1 month into Gabapentin.

How long you been taking it ? How long on 300 mg/day ? I'm not sure if  there is any time that it "should be working by now"  Gaba. has a lot of adverse side effects associated with it......I had taken it for 4 years and now have been off of it for 2 months....so many bad side effects and it does not really help with pain that well either.....so in my view not worth it at all ! It took me 4 months to taper off to nothing....yes there were withdrawal effects but I managed thruough it OK.....now I have not more sided effects and am Happy  no longer doing it....good luck  

Jim B.

My 13 yr old daughter was prescribed gabapentin for persistent tension headaches that also caused stiff neck and spine. She was on 1200mg a day, (300, 300, then 600at night) worked really well for the pain and she was still able to go to school etc.

She was on it for almost a year, and did get withdrawal when comming off the last 100mg, but was only for about 2wks after stopping it.

The increase in medication should be done under medical guidance as gabapentin has to be increased slowly.

I think it all boils down to the reason you were given it and the doctor having explored all the alternatives to address the problem.  What I worry about  is, I see doctors prescribing it a lot for anxiety when there are probably a lot of other meds on the market to do that better.  Gabapentin, as you will read here, can produce some strange emotional aspects in its side effects that you might not want to experience while dealing with anxiety.  If you have a badly damaged neck from arthritis and nerves are pressing and that is what is causing your headaches then, maybe gabapentin is a choice for that malady. I have a badly damaged spine and that is why i was given it.  But I am experiencing some side effects, somewhat mild, that I may be wanting to stop the medication. Going higher on a drug that has not produced any good effects yet, sounds like a guess.  The higher you go, the more trouble you will have reducing it when you want to.

I have no medical training whatever, so keep that in mind, but I am quite old and have a wrecked body and a good doctor to steer me through the medical events. Be sure to keep your doctor in the loop.

​Having had 3 whiplash injuries in my long life, I can surely sympathize with your neck pain. Chronic pain can produce anxiety.  It could be all connected.  I wish you good results with your quest, Jesika..

For me it was close to four months until I felt good relief. I had good days and bad days and then it leveled off. I have been on it for years and I take it as prescribed with excellent results. I originally took it all at once but now it is am, afternoon and bedtime (physician 's idea ) and it is so much better. Talk to your doctor as they know your conditions and what to expect. God luck.

I started on 900mg which was slowly increased to that point. I am now on 1800mg taking 600 every 8 hours . It is effective particularly in the morning when, within 30 minutes the pain has subsided. The problem is we are all different and the pain we each suffer has a variety of causes. If 300mg is not working for you it may be that you need a higher dose. I di discuss with my doc going to 2700 but at the moment I am glad I didn't. It apparently reduces exponentially in effectiveness the more you take

What I mean by good and bad days was some days in the beginning the pain and restless leg/arm was good and I would get a great night's sleep. Other days it felt like nothing was working. Then those days started to lessen and now I can do almost anything without though horrible pain. There were nights where I had to walk all night as I couldn't control the restless legs or the pain that went with it. All that is in the past now. I still have some pain but I also have severe arthritis but I know the difference. 

Hi again,

that is exactly what I meant about good and bad so something is happening and let's hope the good overtakes all. My daughter suffers from anxiety and what you described she also feels. She complains of the same symptoms you described. To be safe check with your physicians for verification. Once you know what is causing the various symptoms, you will deal with it even better.stay in touch.