Posted , 5 users are following.
Gabapentin was prescribed for nerve pain in my back I took about 4 weeks to ramp up to 2700 mg/day. I'm feeling the typical side effects: fogginess, loss of balance, memory problems etc. Do these side effects persist? Is there anything that helps? Cafeine? Exercise?
It has reduced my back pain, but putting my brain on half speed is not a great trade.
0 likes, 5 replies
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Chan2015 ronald77076
Posted
Ronald, if you go off gabapenten just KNOW you have to ween gradually. It's also used for seizures too. So be CAREFUL. Your body will adjust but SLOWLY ok? Don't go cold turkey, you'll feel aweful. So you say on it for a month but was it 2700 mg/day the entire time?? Need to know from you what was the average you were taking for entire month..then I can help you ween off..down.
Chan2015 ronald77076
Posted
Hi Ronald, me again..one more thing; if you have already gone off for a couple days, just know yes your side effects you're experiencing right now DO GO AWAY..but it might take a while. You can google the half life of gabapentin and times it by 2..that will give you an idea when it's out of your system. From that point, give it a few more days to adjust, you're brain has to recalculate
good luck!
OConnor ronald77076
Posted
Ronald, I am taking 900 mg a day for nerve pain in my back too which was just aobut ruining my life. Gabapentin has taken away more than half of it and I am very grateful for that relief. But I have had to put up with the side effects as you mentioned. It has been about 5 months since I started it and I have to admit that most of the side effects, particularly forgetfulness, has lessened. I think the reduction started about at the 4th month. I did try hard to focus on things and write things down, etc., but now I am doing so much better with it, that I don't need those aids anymore.
?Because I am quite old, and you may not be, there may be a difference in how drugs affects us, but I dread having to stop Gabapentin cold as I had heard so much about the tapering rountine that one must go through. At this moment, I don't think I can endure the nerve pain without relief and my country (US) is tightening up on opioids so much that I fear the day that they will totally restrict my use of same. I am taking a slight amount of Tarmadol also becaue it seems to work well on knee pain.
?One thing that I did do was to stop De Cafe coffee and use regular coffee to get the caffeine that I know from the past, can help with pain management. Another thing I did was to increase my taking of the supplement Omega 3 which is good for the brain. I switched to those capsules that come from Krill as I have read reams of material from nutiritionists who swear by the krill as a better souirce of Omega 3. This may sound silly if you have not been in touch with nutrition, but I am not nearly so forgetful as I had been a couple of months ago when I started Gaba.
Let us know how you are doing with the side effects. Whatever works for you may help others cope with our chronic nerve pains and this drug which seems to have more than It's share of "effects".
?Best wishes....
lucy81308 ronald77076
Posted
For most people the side effects do lessen as the brain gets used to the chemical change. You've titrated up pretty quickly, def give it some time, if it is working for your pain it's worth it.
Do bear in mind this drug is messing with your nervous system. It's powerful stuff, doctors don't really stress how strong. When you want to come off it, do so with care. I took gaba for around a year, slowly titrating to 3000 per day, I felt very few side effects, as I went up by 300mgs a fortnight. It did NOTHING for my pain, and the docs kept telling me to try more. After three months at 3000 I decided it was pointless, and began tapering, exactly two and a half days after dropping by the first 300mg capsule from my dose i entered the nether world!! I felt like I was on a bad trip. I endured it for half a day, and then sucumbed and took that extra cap. Half an hour later I felt ok.
I got some 100mg caps from the pharmacy, and tapered by 100mgs a week, I still felt "funny" on the third day post drop. It has taken me months to get off a drug that never helped me. Pointless.l
brianthesnail ronald77076
Posted
they will,however increasing to 2700mg over 4 weeks is too much imho ... im on 3 x 300mg daily for a thorasic herniated discs and this seems to do the job,however your nerve pain may require more
my advice is stick with it .. i had the same side effects for 4 months and was changed to pregablin but this was a mistake as it stopped side effects but the pain came back worse
exersize is recommended as this will stimulate endorphines ( bodys natural pain killer ) but avoid caffeine.. this wont help and will simply enhance balance and memory problems
in summary you will slowly notice the side effects lifting .. it wont happen overnight but suddenly you will notice they are less apparent ..
hope this helps and best wishes