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Awaiting MRI for sciatica type symptoms, now on Gabapentin

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craig26478
craig26478

Hi all and thanks for reading this. I have suffered with back pain for many years but what i thought was standard aches and pains. I have quite an arched back and am quite tall, working a desk job, so put it down to this. At the start of this year, things changed and i started to get shooting pains in my leg leg. To cut a long story short i was diagnosed with sciatica. I have been to physio, seen a private chiropractor and also another specialist physio who referred me for an MRI. Up until then, i had only been prescribed standard painkillers which did nothing. The specialist recommended Gabapentin to the GP and i have been on them since Tuesday. Just one 300mg capsule has made me feel quite spaced out and about 90 mins later when trying to speak with clients on the phone at my work, i lost my train of thought and struggled. I am worried about the long term effects and given that i am still in pain, i feel like i don't know what to do for the best? Do i stick with them, it's obviously very early days? Should the pain be gone? Range of movememt is no better. I'm strong willed but this is really starting to get to me. Any info / advice is appreciated and welcomed.

Regards to all, Craig.

1 like, 76 replies

76 Replies

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  • craig26478
    craig26478

    Posted

    Hi all. The replies in the thread are very insightful and certainly help those feelings of aloneness and helplessness. I am today starting 4 x 300mg per day and must say the change from when i first started them to now is considerable. I am still getting side effects, i do feel cognitive function is impaired but generally speaking things are improving. I revisited the GP yesterday to discuss the dosage increase and she suggested increasing as previously advised, to a maximum of 6 x 300mg per day. She also stated to re-introduce paracetamol 4 x daily and ibuprofen 3 x daily. I will try this from tomorrow. When i asked what sort of pain reduction i should expect, she said 50% was seen as a successful reduction. At the moment i would say it's 30% but certainly there is help from the Gabapentin. I suppose i worry about long lasting impact and hope when i stop the meds, i return to the previous me! i.e. being switched on fully and "on the ball".

    Wishing everyone well

    Craig

  • MargaretAnn14
    MargaretAnn14 craig26478

    Posted

    Hi Craig. I have a herniated disc which mri confirmed.

    GP thought it was just sciatica but another dr.said there's always an underlying reason for the nerve pain. She was right.

     I am on 100mg 3 times a day and do feel a tad strange but able to function ok in the office. I take gabapentin 6am. 2pm. 10pm with ibuprophen every 4 hrs & cocodamol in between.

    Gabapentin makes my mouth tingly like when you have an anasthetic. It is strange.

    Trying to drink lots of fluid to protect my kidneys!

    It is helping with the pain but not 100%.

    Maybe the dose is too high?@ 300mg? 

    I find if every hour I walk away from the desk it helps walk for about 5-10 mins and up n down stairs gently is good too. Seems to help get the pain down to manageable level again. Hope you get on OK. 

    Take care.

    • plushly
      plushly MargaretAnn14

      Posted

      Hi Margeret

      If anything the dose is too low; therapeutic dose for Gabapentin is up to 3600mg per day.

      I also found it was difficult to focus with Gabapentin. It was ok when I started on it as I was on vacation, but when I got back to work it seemed to impact my performance too much. I changed to Lyrica (Pregabalin) which does not seem to have as much of an impact on cognitive function (though a possible side effect is listed as dementia), but it seems to make you gain a lot more weight.

       

    • MargaretAnn14
      MargaretAnn14 plushly

      Posted

      OMG. I think I will stick with my current plan. I would like to lose w8. Not gain and as for the dementia.......sorry...what was I talking about?

      All joking aside..dementia is very hard for both the patient and their family. I know I cared for my mother. It is a very cruel disease indeed.

      Wishing everyone all the best.

      Keep blogging..at least we have the support of each other, that alone is very helpful to me. Thank you all. Take care.

    • Jayive
      Jayive MargaretAnn14

      Posted

      Hi

      I also think the dose is too small. Currently I take 6x100mg tabs daily and find this is insufficient, I was taking 9x100mg but cut down due to weight gain however now I don't have as good a pain control and after speaking to the Dr yesterday am about to increase the dose again. I tried pregabalin some months ago but didn't find it worked as well as gabapentin but i guess we all react differently to each drug.

      Topamax is a drug for migraine - how has that helped anyone's pain?

