Gabapentin and Lyrica
 

Does anyone know the what the equivalent of 900 mgs of gabapentin is in Lyrica?

My neuro doc said that he thought I would get more relief from Lyrica than gabapentin and started me on 75 mg twice a day. However, he forgot to give me a plan to back off the gabapentin, and I forgot to ask.

I take 900 mg 4 times a day of gabapentin.

When I called his office to talk about this, his nurse said he had a family emergecy and was out of the office for a while. I have stopped taking the Lyrica until I can talk to him but I gotta tell ya', while I was on both I felt great! No burning, no numb face, no zaps and buzzing! Gosh, if I could take 'em both...

Hi Leslie ~~~I'm not 100% but here we go, 900mg Neurontin = 150mg Lyrica.You should really wait until you have spoken to your Neuro,or maybe even chat to your GP.......Liz

Liz's conversion is about right (300=1800),
but that is so low a dose as to be considered a 'starter' dosage.
When you get above 1800-2400/day
is when symptomatic relief is usually realized.

Thanks Bob! So you think my symptoms are not bad? If that's the case I sure dread when they do get worse...

I think everyone is different so it doesn't mean you are not in high pain. Also everyone responds different to different amounts. I would ask your doctor though cause you don't need any more issues. Also not to take away from the success you felt I know for me each day can be very different and I may do some of the same things. So I have to wait awhile to see a real benefit so to speak. I hope someone gets back to you soon.

Leslie,
I didn't mean to discount your symptoms, in any way.
I'm sure that they are real and very painful.
Be thankful that a lower dose will suffice for pain & Sx control.
If you still feel discomfort, you have a lot of room to move 'upwards'
by increasing your dosage.
Only you can say what is right for you, and I hope you have a neuro or PCP that works with you in achieving the right dosage for your pain & Sx control.

Many of us have to use a cocktail of meds to get relief, and with time,
must increase dosage as we become tolerant of the drugs.

It is not necessary for you to have more severe Sx, just the need increases.
Body and blood tolerances can do that without your Sx getting really worse-
it just feels that way when the dosages stop working as well as they used to.

Thanks Bob and Daniella - and my apologies, I didn't mean to sound as if you were discounting my pain. I am such a "weenie" when it comes to pain and being sick so all I meant was that as it gets worse, I'm sure to be a rearend!!

lyrica and neurontin
 

What is considered a dose of either that sucessfuly decreases pain. My regular neurologist put me on neuron 300 mg three times a day and when I had no decernible results changed me to Lyrica 50 mg three times a day which is what I am on now for the third day...dont see/feel any improvement. I really question how much this neurologist knows about PN but will see a PN specialist in October. I have been calling frequently and hoping for a cancellation as things are getting worse.

The (norm) max dose for Neurontin is 3600mg,but it depends on your Neuro at one stage I was on 4200mg.The (norm) max dose for Lyrica is 600mg but again it's up to your Neuro,I read about a guy who was on 1200mg of Lyrica and he wasn't blowing it out his butt,because I checked him out.There's no two peas in the pod alike,and like the peas,there's no two PNers alike......:)

I started at 75mg twice a day and didn't feel any pain relief until I increased to 300mg a day. Dr said this might be the case and wrote the initial Rx for 300mg, just wanted me to ease up to it in case of side effects.
Over the last nine months have slowly built up tolerance to Lyrica where I'm now at 600mg a day.
Hang in there.

Oy
 

Ok. First, I think the conversions posted are correct. I have to say though that my Dr. has me on both drugs so you might be on both. You can hope, especially since when you were on both you felt great. ;)

And another thing the fact that the max dose is usually 600mg. makes me so mad! My Dr. insists we can do no more with my medicines, even though I am only taking 300mg a day of Lyrica, and 2400 of Gabapentin. I am sure he could play around a bit more with this. Down the Gabapentin, up the lyrica... something. All he wants to do is push another Steroid injection. The last time I saw him he said: "Well, call the office when you decide you want to do the injection." and walked out of the room. He wouldn't give me a followup! (As he said "we have thown all the big guns at you allready. We seem to be running out of options.") I was so mad. :mad:

I'm currently taking 3600mg a day of neurotin and 200mg a day of Tramadol. When he added the Tramadol, it didn't seem to make any decernible difference, but I take it anyway. I think I need to see him again as the pain is increasing and the burning is now beginning to move up my arms and calfs. Yesterday was a very painful afternoon and evening. I took a couple Vicadins and layed in bed for the rest of the night. The Vicadin may have helped a bit with the burning, but the soreness in my hands, feet, and butt was still there. My neuro is worried about moving me to heavily on narcotics because I have a very high tolerance to narcotics, and he worrys about addiction. I'm also not sure what to do now. Its seems my SFN is progressing rapidly over the last 6 months.