gabapentin? effective? for how long?
 

Hello,

I am thinking about trying gabapentin. I have searched through old posts and see a lot of people have taken it but nobody has talked about how effective it has been or how LONG it worked for them.

Do you take it/have taken it?
How well did it work? significant enough to try?
Why did you stop?
Did it stop working for you? If so, how long did it last? What do you use now for relief?

THANK YOU

Yes, I used to take it. It works pretty good. It's a good choice to try for sure!!

I used it for about 5 years. I had to stop because I maxed out on the dosage. It is a drug that you have to increase dose over time. But like I said, it lasted me 5 years.

You have to start with lower doses and build up...but you can do so pretty quick, because you'll know soon whether a dose will work or not.

Definitely worth asking your doctor about Rxing for you. For severe cases, sometimes more than one drug is used together. You might ask about staying on the nortriptyline while you start the Neurontin. Some cannot be taken together...I'm not sure about these two, but can't hurt to ask and whether you would benefit from taking more then one...as many patients here do.

hi there canagirl,

My all over burning started last august. I was put on Amatriptline which helped, then I tried Gabapentin, that was useless for me (we are all different). I then tried Lyrica, as soon as I took it it gave me relief, I have been on it for about 4 months now, I am feeling much better now and lead a normal life. I haven't tried to come off it, i take 50mg in am and 50mg p.m.

My neurologist told me that Cymbalta is supposed to be the best one, i haven't tried that as i seem to be OK on the Amatriptaline.

Hope you get some relief soon, its a bit of trial and error.

Loulou

thanks en bloc

What if anything do you use now? is it effective for you?

Loulou

You are taking both the amitryptiline and lyrica? What is your dosage of amitriptyline? have you tried coming off the amitryptiline? I just wonder if you would get the same relief from just lyrica?

Thank you so much for your responses. they really help during this hard time. I would still love to hear from others.

Canagirl,

At this point i take pain meds (Oxycontin and Percocet for break through). When I had to stop Neurtontin, i spent a couple years trying different meds...cymbalta, lamictal, namenda, lyrica,...the list goes on and on. I either couldn't tolerate the side-effects or they didn't help at all. About 4 years ago I took Percocet for a back injury and found it helped the PN. So my PCP started Rxing this, since i get no side-effects.

I also get IVIG for both my immune deficiency and I get a higher dose to help with certain aspects of the PN...more for controlling progression, as most of my PN damage is permanent.

Hi canagirl,

I'm not coming off the amatripaline as it helps my sleep and anxiety too. I am comfortable with what I am taking so am not going to mess around with the drugs, I take 20mg at night of amatriptaline.

I think you just need to find the right combination, its funny how gabapentin didn't help me at all but seems to help others a lot, its worth a try, I have 2 small children so I need to make sure I feel as well as possible so if that means I have to take 2 drugs so be it.

Take care

Loulou

Gabapentin
 

For me, no. There is no single drug that helps everyone. You may have to try a few until you find the right one or combination. Hopefully you have a caring physician who can help facilitate this for you.

I have been taking gabapentin for about 10 years and it works pretty well for me. Have at times combined with amitriptyline, now combining with tramadol. This is a good first drug to try. I believe I get some memory problems and possibly trouble concentrating like I should be able to for engineering work.

I have heard of people saying that a drug stops working after a time. I am wondering if, in some cases, that the cause of this may be an increased level of pain and the perception is that the drug is not working as well.
Ron

It was the first drug I was started on for my symptoms. It helped me get some rest. My SFN ramped up and was all over. I maxed out on it, so then Lyrica. Taken off Lyrica. Now on Amitriptyline 50 mg.
Good luck and hope you get some relief soon.

A while back I took Gabapentin for a few years, then discontinued it which was no fun (you need to withdraw very slowly).

When I started having twitching & cramping, I agreed to go back on, and it controlled those symptoms well.

All of that was before I started to develop significant nerve pain, so I don't really know if it's currently doing anything for me as far as the nerve pain.

Side effects for me are sedation (which may be a good thing for you if your having trouble sleeping), memory problems (particularly searching for a word or name you want to say but can't remember it), weight gain, and some loss of libido.