 

Great, why couldnt this happen before my doctor appointment? I told her the gaba was causing deep muscle pain, she seemed surprised but didnt say anything, almost felt she didn't believe gaba was doing it. I told her it felt like someone punched me in the thigh and that micardis had done this to me.

This morning it is worse. I can barely walk, the muscles in my thigh hurt so bad especially since I slept on that side. The pain subsides a little as I move around but it is pretty bad, just like micardis did to me and I had to quit.

Why is this happening to me? Why does medication do this to me. It has only been about 8 days since starting the gaba at 4 pills a day and muscle pain. Now I have to call and tell her this, and her only suggestion after gaba was lyrica and cymbalta, which lyrica is like gaba and I hate the idea of cymbalta.

On top of that I found this, for those on this medication, it is about addiction to this drug, but has some very interesting information about it:

http://www.theroadback.org/neurontin-withdrawal.aspx

I am going to try and skip my day time dose of gaba today. I have no idea what my next move should be. When micardis did this to me, the doctor didnt believe it, since it was such a rare side effect. This is exactly the same feeling.

Any advice or prayers will be appreciated. On top of that my husband has to leave town for a week on Monday and I will be all alone.

Why would you think that it's the Gaba and not your condition causing the pain? I currently take 2400mg of Gapa daily. I also get the deep nasty pain in my legs, both day and night. Without the Gabapentin, I would probably jump off a bridge.

Could be a blood clot? I think you should call your regular doctor and see what he/she thinks:

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/e...cle/000156.htm

You have been very sedentary with your feet issues, and this can predispose to leg clots.

I am still using my chi machine which moves lymph system and circulation. I am up and down all day. I do not believe it is blood clot. It is the gabe, I do not doubt it. It is exactly what happened with the micardis. Sometimes you simply just NO your body, and I know this pain, exactly what micardis did to me.

Time will tell, as I have a feeling I will have to come off it. I will not take my day time dose today and see what happens though the pain is more at night after the double dose and sleeping makes it worse. Just like with micardis, it gets better as I move about, but eventually that wont work if I keep taking it.

I am going to use my infra red dome over my thighs this morning, that will help detox.

I do not know where this leaves me, cymbalta I guess but I dunno.

It sounds a bit odd that it's just one leg (correct me if I'm wrong). If a medication was causing muscle pain, one would think (logically) that it would be more then just one muscle, on one leg. Was it the same leg involved with the Micardis? Have you ever had muscle pain in the leg at any other time?

It can take time for the body to adjust to new medications. I wonder if it will resolve on it's own in time.

I have NEVER heard of Neurontin addiction before. The drug, however, does require to be carefully tapered when stopping because of withdrawal syndrome...but that doesn't mean it's "addictive". Your body may become dependent (why it needs a taper), but that is not the same as addictive. MANY drugs have to be carefully (and slowly) tapered to avoid withdrawal syndrome (Neurontin, Lyrica, Cymbalta, ALL steroids, and many cardiac meds, etc, etc)...and this is just a very small portion.

Which brings me to my next point. If you find that you cannot continue the Neurontin due to this muscle pain, you MUST NOT just stop this medication. You will need to call her for specific instructions on an appropriate taper for you. So be careful, with the sudden stopping of daytime (or other) doses as well.

Hopefully your muscle ache will subside soon. Have you tried a cold pack or even heat for a short time to see if either help alleviate the pain. I'd be careful with the heat with your nerve issues, but a short trial just on your thigh should be ok.

I second what En Bloc says about suddenly stopping taking neurontin without a taper. Neurontin is an anti seizure medication and stopping it too quickly without a taper can induce seizures.

It is not just one muscle or one leg, it moves around, though it is most often in one more than the other. It includes joint pain also, like my elbows and it too moves around. Same with micardis, though it was muscle pain only, not joint.

I used the infra red on my thighs and the heat did help and felt good, though temporary.

It is the gaba, but time will tell. It all went away when I stopped micardis as I am sure it will with this also. It also did not hurt when I was on lower dose, only this new higher dose.

Yes, I do know to taper the dose and not just quit, although I have only been on this dose a little over a week, so skipping one dose a day seems easy.

If you google gaba and addiction I found lots of stuff on it, before I ever got on it, though what choice do we have. I only mentioned it again here since I will clearly have to be careful as I come down on it, though I have only been on it a month.

My bigger concern is what is to come next. I can't keep going through the medications this fast or I will soon run out and be left with nothing.

thanks for the opinions

Have you tried the Salonpas Deep Relieving Gel? I have muscle pain, mostly in the thigh, from autoimmune SFN and get that same feeling, like the muscle was slammed with a big sledge hammer (however, it has never lasted more than an hour at a time for me). When I put the gel on the area, it causes an icy kind of burning deep in the muscle that is pretty unpleasant and lasts for a while, but overrides the aching pain. My original pain is gone when the gel effect wears off, although maybe it would have anyway, since my pain normally doesn't last too long. It might be worth a try for temporary relief.

Never underestimate drugs... I've had two drug induced lupus reactions in my life... one during my pregnancy with hydralazine (both knees swelled up for months)... and the latest round with
lisinopril.

Here is an article about it:
http://link.springer.com/article/10....4:3:229#page-1

Gabapentin is rather unique though, since it is not much metabolized in the body at all...so active metabolites don't occur in any major amount. It is excreted whole, by the kidneys.

