Re: pain and neurontin

[Guest guest]

I take 1800mgs a day. it took three weeks in the beginning to feel the

difference. I have had only one side affect since i upped to over 1200mgs, my

sense

of smell is not great. I keep very aware of my eyes because i have been told

the optic nerves can get lazy on this stuff in amounts of 3600 a day. so for

now I am okay with the eyes. Cathleen in Arkansas

[Guest guest]

Hi Deb,

This is solely my response in taking Neurontin. It does take several weeks

to build your dosage up. The Neurontin did help my pain. I was up to

1200mg./day., but the side effects for me were forgetfulness and depression.

Even with reducing the dosage, it still did not eliminate the side effects.

Once I stopped it, after discussion with my doctor, the forgetfulness went

away and the depression lifted.

I now take Topamax and use Topical Lidocaine Ointment. Both work well for

the pain in my foot, legs, and hands. Different medications will vary with

each individual. It is just very important to communicate very clearly with

your physician about how the medication is making you feel, etc.

Pain levels/triggers to pain will vary tremendously per individual. There

are times I have no pain whatsoever and then out of the blue I start to

hurt. It is just a fact of this disease that one has to recognize, accept

and then follow whatever prescribed treatment method gives you relief. I

have osteoarthritis along with CMT so my pain/stiffness is worse of a

morning. I have more fatigue later in the day.

Blair

[Guest guest]

I started out with a dose of 100mg a day-did no good so it was upped to 100 3x

aday and I got real spacey and kept keeling over so had to get off of it and it

did nothing for the pain. Most people can tolerate it.

Good luck Ruth

[Guest guest]

Deb,

I took Neurontin for about a year before it was approved for

neuropathic pain. I had some wierd electrical shocks in my arms

at rest and the Neurontin worked well. I stopped it after a year

because it was making my tremors surge - even in the mornings. I

got up to 900mg a day over the course of a weekend - so I had time

to let the N 'start' to work. At first felt a bit " drunk like " but

that quickly passed and then it seemed as if everything had been

'fine-tuned' in my brain - colors seemed richer, things looked

clearer, etc. N was also real expensive, and since the electric arm

pain stopped, I went back to Elavil which has worked well for me in

several ways. I did a vast amount of research on Neurontin and read

all of Dr. Seastrunk's papers. Also joined a list for Neurontin users

(of all kinds - not just CMT) and learned alot. About 1/3 of people

are " instant responders " , another 1/3 may take about 3-4 months to

feel the benefits, and another 1/3 had no benefit at all.

~ Gretchen