What to do now while waiting...

Hi everyone!  You guys and gals are wonderful.  My old neuro has done and made me really mad! Four years ago he seen me for the heaviness and numbness in my legs and dismissed it. But when my rheumy called him up to talk to him about it he said I owed him $135.00 and wouldn't discuss anything with him. I can't believe the nerve of him, I thought Dr's took an oath to treat no matter what. I didn't like him anyway.But anyway I am glad he wouldn't see me because now I am seeing one that did his residency at the Mayo clinic. He's just booked up until March 10 but got a great idea from Heather yesterday and got put on the cancellation list. I go today to see my pain specialist. Has anyone ever had a nerve block injection? Do they work?

[Heather3418]

If you want me to be totally honest with you, I will.  Nerve blocks are painful, but the relief that you get for them is worth all the little aches and pains of the shot.  Unfortuntately the nerve block DOES wear off with time.  I always think the nerve block should be used as a last resort.  But yes, honey they DO help.

The pain has been so bad in my legs before, that I begged the Pain Management Center to please put me in the hospital and give me an epidural. So far, they have refused, saying the  insurance company would turn it down.  All I want is at least one day without pain.  Just ONE DAY!  If that sounds desparate, it is.  Sometimes the pain is that bad, with no medication relieving it.  I have the pain in so many areas of my legs, that a nerve block would have to be injected all over, just to give me the relief I seek.

I hate taking pain medications, but I really do not know how else to have some quality of life.  That and prayer is the only thing that gets me through....

I hear you...I really hear you...

((((HUGS)))))
Heather

[MCBCON]

I was in terrible pain for a number of years.  As time went on the pain kept getting worse.  Finally, I was precribed gabapentin.  Within a couple hours the pain was gone.  Gabapentin is for nuerologic pain.  For me it was a god send.  I think I would have done myself in by now otherwise.  It is a very inexpensive drug as well.

[princess73]

Is gabapentin a narcotic? I have tried so many meds (no narcotics) and nothing has worked. NOt even the block injections. I will ask my rheumy on monday about this. THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[cjacks]

All

I heard the blocks even work on TN..

I wish for everyone to have as pain free a day as possible

My best to all            Jo    

[MCBCON]

No, it is not a narcotic.  For me there are no side effect.  Originally used for epilepsy.

Here is more info than you might want:

Gabapentin is used to help control certain types of seizures in patients who have epilepsy. Gabapentin is also used to relieve the pain of postherpetic neuralgia (PHN; the burning, stabbing pain or aches that may last for months or years after an attack of shingles). Gabapentin is in a class of medications called anticonvulsants. Gabapentin treats seizures by decreasing abnormal excitement in the brain. Gabapentin relieves the pain of PHN by changing the way the body senses pain.

Gabapentin - Clinical Pharmacology
Mechanism Of Action: The mechanism by which Gabapentin exerts its analgesic action is unknown, but in animal models of analgesia, Gabapentin prevents allodynia (pain-related behavior in response to a normally innocuous stimulus) and hyperalgesia (exaggerated response to painful stimuli). In particular, Gabapentin prevents pain-related responses in several models of neuropathic pain in rats or mice (e.g. spinal nerve ligation models, streptozocin-induced diabetes model, spinal cord injury model, acute herpes zoster infection model). Gabapentin also decreases pain-related responses after peripheral inflammation (carrageenan footpad test, late phase of formalin test). Gabapentin did not alter immediate pain-related behaviors (rat tail flick test, formalin footpad acute phase, acetic acid abdominal constriction test, footpad heat irradiation test). The relevance of these models to human pain is not known.

The mechanism by which Gabapentin exerts its anticonvulsant action is unknown, but in animal test systems designed to detect anticonvulsant activity, Gabapentin prevents seizures as do other marketed anticonvulsants. Gabapentin exhibits antiseizure activity in mice and rats in both the maximal electroshock and pentylenetetrazole seizure models and other preclinical models (e.g., strains with genetic epilepsy, etc.). The relevance of these models to human epilepsy is not known.

Gabapentin is structurally related to the neurotransmitter GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid) but it does not modify GABAA or GABAB radioligand binding, it is not converted metabolically into GABA or a GABA agonist, and it is not an inhibitor of GABA uptake or degradation. Gabapentin was tested in radioligand binding assays at concentrations up to 100 µM and did not exhibit affinity for a number of other common receptor sites, including benzodiazepine, glutamate, N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA), quisqualate, kainate, strychnine-insensitive or strychnine-sensitive glycine, alpha 1, alpha 2, or beta adrenergic, adenosine A1 or A2, cholinergic muscarinic or nicotinic, dopamine D1 or D2, histamine H1, serotonin S1 or S2, opiate mu, delta or kappa, cannabinoid 1, voltage-sensitive calcium channel sites labeled with nitrendipine or diltiazem, or at voltage-sensitive sodium channel sites labeled with batrachotoxinin A 20-alpha-benzoate. Furthermore, Gabapentin did not alter the cellular uptake of dopamine, noradrenaline, or serotonin.

[princess73]

Thanks for the info. I will let you know what my rheumy says on mon.

[spastic]

hi, i take 2400 mg of gabapentin a day. it does seem to dull it, get the fire out. how much can one take? my dr said up to 3600mg but i have been taking so much med's, here is a list 800mg 3xday of gabapentin, 10mg 3x day of flexeril, .50mg xanax 3x day, 100 mg 1xday of trazadone, wear lidoderm patches for 12 hours a day,vitamin d, potassium, 100mg imitrex as needed but only 2x week. any suggestions for better meds? talk at ya later, ada