Re: electric sparks/Neurontin

[Guest guest]

, and all...regarding neurontin and

electrical sparks...

I really don't remeber how long it took for the

neurontin to work. Howeverr, it makes all the

difference in the world for me. This clearly is not

true for everyone. I started off with a low dose. Now,

about sven or eight yeaers later I take 1800 mg. per

day. It made me slightly drowsy at first but I've

adjusted to that. This may sound overly dramatic to

people who do not have severe pain but without

neurontin I swear I've had times (many times) that I

would choose to have my arms amputated. Sorry for such

a graphic example but it's true. However, I do have

other factors that makes the CMT worse for me. I've

been injured in four auto accidents.

The worst related

injury is a condition called thoracic outlet syndrome

which means that the muscles aroung the blood vessels

and nerves that go to the arms are in spasm and

squeezing the blood vessels and nerves. I overdid it

working with a large patient who required a lot of

hands on work a month ago and my arms were nearly

unbearable for almost every moment of every day for

three weeks.

I take neurontin and other meds and they

usually allow me to function but when I feel good I

forget all about having a problem and I pay a very

heavy price for it later. , for me it is not an

occasional electrical pain. It barely stops at all.

It's just that sometimes are worse than others, almost

always depending on my level of activity. It's almost

never random.

Gretchen's experience of taking the

neurontin for a while, going off it and not having the

electrical pain return sounds remarkable. I don't know

how common that is. But from what I know, everyone's

experience with neurontin varies. Lots of luck.

Deni

[Guest guest]

Deni: I've waited to " hear " reports by others who have and are taking the med,

neurontin. My experience (pre-diagnosis) with neurontin was after having severe

pain after a C-6 fusion back in 1989. The pain I experienced requiring the

surgery was minor compared to the pain after surgery. That should have been a

hint for my surgeon but it went unheeded. I was sent to a rheumatologist in

Portland to be examined after the doctor who'd performed the fusion suggested I

might have rheumatoid arthritis. That had been the " catch-all " diagnosis for my

HNPP for years prior to meeting this doc in Portland. He put me on neurontin

and about ten other anti-inflamatory meds over a period of about six months.

None did more than make me vomit and in particular, neurontin caused me to gain

weight rapidly, increase my heart rate, give me a feeling of uneasiness -

jitters, and basically did nothing for the pain. It was amazing how he tested

me for just about everything BUT a neuro disease. And no, no rheumatoid factor

has ever shown in any blood test I've had since I was a child. (there's a long

history of suspecting rheumatoid that I won't get into here)

So, I shall not take neurontin again. I've finally found the right mix of

analgesics, opiates, and support meds to deal with pain. Instead of being an 8

or 9 on the scale, with the meds I'm running around 5 to 7 daily. This " pain

cocktail " as I affectionately call it, was developed after attending a 10-week

pain management course through Kaiser Permanante here in Salem. There have been

some adjustments to the " cocktail " as my chemo system has got used to some of

it, however the adjustments seem to be holding ground for now. It's all about

staying ahead of the pain so what I do take would, in my humble opinion, be low

doses that will enable me to increase the mgs. as my body gets used to the meds

and so they will continue to give me relief to the degree they do today. It

should be noted that I'm one of those stubborn kinda guys that doesn't like to

put chemicals in my body willy nilly. And, with the type of meds I take, I

don't want to be in a cloud all day. I want clarity of thought and quality of

life.

rQn I

PS I'm on a roll - I've posted a lot today. LOL