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Taking Gabapentin for neuropathy in feet. Hardly any relief. Now having muscle and joint pain.

Posted , 5 users are following.

Buckshot308
Buckshot308

My doctor prescribed Gabapentin for neuropathy in my feet. He has me taking 1200mg daily. If on a scale of one to ten, ten being the worst the drug has knocked the pain down from 10 to maybe 8. Really not much relief. Now I am suffering from pain and weakness in my muscles and pain and stiffness in my joints. Has anyone had a similar experience?  I am also concerned about the dosage. Most people in the forum seem to be on 300mg per day.

0 likes, 8 replies

8 Replies

  • Margot49
    Margot49 Buckshot308

    Posted

    I may be in the minority's here but I was diagnosed with Small Fiber Neuropathy lady year and I was already on Gabapentin for GI issues!    They wanted me to try Lyrica, in place of the Gabapentin, but I was afraid of side effects.  Cymbalta is also sometimes prescribed.  One medication may work for some and not others.  Maybe you need a higher dose and allow your body time to adjust. Do a Google search and read up on these drugs.  I believe you can take up to somewhere around 3600 mg a day but don't know how people function on that dose.  I think I was up to 1800-2000 mg a day.  I have had weight gain issues and it makes me feel tired.  I am trying to slowly reduce and am on 400 mg a day now.  How long have you been on it?  Have you notified your doctor of these new symptoms? Have your B vitamin levels been checked, esp B-12? Neurologist at Stanford checked mine and said it was low, after my doctor said it was normal.  I now take 1000 mcg a day and notice some improvement.  In my case, diagnosed as idiopathic, meaning they don't know the cause.  I have muscle and joint pain but can't attribute it to the Gabapentin as I have Osteoporosis.  A couple of years ago, I was having bilateral pain in my thigh muscles.  Got so bad, I could barely go up a step.  Doctors didn't know why.  I looked up all the side effects to my meds.  I ran across a brief mention of Nexium causing muscke pain.  I stopped the Nexium and within 4 days the pain, that I had for weeks, was gone and has not returned.  Chances of that happening are low, but it happened to me.  What works for some may not work for another.  Good idea to start keeping a daily diary.  Good luck.

    • Buckshot308
      Buckshot308 Margot49

      Posted

      Hi Margot,

       Thank you so much for your input. Last week I saw my doctor and did tell him of the joint and muscle pain. He basically brushed that aside and increased dosage anyway. Maybe its time for another opinion from another doctor. Your suggestion of keeping a diary is a good one and I plan on doing that.

      Thanks again and good luck with your situation. Buck

  • JohnAk
    JohnAk Buckshot308

    Posted

    Hi Buckshot308,   I Used to be on 1200mg Gab for osteoarthritis in my neck and lower back causing me lots of nerve pains.This was not giving me much relief. So my doctor increased my dosage to  900mg 3 times a day. After a couple of days the pains had eased off not fully but a lot better to what it was. I am defenatly finding the pains more manageable after the increase of tablets. However there are some side effects of being tired  more than before . Regards John Ak
    • Buckshot308
      Buckshot308 JohnAk

      Posted

      Hi John,

       Thanks for the information. Now I'm not as concerned about the dosage. I'll ride it out for awhile and see if I get some relief from the neuropathy. I definitely am feeling tired constantly and that is probably due to the drug. Best of luck with your neck and back pain. Buck

  • jodi67505
    jodi67505 Buckshot308

    Posted

    Hello!

    I have been experiencing neuropathy pain as well for the last year. It was not until a month ago I was formally diagnosed with small fiber neuropathy!

    My nurse practitioner first started with Gabapentin 100mg a day which was ineffective. So with help from my neurologist I was bumped up to taking the Gabapentin and cymbalta and I honestly did not feel like a human being, so back to the drawin board it went. I was told to increase my Gabapentin where I am at now, 900mg/day, and still experience no relief. I am still waking up with pain and burning in my feet. I cannot sleep with a blanket on my feet and have to have a fan at the edge of my bed blowing on my feet. I am very weary about the Gabapentin, I feel like it is taking a significant toll on my life. My mental health has not been the best since starting this drug, I have had weight gain when increasing the dosage (8 lbs in 2 weeks), an uncontrollable appetite, and have such bad body aches. The body aches are from my legs up to my arms and wake me up at night with a horrible heavy feeling. 

    I was advised to take alpha lipoic acid, nacetylcysteine, magnesium, and b12 to accompany the Gabapentin for neuropathy relief but even with all of those medicines combined I am still having no relief, so I am seriously questioning just being asked to get weaned off of the Gabapentin. I’ve heard reviews of the horrors of the withdrawal from Gabapentin so I am somewhat nervous about that. 

    How else are you treating your SFN? Did your doctor say what other treatment options there were for you? Mine suggested IVIG therapy which I will be starting in the future. 

    • Buckshot308
      Buckshot308 jodi67505

      Posted

      Hi Jodi,

       We are experiencing some similar symptoms. My neuropathy is severe and constant. I also get sudden stabbing pains that only last a second or two but are very painful. I have been using vitamins and supplements to try to offset the side effects of the drug but they don't seem to do much. My doctor has not discussed alternative treatments but I have done some research and found some doctors that provide different therapies for neuropathy. I will be reaching out to them. I am going to ask about IVIG therapy as well. It's a 24 hour a day struggle with this pain as you well know.

       Thanks for your input and good luck to you. Buck

    • jodi67505
      jodi67505 Buckshot308

      Posted

      Ugh yes a 24 hour struggle it is. 

      I have successfully scheduled my first ivig treatment for this coming week. Fingers crossed it helps, I was surprised to get an answer back from the insurance company so fast regarding coverage. 

      I am curious to see how it will help. I am glad to know someone else is dealing with the same issues! Sometimes I feel like all of the doctors I’ve seen think that it is all just “in my head”.  

      I’ve started weaning off the Gabapentin and have had the sweating and burning and painful toes increased, but at this point it’s choosing between the bad mental thought due to the Gabapentin or the other pains. 

      Have you tried any creams for the issue? I hope you start to get some answers and relief!

  • JohnAk
    JohnAk Buckshot308

    Posted

    Hi Buckshot 308,

    I have suffered with nerve pains in my neck and lower back for many years. The only thing too have helped me is Gabapentin. It does take a while to get use to it because of side effects. I started on 900 mg a day but it didn’t seem to help. After going back to doctors he then upped the dose to 900mg 3x a day. I must say at first I was a bit nervy but I can say that it did help with a lot of the pain being a lot easier. There are some side effects but I found that keeping with them helped me  John Ak

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