I thought all the side effects had dissipated?

A lot of people have reported the tiredness & fogginess from gabapentin. That can take a bit longer to subside (than the week or so for the others we discussed) - possibly a month or so.
That's the $64,000 question. Earlier in my journey, I went through a period of depression. The S/E of everything they tried (and they tried them all) were worse than the depression. I got so angry about the whole situation that the anger motivated me past/through the depression better than the meds.

You have options for the headaches, but they'll depend on the cause/reason.

Doc

Hello all. I took gabapentin for about a week. I felt like I was in some kind of fog. I couldn't form a sentance or concentrate on much of anything. I quit the drug and won't take it again. Some of the side effects we get, are worse than the pain. I guess I didn't take it long enough for some of those side effects to go away. ginnie

Hi Doc,

All the side effects are gone except for constant headache and a bit foggy. Almost like my world is dulled. No more nausea or tummy issues, and my sleep patterns seem better, but my head ALWAYS hurts. I have been trying advil ot Tylenol for headaches and it helps a bit. I don't know which med is giving me the headache though, gabapenten or butrans? I will talk to my PM dr next month about it.

I also went through a depression, was crying everyday, couldn't stop the blues. It was about three months post op. But my family dr had me start cymbalta and it went away. Chronic pain causes depression, vicious cycle we are in.

I'm going to stick out the meds a bit longer, I want to discuss options before I stop or ask to change.

Cathie

Ok. Keep us posted!

Doc

hi cat

sorry you have these terrible side gigs
all i wanted to say don't throw in the towel
i myself am back on all medicines i
had hoped to have been taken off
after surgeries
but you know the story
surgery took life from me
and back on powerful meds

please listen to your body
it does talk
we need to listen

take good care

Just wondering if you are doing any better with the medications. ginnie

Hi Eva

I was thinking about you and wondering how you were. I haven't seen you on very much lately. I hope you are seeing a bit of improvement each day.

I'm hanging in there, most of my side effects are gone from these new meds, except for the constant headache. Haven't decided which is worst yet.

I have another appt in march with my neurosurgeon to discuss arm surgery. I think if all the tests come through positive I will have it. It will at least be a shot at getting my hand back, I desperately need to use my hand again. I know you understand.

The new meds are keeping the neck pain under control, not gone, but tolerable at least. So I will stick it out a bit longer.

I hope you are getting some relief as well, I think of you often.
Take care,
Cathie

Hi ginnie,

I'm doing a bit better, thanks for asking. All the tummy issues have subsided, just wish this constant headache would go away. Not sure which med is giving me the headaches though since both list it as a side effect.

I guess time will tell....
Thanks for checking in on me,
Cathie

Well, I just couldn't take the damn headaches any longer, by Friday afternoon I had another migraine and just couldn't do anything. I called the pharmacist and discussed my concerns with the 2 medications and he suggested I stop the gabapenten first to see if it was causing the headache since it's a shorter acting med then the Butrans patch.

I stopped the Gabapenten on Friday and I haven't had a headache since!! YAHOO! Evil stuff. Sooooo.... it's not the Butrans patch it's the Gabapenten making me feel like crap, the fogginess cleared up too. So glad, I'm actually awake today for the first time in 2 weeks.


Cathie

Gabapentin was my suspicion.

I'm glad the headache stopped and you're feeling better. I'm also glad you didn't seize (but looking back, you've only been on it a couple weeks). Just curious - Did the pharmacist mention/say anything about that at all?

The next question (and this may be tough to determine) is, do you think the gabapentin helped your pain at all (if the side effects weren't there)? Some people benefit from it faster than others. It worked for me within an hour of taking it; for other people/types of pain, it may take a few weeks to kick in... I guess where I'm trying to get to is that your PM doctor may want you to try Lyrica, which is similar to gabapentin, but with a lower side effect profile (and more expensive). If this is where he goes, I'd give it a try (but you can look it up ahead of time and be better prepared to discuss it with him).

Thanks for the upadate,

Doc