Gabapentin Questions

[JeanieC]

Thanks for the information from your pain clinic, Calluna

Cost is definitely a factor I would say in the US where we do not have an NHS. Gabapentin (neurontin) is available as a generic which means that a 30 day supply is available to people who have insurance for the lowest copay, often just $5 for a 30 day supply. Pregabalin (lyrica) is not available as a generic in the US where it is now being heavily marketed on television for fibromyalgia. This means that the consumer and insurance must pay much more, even though the drugs are very similar.
Of course most of us would pay anything to help with this miserable pain, and the drug companies know that.

In my own case I have tried both unsucessfully but I did only go up as far as 1800mg of neurontin and 300 of lyrica. No side effects from that much neurontin, but swelling of the legs made me stop taking lyrica. I might try nuerontin again soon though as I need to get off of opiates myself.

Tracy, I hope you are finding some help, let us know if you are.

[donstore]

Caluna and Jeanie,
Thanks for sharing your experiences. I tried nortryptelene but had to discontinue after 9 days due to negative reactions (fast heartbeat, tingling in extremeties). Will report back when I get some results (good or bad) from either lyrica or neurontin. Calluna, I also found your link to your pain clinic info invaluable.

[calluna]

That's interesting about the cost, JeanieC. I did not know that drugs were advertised like that, to me it does sound rather unethical - or perhaps that is rather harsh. It is strange to me, anyway. I think that although we do like to complain about the NHS, and indeed it is far from perfect, we are nevertheless lucky to have it.

From what I am told by my GP - and the pain clinic - it is the combination of an anti-depressant and an anti-convulsant that usually does the trick, even if the two are both being taken at dosages that don't have any effect if taken alone.

I have tried both these drugs before and failed to cope with the side effects, in hindsight I think I could have tried harder, so that is why I am trying them again. I have halved my dosage of tramadol now, I am down to 150mg a day and I hope to be down to zero in another couple of weeks. The pain level is up, but I have lots of ways to manage that.

Donstore, I am glad the information was helpful. I do hope that you find something that works for you.

And I will echo what JeanieC has said - Tracy, I do hope that you have found some help.

[HerMajesty]

Oh, HerMajesty, when you say the Gabapentin works for you for pain, can you actually spend any time sitting now?

Tracy,
I am sorry I lost track of the thread and didn't realize you asked me a question til now. I started gabapentin in conjunction with other treatment, so while I am fully functional now and can definitely sit, I really do not give gabapentin the credit for that. As far as meds, valium has been by far the most effective. Elavil was also a good one but I gave it up due to side effects.
To me gabapentin has had only a very small role in my 80% improvement. But there is a role: I have tried to cut back and have experienced a mild but objectionable increase in symptoms as a result.
I currently am on gabapentin, ultram and valium. The valium is great, the gabapentin is so-so, and I am not sure the ultram is doing anything. so the plan is for me to wean off ultram this month, and then my Pain Clinic PA is going to try me on nortryptiline (sp?), which is very similar to elavil but might have less side effects. If that works for me, I might be able to get off the gabapentin. I am really not crazy about the gabapentin and would rather find a substitute that does not make me quite so mentally confused.

[ezer]

Gabapentin never helped me and at any dosage. I was up to 3,600mg/day and it had no effect (except making me a zombie). It is hit or miss but a few years ago, Gabapentin was shamelessly promoted to doctors by its manufacturer as the ultimate nerve pain medication and many doctors believed those claims (see Franklin v. Pfizer case). In fact I don't think Gabapentin is as efficacious as claimed (especially 6 or 7 years ago).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Franklin_(scientist)
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/article ... =pmcentrez

[TracyB7777]

Hmmm, I'm up to 600 mg 2x/day and 300 mg 1/day. Plus I take Paxil daily. I have noticed a slight difference in my pain, so I'm hopefully once I have it bumped up to 600 3x/day I'll notice a real difference. Dr hasn't suggested Valium but I will mention it at the next appointment. Thank you all!!!

[Griff522]

Tracy, I have taken Paxil before and had terrible night sweats and eventually quit taking it. I was totally off of anti-depressants and then this crap hit me. In March my dr suggested I try Cymbalta because it had be shown to help with neuropathic pain. I'm on a very low dose that helps with my depression but not so much with pain. But I know that some people take it at a higher dose or in combination with another med and find it helpful.

[TracyB7777]

Well, exhaustion struck yesterday (very busy weekend and no break, I know better). So I'm at work, trying to look like I know what I'm doing when I realize I'm an hour late on my afternoon Gabapentin. I grab my pill box and see I have 6 pills in the box and for some reason thought I needed to take half the pills, so 900 mg later WOW, look out!!! I felt like I'd been drinking, I was light headed and had trouble focusing. See I'm only at 600 mg right now. Exhaustion and meds don't mix!! But I survived...my friends and coworkers hung out with me until I felt safe enough to drive home (40 minutes). I do hope I don't have to go up to that three times a day!!!

[Griff522]

Tracy, that is precisely the reason I weaned myself off of gabapentin. I couldn't think straight. I also take trazodone at night to help with sleep and twice I accidentally took my trazadone in the morning thinking that it was my synthroid (morning med) even though I had morning and evening pill boxes. I was a walking zombie that couldn't finish a sentence and I still had pain.

[calluna]

Picking up this thread again - has anyone had problems with vision whilst taking gabapentin/neurontin? I've been noticing my vision deteriorating over the last couple of weeks. I am up to 1500mg a day today and my vision is so blurry, I certainly cannot see well enough to drive. I'm having problems seeing the screen here as well. I didn't have this side effect the first time I tried gabapentin, and I'm hoping it is temporary, that it will wear off in a while ..... Can anyone comment?