So I today I had a pretty hectic day I went to see my psychiatrist who just so happens to be 1 of the very few people I happen to have faith in after 1 interview, and going based on her behavior I decided to modify how I keep my notes.. Im compacting no need to carry a bunch of notebooks and look for the page Im gonna break it up into sections and sub sections, ANYWAYS, during our meeting I told her about the gabapentin about how much I take and how little I feel it does for me and she does the one thing no doctor has ever done for me, she handed me this drug book told me to look it up and find out why while she finished writing out my script and then we could talk about it, So I'm flipping through the pages and I find it all the way towards the back pg 1042 or something and it says Gabapentin is used as an anticonvulsant, and as an analgesic for nerve pain caused by herpes virus or shingles (herpes zoster), and to treat restless legs syndrome but those are the only FDA approved uses for Gabapentin.. and that makes me wonder why they give it to us? of course theres off label uses but no wonder I dont feel better and its no wonder my pain is barely fading, and why im always in pain.. and I feel betrayed I feel like my cries for help went unheard, that I confided that I felt like a weirdo for not having a change in pain levels while using this and Im angry that my PCP played me for a fool, and now what I cant just stop taking it its gonna take weaning and only when they find a suitable substitute.. Im so hurt not just physically but psychologically I should have seen this coming why didnt i catch this ?
Sorry for being a downer but I just feel like screaming and crying,
I too am learning about this fear of not being heard. I waited months to see my GP to tell her that I was pretty sure that I am dying or something ( just an off guess due to the constant pain). Its so devastating to devulge yourself and feel like that person closed off. I am wondering if maybe your Dr. chose this drug thinking it would be a "start" with a less potent analgesic to improve the pain. I had a dr. discuss it with me as well. You are not a downer. Just down and looking for some help up. So am I.
Wait, wait, wait, slow down, another name for this drug is neurontin I believe, it is scripted for nerve pain, Fibro is inflamation of nerve endings causing pain. Dad was scripted this for his post shingles & he checked his PDR & read it is also for depression & wanted off of it. & his PCP said no I believe you can get some good out of it. So Dad takes it less, but not completely off of it. It makes both men happy. I was scripted it for restless legs & to keep my Migraines away. I was taken off of it & then re'scripted it a few yrs later, I had one BLEEP of a adverse reaction to it (although my children had a good belly laugh out of it).
How long have you been on it? For some people it takes anywhere from 3 wks to 3 mos to kick in. I have a sibling who expects meds to work NOW & yes it may never help you but at least the MD tried! She did listen to you at least from my point of view she did!
im taking it 400 mg x 3 a day and last time i was there they told me we could go u to 2800 mg in 1 day safely that means I could essentially be taking upwards of 900mg x3 a day and still be hping for a solution.. what sucks to me is if they know gabapentin doesnt work then why not use it with something else im ONLY using this and hydrocodone and theres no one alive that doesnt know how i feel about depending on opiods for my sanity I find it amazing that no one had the consideration to even warn me is all i feel betrayed and i dont know why i chose to trust so hard in a doctor who gives me 30 minutes to be in and out
Neurontin isnt FDA approved for all kinds of nerve pain the way most doctors (including mine) treat it Its approved for 3 things shingles pain, restless leg syndrome, and as a seizure treatment.. Ive been on this since Thanksgiving.. and like I said every time I go before i knew this we talked about how I dont feel any symptom relief I still have a lot of pain of the majority of days so we always up the dose and I always walked away feeling like shes trying maybe the freakozoid is me for not taking to her treatment and at least getting somewhat better, I mean theres doctors in that same office who claim they have fibromyalgia and can wear high heels and i can barely walk i really thought it was me ... so its devastating to find out that lyrica is the one thats approved to treat fibro not neurontin and that they arent nearly the same Id be willing to take generics Im even going as far as having genetic testing done to see if its truly them or its me Im just tired of nothing helping, and having them get angry at me for calling them to verify if the medicine is supposed to work this way, or to verify instructions since they love to switch them up on me or because its not working for me but they just want to keep increasing the dosage i dont have seizures Id hate to throw something off balance and start
Neurontin/Gabapentin is used to treat nerve pain and restless leg syndrome. It helps me tremendously but I can't take a large amount of it or the walls start bending towards me. It is commonly used for the aforementioned problems. I don't understand why they are still giving it to you if you're not getting any benefit from it. They should try Lyrica, it's a bit different. I hope you find some relief and I do understand what it's like to have a doctor NOT listen or outright point their finger at you like you're a child and tell you you're wrong. I really dislike that doctor now and don't think I'll be using him again. He's just a PCP and I can get one of those with one phone call. Good luck to you.
Insurances sometimes make it difficult for doctors to treat their patients! My Rhuemy prescribed me Lyrica but the insurance denied it so she had to prescribe Gabapentin in its place! It just doesn’t seem right when the insurance companies have this sort of control over our medical treatments!
My doctor tried it as one possible solution to my pain, so please don't think your doctor played you. The problem is that there is nothing extremely effective in treating fibro nerve pain. I take Lyrica and it helps. But I still have awful back pain when i walk around. Maybe you could bring it up with your doctor and ask if Lyrica or Cymbalta could help you. If finances look to be an issue, both companies offer some assistance. Also Cymbalta is also out in generic form, I believe.
