Is gabapentin worth trying??

Hello Hayhue, I take Gaberpentin for nerve pain and have found it is the only drug that as taken the pain away. However some people cannot tolerate it. The only way to find out is to try it. My only side effect is weight gain but compared to the neurolgical pain its a small price to pay. I eat healthy to try and maintain the weight. Hope this helps.

Elizabeth. 

I have also had a diagnosis of occipital neuralgia with trigiminal involvement. I was also hesitant about commencing it but I did some 3. 1/2 months ago. I started very slowly on 100mgs daily and over the 2 months got to 1300mgs. At this level I still had no pain relief at all and although the dizziness had gone I suddenly became very nauseous for over a weeks and decided to slowly come off it. I have also done this very gradually and every 10 days I drop it by 100mgs. So Far so good, although I feel the pain is worsening as I come off it although it didnt work while I was on it. The main symptom I had all the time was continued tiredness. I do regret starting it yet at least now I know that 2 a ticnvulsants have t worked on me. Everyone is different and it is a personal choice. Good luck with your decision 

Gabapentin has worked for me. I was curled up in a fetal position almost sobbing in excrutiating nerve pain from a spinal cord injury that left me with RSD (Reflex Sypathetic Dystrophy) covering every square inch of my left buttock, leg, and foot. Started with low dose of 300m/day. After 4-5 days, the pain subsided by a good 20%.  We then began to slowly increase the dosage until I was at max daily dosage (4000mg/day). It did create some occassional very minor side effects along the way, but the benefit outweighed the effects. This was mostly when I took it on am empty stomach. I'm now at 2400mg/day. I would have to say that Gabapentin is the one medicine out of the 8 that I take for pain and spasticity that helps me most. Maybe you should start with the lowest daily dose and see how you do. There are other GABA drugs out there that also work with nerve pain. I don't know if they have similar side effects though.

All in all, if your Dr. knows your tendency towards dizziness and he still prescribed it, I would give it a try.

Best wishes and prayers for healing.

Gabapentin is very effective.  I use it for facial trigeminal neuralgia.  My husband uses it for neuropathy in his feet.