Drug induced lupus does not show up in ANA panel testing as a rule. So often it is not recognized by doctors. You can search Google further for it... many of the lists are incomplete as reports do come in from MedLine on a regular basis as anecdotes.

I have pn and was on neurontin for over a year until it was obvious that it wasnt working for me. While taking it and after, I suffer a LOT of pain in my calves and thighs from wearing only
Flip flops. In fact the pain is often worse that the pn. I now use a big massage vibrator on my legs when I get home from work.

Are you wearing good shoes? Im not. But its all I can stand to wear.

I found some interesting info about this site. As En Bloc noted, addiction is not the same as dependence, and it seemed rather odd that a site like this would ignore & obfuscate the difference/distinction.

Reading further, I found the reason I got an uneasy feeling about the site...
It went on to enumerate no less than 3 more proprietary supplements to beat this gabapentin "addiction", closing with:
What they don't say is that BOTH entities, THE ROAD BACK and NEURO GENETIC SOLUTIONS are owned/controlled by the same person—James L. Harper (and ostensibly a female member of his family—wife/daughter?)

http://visulate.com/rental/visulate_...D=P13000023701

I could find NO DISCLOSURE of this information on THE ROAD BACK, nor any disclosure on the NEURO GENETIC SOLUTIONS site of any connection/relation with THE ROAD BACK or James L Harper.

So while THE ROAD BACK may not sell supplements, the guy who founded/owns it sure does! Ain't that a co-inky-dink? :rolleyes:

Doc

Nevertheless, the point is, this medication does have a history of addiction/dependence as noted by many people, not just a site such as this. There is a difference in addiction/dependence but to those going through it my guess is it feels the same when the goal is to get off it.

And I did already understand that about this drug and the many more drugs I will most likely try before this is over. Now I am just wondering how hard it will be to transition from one to another.

No, it has a history of dependence.

No, it doesn't. I've never heard of anyone having a craving for gabapentin, or continuing using it despite knowingly doing themselves harm.

I think it would help to learn & understand the difference.

Definitions Related to the Use of Opioids for the Treatment of Pain: Consensus Statement of the American Academy of Pain Medicine, the American Pain Society, and the American Society of Addiction Medicine

These definitions were developed in relation to opioid pain medications, but they've been generally accepted with regard to all medications with those characteristics.

Pregabalin & gabapentin work in similar ways, but pregabalin has been found to be better-tolerated (i.e. fewer/lesser side effects). Quite a few people here have found that. Some have also done better on a combination of the two. Considering that there are few options for treatment of PN, I think you may be doing yourself a disservice in pre-emptorily dismissing it.

Transistioning is different than discontinuing. It's done more often with pain medications, as tolerance to one develops, patients may be transitioned (rotated) to another. Going from gabapentin to pregabalin shouldn't be difficult; going to another class of medication (e.g. an antidepressant, like duloxetine) may be more problematical, but others here have done it.

I think it's important that you understand that ALL of these medications may involve some side effects and will produce dependence in time. At some point, you may have to decide the lesser of evils between symptoms and side effects.

Doc

Well I have read many people say it is addictive but whatever, it was not the point so, ok.

Edit to add: I am not being snappy, I just do not want to debate the difference between addiction vs dependence. It is simply not where I am at. But whatever you say is fine with me. My problems continue either way.

Excuse me? :Hum: That was EXACTLY the point.

If you're going to use a word, it's usually a good idea to know what it means, or don't use it. Words are the only way we have of communicating in this forum; we can't see each others' pained expressions/tearful eyes, read each others' body language, or give each other (literal) hugs. This is also a site that discusses medical topics, and medicine is a subject that depends heavily on precise use of lanuage—words—in order that everyone understand exactly what's being communicated.

The same goes for your mis-use of "gaba". I don't know if you think it's cute, or individualistic, or you think it's too much trouble for you to type the whole word out, or as you say, "whatever". MrsD already politely pointed out to you, the name of the medication is gabapentin. GABA is a neurotransmitter—something entirely different.

I don't ask this because I'm picking on you or being a pedant. I don't ask because it makes you sound ignorant. I ask because of the new members and lurkers who find this group via google, who may be confused by your mis-use, see GABA on their pharmacy shelves, and mistakenly think they're getting/taking the medication people are talking about here. Not everyone joins or sticks around to ask questions.

Don't do it for me—do it for them and for yourself. You're a good person.

Best wishes,

Doc

If there was ANY hint of "addiction" with Neurontin, then it would be regulated. They don't EVER miss a beat when it comes to regulation of addictive substances...especially prescriptions medications. So if there was any reputable study that showed anything other then drug dependence, Neurontin would be listed as a DEA controlled substance and classed under a schedule I, II, III, IV, or V. And it's not.

Ok fine. I do not need this.

I call it gaba, it is what I shorten it to since most often I am in too much pain to type it all out. I don't give a crap about all this to be honest.

Im done, I have enough problems, I do not need to have every word disected and called ignorant. You win. Im done. Posting links, trying to give helpful info I found was a mistake, I don't care anymore. The post was about muscle pain, stupidly I posted the link I found in the middle of the night with my feet in water, I thought it might be helpful. The reality is this has become more work than it is worth.

Blessings to you all.