      Thinking of you all and wishing you pain free soon

    • craig26478
      craig26478 Jayive

      Posted

      Hi all. It seems such a tricky situation, not knowing what to do for the best! My greatest fear is loss of cognitive function and the dementia aspect sounds scary! I feel pretty demented anyway mind, so might as well have the full set!

      Although none of this is funny, i do believe you have to laugh, keep spirits up. On the dementia front, i witnessed a grandparent go through this and another to Alzhimers, so know how awful it is.

      I take a multi vitamin most days and a vit c soluble tablet 4 days a week (more if i remember). I am today going to start cod liver oil i think.

      Wishing you all well!

    • snowycat
      snowycat MargaretAnn14

      Posted

      Hi.. what dosage of cocodimal do you take? 

      I'm take gabapentin 3 x 300 per day plus 30mg x 3 cocodimal per day and amytriplalene 25mg 2 to  3 hours before bed. I have a root nerve oedema and night times are comfortable.. my day times are getting less pain but need to use my mobile app to remind me or pain comes back. I'd say I'm 70% pain free.

      Good luck take care

  • tino007
    tino007 craig26478

    Posted

    Hi Craig

    Having been diagnosed with a prolapsed L4/L5 disc Im also on Gabapentin 3x300g per day & Amitryptyline 1-3 before bed(Amitryptyline makes you VERY drowsey but ensures a good nights sleep). Before the MRI I was taking tramedol with co-codamol, the Gabapentin seem to be working well but the dosage has to be increased (my doc says) as you progress.

    Like some other people here my back has been bad for a long time. I dont know about others but I tend to go through a cycle :

    1) Back feels fine

    2) Lift too much/Sit too long in bad position/Reach/Bend/Twist... Ouch...

    3) Bed bound in agony for a few days, crawl to toilet, cry in pain...  

    2) MRI revelas prolapsed disc/slipped disc/herniated disc/bulging disc etc..

    3) Agonising pain for 4-6 weeks, pain killers reduce pain 10% - 50%

    4) Disc slowly loses inflamation and settles back into place

    5) Pain slowly reduces 

    6) Absolute illation - back is repaired, must look after my back after this.

    7) Forget last step & go straight to step 1

    Stay with the Gabapentin as it does help, nothing you take is going to take your pain away 100%, you can help yourslef though and try to understand what caused the issue in the first place & how to avoid next time round. I now stand at my computer as this was the cause of my most recent prolapsed disc. I dont lift anything thats over 20KG, my doc gave my back a safe working load to stick to which I did but didnt stop to think that sitting in front of a PC could cause a slipped disc, which it did.

    In my 20 odd years of going through the above cycle the best self help ive found is a book by Robin Mckenzie called treat your own back. The excesises in the book are simply life changing, as good as the meds (in my humble opinion) but doing these excercises along with pain managment from the meds will certainy help loads and help to reduce the repair time by a week or maybe two.

    Your probably through the worst by now but keep your chin up cos it will get better. Good luck

    • craig26478
      craig26478 tino007

      Posted

      Hi Tino

      Thanks for that reply, some great info and advice. I've got my mri resukts yesterday and confirmed as a disc problem that's on the nerve. Don't know which disc get etc. Referred to a surgeon.

      Scared but pleased to have a diagnosis! The meds are starting to make a difference now and improve things, pain reduced by more than 50% now and negative side effects improving. The reintroduction of ibuprofen and paracetamol seems to have aided things. I've thrown in a multivitamin and cod over oil too lol.

      i have an electric desk at work which is essential now but 10+ years of sitting at a desk and poor chairs may be my cause.

      I'll update everyone when I've had my consultation.

      Wishing you well

      Craig

    • MargaretAnn14
      MargaretAnn14 craig26478

      Posted

      Craiv; you just reminded me I was taking vitamin C daily & have gout out of the habit over the last 4 weeks. I will get back into it now you mention, if nothing else it hopefully will detox some of the chems I am putting with the gabapentin ibuprophen & cocodamol.

      Keep blogging peeps. It all helps. And at least we understand what we are going through which our GP's aint got a clue. 

      Have a good weekend, and a pain under control one at that. 

      X

      Tino agree with everything you wrote.

      Take care.

      X

    • Werkuvart
      Werkuvart tino007

      Posted

      Didn't you ever require surgery for your back issues so you could get off all the meds?  I want to fix my problem, not constantly take medications. I have a cyst on my lower lumbar spine and they're treating it with nerve pain meds and steroids to see if it's a nerve problem first. I don't want to be on gabapentin for the rest of my life.  I truly just want the cyst removed but they need to know if it's just nerve pain or the cyst causing the pain. I'm totally confused.

