Gabapentin for genital herpes nerve pain
Posted , 4 users are following.
hi everyone,
i dont really know where to start.
i suffered crippling vulva pain for 8/9 years, to then find out i had genital herpes. i was put on acyclovir but didnt help, i dont really have blisters or anything that i can see but i have burning pain/throbbing/stinging when weeing. i suffered this for years without knowing i had genital herpes. wasnt a day without pain. coldnt do anything without it being painfull.
Id like to know if anyone has similar symptoms cause of genital herpes?
i was put on gabapentin as doc said it is used for herpes ect, great news is that it completely stopped the pain.
BUT bad news is that i suffered very badly mentally being on this drug, thought i was losing my mind. i was in a very dark place & was only on it for 2/3 months. i was sectioned for a few weeks too. i stopped the gabapentin & have been off it for a year now, after stopping it i still had no pain for a year.. until about a month ago, the pain is back. im apsolutely gutted!!
ive just started feeling better mentally & dealing with things properly. but now the pain is back i am in a big rutt & dont know what to do, in 8/9 years the gabapentin was the only thing that stopped the pain. but it put me
in such a dark place mentally.
i dont know what id prefer, the pain? or no pain but mental side effects from
gabapentin. Is there anyone that can help me? maybe some advise?
or maybe someone that has been through a similar situation?
id appreciate any feed back.
Thankyou.
Tyler.
0 likes, 8 replies
Yabatan0924 Ty12xx
Posted
Hi Tyler,
First of all, to hear anyone being prescribed Gabapentine for a genital herpes, something that simply requires medical examination / laboratory test is "a major disaster" for which your Doctor/GP should be called out for sanction. This is my belief.
Having said that, the next thing is to understand what Gabapentine is used for and how it works. Clearly, it is used for blocking nerve pains and it works by blocking the part of the brain that recognise pains; the very reason why you stopped feeling the pains from your herpes when you were placed on it. So, Gabapentine is not a drug for treating genital herpes. It is a drug for treating nerve pains.
What you must do is to go for thorough medical examination and get your herpes treated. I am aware that herpes is something you may have to live with for the rest of your life but there are medications that you could be placed on to treat this infection and its accompany pains.
All i can say is "I wish you all the best in this fight". Cheers.
Ty12xx Yabatan0924
Posted
Thankyou very much for your reply..
because i had genital herpes for 8/9 years without treatments it had caused nerve problems down below with was the reason for the pain & the reason i was put on gabapentin. i have read that gabapentin can be prescribed for longterm effects of genital herpes. thats why i was put on it but my doctors were also very useless at caring about my condition.
i have had examinations & am told that there are no visable signs aka blisters ect but genital herpes can cause symptoms without any visable signs, they have put me on the medications for herpes but they arent touching the sides for the pain which is distressing.
i am doing research on other medications that could possibly help but the fact that gabapentin completely took it away is just so tempting right now as this pain is doing my head in & its constant. but im just worried on the mental side effects it had on me the last time. its a very risky decision ill have to make deciding wether to be put back on it.
again thankyou for your reply, much appreciated.
Yabatan0924 Ty12xx
Posted
Now, I have a better understanding of your history. Gabapentine is a dangerous drug and everything i have read about it is scary. I know there is another drug called Pregabalin (pls google and read) which is used for treating painful nerve diseases like Fibromyalgia. What i dont know clearly is the difference in the effect and side effects between Gabapentine and Pregabalin. Talk to your GP, please or request for a referral to a specialist. I wish you all the best.
Ty12xx Yabatan0924
Posted
yea i have read alot of bad reviews on gabapentin too, plus going through the awful side effects myself i remember how terrible it was, i just remember it stopping the pain completely.. so im in a predicament 😕
i will speak to my doctor & see what the outcome is.
Thankyou for your advise much appreciated.
JohnAk Ty12xx
Posted
Hi Yabatan
sorry to hear that you have the pains in your privates..... I to suffer with nerve pains down below......I take gabapentin and cocodamol for nerve damage in my back going into hips and legs..they help with the pains appart from the ones in my scrotam. they travel down into my scrotam from my groins....if the pains down below are as bad as you say..... i would get back on the gabapentin if as you say they would shift the pain.......i am paying my doctor a visit friday to see what he has to say.......
Yabatan0924 JohnAk
Posted
Hi JohnAk,
Sorry, it wasn't me that suffer pain down below. Nevertheless, let us continue to support and encourage each other until we can find solutions to our different problems.
Cheers.
john93228 Yabatan0924
Posted
hi, i'm new to PHN or herpes and don't even know if i have it. but i basically have had pain since 2013 that started my right shoulder, to my right neck, to my right cheek, and left chest. it also spread to my arms. the pain feels like nerve pain but idk how to describe it. it's very uncomfortable and makes me unproductive. i noticed the more i get stressed from i.e. studying, arguing..etc. or the more i talk or the more i stay awake during the day, the pain gets more and more painful. at times i feel like to the pain on my right cheek is something is pulling the my right cheek. it's so painful. i went to millions of doctors and no1 knew what my issue is. when i tried gabatrex which has gabapentin, i started taking it on a gradual basis (1 pill a day to 2 pills and so on). when i reached taking 6 pills a day which has 2400mg in total, the pain completely vanished. it literally felt like a miracle. so this pill is the only one that worked. i've stopped taking the pill and now the pain is back. so given all this, what is the issue that i have? do i have herpes? do i have hiv? wtf do i have? and yes i did have a lot of sexual relations in the past.
Ty12xx Yabatan0924
Posted
hi, first of all i think that you should definately go to a sexual health clinic & ask them to do a blood test to determine wether you have herpes or not. They dont normally do blood tests they normaly wait until you have a herpes out break & take a swab from it. but if you tell them you dont have outbreaks but its very important that you have a blood test to determine wether you have it or not.
The symptoms you have explained in my opinion doesnt sound like herpes to me.. especially in the parts of your body you are suffering pain.
There are 2 types of herpes..
HSV1 - blisters / sores on lips / face.
HSV2 - blisters / sores / pain / burning / itching in the genital area & pain with urination.
So not sure herpes is what you have.
i was diagnosed with HSV1 & HSV2 over a year ago after suffering terrible constant pain in the genital area for 9 years. so herpes had caused alot of nerve damage for me not realising i had it for so long & not having treatment for years. the virus just got worse. So the normal antiviral medications werent strong enough to help my pain so
i was put on gabapentin for it & it completely took my pain away, it was a mirical at first but then the gabapentin caused me alot of mental side effects & insomnia. so i stopped it, was unbelievable awfull coming off the drug i wont lie but after stopping it i still didnt have any pain for a year after stopping it, until a few months ago, the pain started coming back & now im in a predicament wether to go back on the gabapentin or not. Just worried cause i dont wanna it to cause so many side effects again, but the pain is unbarable so i havent really got a choice as the amount of meds i tried in 9 years never helped my pain, except the gabapentin. Hopefully it will help the pain & the side effects will be minimal this time.
i hope i have helped you know what to do from here.
& hope you get things sorted.
Thankyou
Tyler.