Dilantin (?)

  Not quite sure which category in which to post.  I'm 5'5" & 225lbs. Female
  and 50 yrs. Work two, full time jobs and play golf.  First job is in
  advertising sales (high stress) 2nd is at home on our large internet store.
  A.  Started out with severe burning, tingling, numbness in upper left thigh.
      It has gotten worse, of course, with added weight.  I lost 100lbs on the
      Fen Phen diet, but it's slowly coming back without the medication. I
      am still on a very low fat diet.
  B.  MRI and Nerve tests completed with diagnosis of two semi herniated
      discs & three buldging discs.  Surgery is not indicated
      and I would not want it anyway.
      1.  I seldom experience back pain.
      2.  Only trouble seems to be when lying down.  I have to put the left
      leg up a bit to flatten the back against the mattress.  The tail-bone
      (can't remember spelling for proper name)
  C.  First perscription was for Carbatrol
      1.  Carbatrol upset my stomach and made me sleepy.  
      2.  I don't have time to be sleepy.  
      3.  My leg began to itch in addition to the burning.
  D.  Doctor discontinued Carbatrol and perscribed Dilantin.  I am taking three
  capsules before bed each evening.
      1.  My knees and legs are aching enough to wake me at night.  The ache
          feels like it's coming right from the bone.  Very unpleasant.
      2.  I started taking my estrogen again to try to counteract the aching
          but it seems worse.  The doctor had advised me to stop taking it
          due to the death of an aunt and double mastectomy my sister
          suffered due to breast cancer. However, my family doctor had
          prescribed it to help the beginnings of osteoparosis.(geesh, how
          do you spell these things?!)
      3.  There are lumps that have appeared at the top of my leg, behind the
          knee.  The left one is the larger.
      4.  The burning and numbness in my left leg is just as bad as it was
          before I consulted doctors.  I used to have to walk a long distance
          before symptoms started, but the numbness is constant now and
          burning is also present most of the time.  It takes only a few
          minutes of standing or walking for it to become severly painful.
  NOW WHAT?  Is there no other medication to take?  I do not have epilepsy and
  feel that the side effects are worse than the problems.  I'm trying to lose
  weight, though my metabolism is that of a slug.
  HELP.
  Sandy  
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Thanks for your question.  The symptoms described in your message are quite
suggestive of Meralgia Paresthetica.  It is caused by the compression/level
of the Femoral Cuteneous Nerve, as it passes underneath the inguinal ligament
in the fold region between your abdomen and your thighs.  In particular,
the correlation between weight gain and worsening of the symptoms is
strongly supportive of this hypothesis.  The best solution of this problem
is weight control.  It is unclear how much an anti-epileptic (which are
frequently used for neurogenic pains) would help in this scenario.
I hope this information is helpful.  Best of luck.