Thoughts on Gabapentin?

[Flipw1964]

I've been put on it.  Gradually increased to 1800mgs.  Doctor is considering something else for legs if this is not adequate.

[denny]

Up to 2400 and I think it's working,not for usual pain but internal tremors,which is just as bad.
Good luck!

[ronr]

Lyrica is a form of gabapentin and helps some folks more than the generic.

[foxgrove]

Here's hoping that it works great for you!    Your mileage will be your own as each of us tend to react uniquely to these meds for some odd reason.  Note that it's effectiveness may change over time but take it one day at a time and see what it does for you.  A few months of trial are in order as long as you don't end up with really bad side effects.

ps... welcome to the family, brother.  Good to meet you. Feel free to throw out a little more about your journey. 

[looneylane]

Helped when I was on morphone but not now

[Flipw1964]

Could it make my symptoms worse?

[Robby]

Could it make my symptoms worse?

I wouldn't think so, but anything is possible, except fibro making sense.

[denny]

Never made it worse.
After many years of meds I find it takes months or years sometimes to be able to look back at your life to see the difference it made.
It's never made a fast notable difference like,say, morphine would.
But it has made my life better.
Just being on it is the only way to tell.

[augoldminer]

I found it was dosage dependent.

To little and you still hurt to much.
But to high amount and you have side affects that can make things worse.

For me its 900mg a day.
More and i get headaches.
Less and i have more pain.

[countryboy]

I'm on 2400 and have been for 3 years now.  It works better for me an Lyrica did.   Can't afford the Lyrica as it runs over 8 times what I pay for the gabby.   And that is after insurance pays their little pittance.   

[db]

Gabapentin was the first drug that really seemed to help me at all.  However, initially it seemed to make things worse.  Somehow I figured out I needed to take excess water while using it.     Strange but true.

It seemed mostly to help with my irritability.  I've never had much luck with any drug except the opiates to treat the pain. 

I used it for along time until Lyrica came around.  Then went to a mix of both and finally back to just Gaba.  Now I don't need that.   

I attribute most of my improvement to getting acupuncture treatment for my chronic myofascial pain.   

It's difficult to know where the improvements came from.   It has been a bumpy road.

So, Gaba was good for me.  I found I could easily take up to ~2700 mg/d but usually got by on less.  It was also very cheap.   

db