I'm really confused and would like your opinion



Went to my general doctor yesterday with what turned out to be trigeminal neuralgia. She put me on Neurontin. It was dulling the pain. Still had it but I was only on it for 24 hours. It was at least tolerable.



She sent me to a neuro, whom I saw today. He said Neurontin was not the best line of defense and put me on Baclofen. I'm back to severe pain (although he said it wouldn't help immediately)



Isn't Neurontin a nerve pain medicine and Baclofen a muscle relaxer? Isn't trigeminal neuralgia nerve related? Is Baclofen better than neurontin? Just doesn't make sense. I'm tempted to stop the Baclofen and go back to the Neurontin.



Another reason: pharmacist says not to take Baclofen with Zanaflex. Zanaflex does a good job with my spasticity. Baclofen isn't touching spasticity.



ANY feedback would be greatly appreciated

Yes baclofen is a muscle relaxer. It has a history of relieving TN pain. I'm not a pharmacist or doctor so I can't explain why, it just does.

In my experience with neurontin, I didn't get pain relief after only being on it for 24 hours. It takes time for the med to build up to a therapeutic level, up to a month. Everyone is different.

I've been using baclofen for several years. I also take it with zanaflex and I haven't had any trouble. I didn't get good pain relief with neurontin and while baclofen doesn't work optimally, it gives me better relief than the anticonvulsants I've used and more importantly for me, I can tolerate baclofen.

I hope this info helps you some.

Thanks! I appreciate your response

I once had a bout of TN as part of my MS symptoms and my nerve pain was treated with one of the anti-epileptics, Tegretol in this case. That was some time ago and I now take a different one of the anti-epileptics for nerve pain.

I cannot imagine Baclofen doing anything for nerve pain and I do feel for you because I know you must be suffering. TN pain is atrocious!

I personally would not continue with the Baclofen in this instance, but I cannot advise you to stop taking your's. That's a decision only you can make and one you really should make in consultation with your doctor and/or your pharmacist.

I suggest you phone your neuro and tell them how your pain is severe, and that the Baclofen is not helping. If that fails, do you have a GP you can go to?

Koala, baclofen is widely used for TN pain. Her physician prescribed it for a reason.

I'd not heard of it used for nerve pain, so I stand corrected. Thank you EEO3.

My GP prescribed the Gabapentin. Then, my neuro prescribed Baclofen. The Baclofen isn't doing much. I go back to the neuro Wed. Will discuss with him.

Thanks everyone for your feedback