Hi all:
I went to see my new physician today and she was great. We went over my medications and she decided to add Neurontin three times daily - I will be tapering up to 300 mg, three times daily to see if this helps with my pain. She also has gave me a referral for acupuncture. Has anyone had success with Neurontin and/or Accupuncture?
It’s so wonderful when you have a dr. That actually does their best to help, I’m blessed with my dr also. I’m surprised she recommended acupuncture… Most medical dr’s don’t believe in that, so kudos to her ! I have heard that acupuncture can help, but it takes time & you may get worse first… That’s what I heard, never tried it myself.
Unfortunately I couldn’t take neurotin, it caused me bad headaches … There have been discussions about weight gain with Neurontin, but many felt the advantages out weighted the disadvantages.
I hope both help… Keep us updated
Hugs & blessings
dee
Hello Nurse13
I am so glad that your new doctor was great. It's such a relief to find a doctor who is interested in fibromyalgia and is willing to work with you.
I was taking Neurontin at one time but the side effects were too much so I tapered off it and am on Cymbalta now.
I have no experience with acupuncture.
Hello Nurse13,
Just wondering if you have ever tried massage? I go every two weeks and it helps me stay limber, especially with my neck/back/arms/hands. The first time I went, I became so sore that evening, but was told ahead of time to use ice. I haven't had to use ice since. I figured it was worth suggesting because most insurance will pay for massage if they cover accupuncture.
Glad you found a caring doctor : )
I used Neurontin for years in the late 1990's/early 2000's. I can't say that it did anything for me.
Now, acupuncture is a different story. I tried it with three different practitioners. The first was an old chinese guy who didn't speak English. Not only did he use acupuncture, but also used the cupping technique. The most unusual part of the experience was that I had acupuncture needles in my forehead, ears, neck, etc., I sat in a swivel chair for more than an hour. It turns out he went to another patient and then went home. Evidently, he forgot about me. It wasn't until a nurse came in to turn off the lights that I was discovered.
I next tried TCM (traditional chinese medicine). I followed a prescribed program out of a packet of info that was very sloppily put together. It involved a bag of dried "items" that would be reconstituted as a tea which I had to drink. I swear I had no idea what was in there. I could recognize unusual looking dried mushrooms, something that looked like tree bark, a dried, curled snaked or worm, part of a turtle shell, etc., Yeah, it tasted as good as it sounds. When it was time for acupuncture, he asked me to show him where the painful spots were and he circled the spot with a Bic Biro blue ink pen. He would then take the needle and insert it directly into the tender spot, which of course, hurt like hell. Now, I thought the point of acupuncture was to get the body's Qi moving effortlessly throughout the meridians, blah, blah...NOT USING THE NEEDLES AS ONE WOULD USE A TENS UNIT!!!!!!!!!!
After inserting the needles, he put some herb into the end of the needle and used a lighter to heat the herb so it was smoking. He then used a ridiculously hot light source aimed at these needles and like the first doctor, he left the room. Very quickly, the needles became too hot. I started screaming for help and the nurse came in asking what was wrong. I told her to get the damn needles out because they were burning me. She looked at the clock and said I had seventeen minutes left. I cursed loudly and took out the needles myself throwing them all over the room. the last laugh was truly on me though because for more than an hour, I was unable to move my right ankle meaning I was unable to drive. After my performance, they wanted me out of their office which meant I had to wait outside (did I mention it was snowing?)
My last experience was with my physical therapist. She practiced self acupuncture and in an effort to help me get some relief, she gave me a box of one time use needles, showed me what she did on herself making sure I used the limitations she put in place. I tried it at home but after about three weeks, I realized that acupuncture wasn't for me. No big deal. there were lots of treatments I had tried that did not work. So it gets added to the list and I go back to moist heat and massage.
Hi Marc, I take neurontin and it has been helping me, I have been on it for over a year now. I take three 300 mg in the am and four 300 mg at night. I also have Essential Tremor and it helps with that too. I hope you have good luck with it.