    • tino007
      tino007 Werkuvart

      Posted

      Hi Werkuvart

      It sounds like your in a bit of a mess with it all. The gabapentin was really affecting my mind so I made a big decision to taper myself off it. I was uncharacteristically angry quite a lot, couldn't sleep and a few other gaba-p side effects that can find all over the web.

      I wanted to know just how much pain help I was getting from the gaba-p and if I could stop some of these side effects. I tapered over three months, its was horrible, bed swets and other crappy effects. Id also had a steroid injection into my spine (way before coming off the gaba-p) and it really helped my get on my feet but I was still prescribed the gaba-p and having these issues hence my decision to come off it.

      For my pain I used good old co-codamol, after the three months I felt it was the best decision I have made for years, my mental attitude became very positive, the anger stopped and I was a father again to my children.

      Im not giving this out as medical advice, you must take your own path but this helped me recover mentally. I still had the pain and still do to this day but I take care of my back and have not had a major spasm for quite a while now.

      Like my surgeon said, you can get the op, maybe walk with a limp and hopefully be ok after maybe two years, or you can take two years to try and alter your view and take better care of your spine and see after the two years if this natural way is as beneficial as the surgical route.

      Im thinking about you and your situation, its not easy and I hope you truly find a positive route to take for you in your situation. Love and blessings to you x

  • ThomasBell89
    ThomasBell89 craig26478

    Posted

    Gabapebtin is a life changing drug for we serious back sufferers.  I take 1800mg a day and have done since 2001.  My GP prescribed this after I had numerous epidural injections to no effect.  I experience no side effects.  They are not like Codeine which I also take in large quantities each day, Codeine hits in 30 minutes or so, Gabapentin builds up to it's maximum effectiveness over time.  Good luck. and hope you improve.  No one knows how severe back and leg pain affects one's life but Gabapentin really helps.  Amatripylin (hope it is spelt correctly) is also useful at bedtime.
    • Jayive
      Jayive ThomasBell89

      Posted

      Hi Thomas, interesting to hear you take high doses of gabapentin and have done so for such a long time. Has it made any difference to your weight? I've gained over 15lbs since taking it about a year and cut down tablets to try and lose the weight again but have found the pain is bad and have just increased the dose as suggested by my GP. I also take paracetamol and codiene  and asked for amatryptline but GP said no.You say large quantities of codiene, how many do you mean? I understood it was an addictive drug and try to avoid taking it unless my pain is too bad to cope
    • ThomasBell89
      ThomasBell89 Jayive

      Posted

      Hello Jayive,

      No it hasn't altered my weight.  I live by a strict regime and eat a little every two hours or so.  I should say that i am forced by pain to lay down for an hour every two hours so eating like this makes the laying down more bearable.  I was on Co-Proximol instead of Codeine to start with then it was withdrawn.  This was a great pity as, and my Doctor admitted there was a drug which took it's exact place on the market.  After years of Codeine I asked whether I could have the lighter tablet the 8/500 as well as my usual 30/500 for those times when I felt I might be able to manage on just that occasionally.  I couldn't see any value in swallowing all the paracetamol which has no effect. My GP said the 8/500 would be useless to me and instead prescribed Codeine and Paracetamol in separate form.  So I take 60mg Codeine x 3 or 4 times a day.  I try to manage on 3 most days.  The amatryptiline just helps to stop the pain breaking through during the night, and it really does.  If I go to sleep and have a bad night I find there is my amatryptiline and Gabapentin tucked under my saucer on my bedside table in the morning which I have missed.  This proves to me they work and that it isn't 'all inside my head'!

      Yes codiene may be addictive, but which is worse, having a reasonable life of moving about (some of the time) going out and getting some pleasures or being laid in awful pain when every hour is insupportable? I had a serious accident at 34 years of age.  It took two years to recover but being an active person by temperament it was very hard not to try to do things which ultimately caused scarring around the spinal cord.  I think the condition is known as Arachnoiditis (or is that fear of spidars which i also suffer from !) but it means a spidars web of scarring.  They can't operate so I am stuck with it.  But I thank the wonders of modern drugs for giving me my life back, it may not be the one I want but at least it's a life.

      Sorry I have gone on far too long.

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