I'd give ample side eye to anyone claiming to have fibro who can still work AND run around in high heels. When i was trying physical therapy AGAIN, I was told that one of the psychiatrists had fibro and worked a full day but rested on the couch when she got tired. I felt like a little tiny ant after being told that but you know what? We are all made differently. If you stick around for a bit you'll see that some people, like yourself, are in unbearable pain even with their meds while others have some pain but the meds help some too. We are all made differently and maybe some freakoid fibro person can still work in high heels but that isn't your story so "Peh" to them. They probably go home to their husbands and scream at them because trying to be perfect is a big huge pain in the butt.
It will get some better, Vishq, once you find a med to help you. Meanwhile I think you are vey wise to have more testing done. I hope those tests will include testing for some auto-immune diseases. And even good ole osteoarthritis can cause horrific pain. Just keep pushing for more treatment and testing.
Hugs for you. I wish so much I could take away some of your pain.
I agree with you guys, Im sure theres a reason why im getting gabapentin and Im giving her a chance to make sense of it to me. Im scheduling a follow up appt and asking her to switch me to something that actually works not another anti depressant because the psychiatrist says im not depressed that she understands my irritation and frustration that she would be too in my place (then again she has nerve damage to her arm, which is constanlty in pain so i think she cn somewhat relate). She says that being in pain doesnt make anyone happy and that we should cut ourselves some slack. I am gonna ask about the FDA approved treatments for fibro which only consist of savella, cymbalta and lyrica at this time and ask to be switched to those .. Cymbalta I just started (god bless the psychiatrists soul) and I can attest even beginner doses do more for me than large quantities of neurontin.
Your psychiatrist's wisdom seems sound. Pain does affect our moods and can cause frustration. But you are right, you need to try another medication to see if it helps. It seems as if you may be getting some needed relief from Cymbalta, which is freakin awesome! I will warn you that Cymbalta makes some people sweat a lot. If Cymbalta doesn't do it, try the Lyrica. It doesn't work for everyone but it sure helps me.
I think you're finally heading in the right direction. Hang in there! Your search is not unusual at all.
I was just diagnosed with Fibromyalgia about 10 days ago and my Rheumatologist prescribed Gabapentin 300mg to be taken twice a day but I can only take it once a day due to my work schedule. I started taking it a few nights ago and I had a instance migraine along with dizziness that lasted a whole day. I took it again last night and again another migraine but this time I couldn’t sleep. My rheumatologist told me had to try me on Gabapentin first instead of Lyrica is because of the insurance. I am wondering is normal to have a doctor only prescribed Gabapentin only? I don’t know how long it takes to take effect but so far no good.
I read the description about Gabapentin and I read the same thing you did about the Herpes Complex and it makes me wonder why it’s prescribed for Fibromyalgia. I hope you find something that works for you. I will thinking of you.
As I've mentioned in other posts, I was diagnosed 21 years ago with FMS. Then I made a "brilliant" move and crushed the nerves in my feet. The left being so much worse than the left. Since then I've been on Gabapentin/Neurontin 600mg 4 times a day. I'm curious how that dosage compares to the other dosages that you are on. It's very helpful for my feet, but doesn't touch the fibromyalgia. I was never put on it for my fibromyalgia. I'm curious when Dr.s started prescribing it for FMS. I do believe that the researchers are getting closer to a cure from the things I've read. I also was put on Cymbalta 8 months ago, it's done absolutely nothing for my FMS pain, but now I am able to deal with the depression from chronic pain. I don't want people to lose hope, but I'm on enough pain medication for the crushed nerves that I wonder what it would take to zap the FMS pain. Just for the record....my FMS pain is a heck of a lot more painful than the crushed nerves in my feet.
That's a real eye opener. Because your feet are very, very sensitive places, pain-wise. As a kid I had some plantar's warts removed from the soles of my feet. The pain from the injections was absolutely excruciating, some of the worst pain I've ever experienced in my life. So to think that the nerve meds that work on your feet don't even touch the fibro pain...wow. That kind of blows me away.
I also didn't realize how different Gabapentin is to Lyrica, in terms of pain-reduction for fibro. No wonder so many people complain about it. It seems so cruel and unfair to deny people meaningful pain medication because of the cost. I understand that the cost is high but there should be some middle ground where the Lyrica is allowed.
Trea, me too! After taking gabapentin, I got a horrid tension headache across my entire scalp, like someone had pulled the skin and muscles as tight as they could across the scalp, then tied the rest in the back of the scalp, like a skin and muscle ponytale. I tried it several times but always had the same result. Dizziness might also be a side effect, I know it is when I first started on Lyrica.
I'm thinking that maybe you're only being prescribed one thing at a time so the doctor can find out what works and what doesn't. If you were taking more than one medicine, it would be hard to know which one worked and which didn't. And why take more meds than you need if one will do the trick? I do see the logic behind the decision, although it's pretty rotten when you're suffering so much.
Oh my gosh! Dont be so hard on yourself. I am a nurse and drs use meds all the time for off label stuff. Sometimes it works other times not so much. I dont understand if you were getting little or no relief why your pcp Didnt change you to something else. I know its hard. My rheumatologist had me on meds for RA then she left and my liver went crazy. So when the next rheumatologist started he said you dont have ra because it doesn't show in the blood so no more RA meds. I think some drs try to help and others just want us to go away. Now I'm upset for you too. How dare anyone give you meds without explaining what they are how they should work and what you should expect to get from taking it. I am ashamed of the medical profession. They are felling us and it needs to stop. I am truely sorry for your upsetting situation. When you get a med ask to speak to the pharmacists they know more about drugs than drs do anyway. I hope you feel better soon.