meds

[Guest guest]

The thread on Topamax is such a great example of what works for one, doesn't

mean it will work on the next person with the same dx. I tried Topomax and

nothing - no side-effects and no help.

Gapabentin (generic Neurontin) was given to me years ago and couldn't tolerate

even the lowest dose; given intrathecally? Helped the debilitating back pain

(doesn't help other areas of pain though).

Just goes to show how everyone is so different and that patience is a huge

virtue when starting pain mgt. It can take trial and error to find the right

medicine/combination of medicine and even when that's found, there's no

guarantee that you won't need to add another medicine or switch at some point.

Kathy

Re: Update on my daughter's appt w/local MD....

Topamax caused my total loss of bowel control. It's a rare side effect but my

motto is 'if it's gonna happen, it's gonna happen to me'. lol! As for pain, it

didn't help all that much. I'm on Tramadol right now, and it helps to some

degree. Instead of the 'pins and needles' feeling, it's more...numb. Kind of

like when you sit on your foot/lean on your arm or hand for too long. I see

the

pain Dr. on Wednesday and I'm not sure I'm staying with it. I haven't tried

Neurontin because it zoned me out when I took it in 1994. I took the generic

(can't think of the name at the moment) and my pain increased so I stopped.

Jodi

>Neurontin is also an anti-epileptic and it helps ALOT of people with

neuropathy.

>Unfortunately, I had untolerable side effects from it but many are able to

take

>it without problems. They (even the manufacturer) don't really know " how " it

>helps...but it does. I haven't tried Topamax but it probably works in much

the

>same way. Lets hope so...without the side effects