how long before i know if meds will help?

[jenjen1966]

Hi I am new to the fibro community. Yesterday my doc started me on 300 mg of gabaoentin once a day and 50 mg of tramadol twice a day. I was unable to tolerate cymbalta and savella. I am allergic to lyrics. While I slept 10 hours last night, I still have a ton of pain in my hips and shoulders. My question is, how long will it take for the gabapentin to reach therapeutic levels in my system? I know everyone is different so I am just trying to get a general overview. I also am hypothyroidism and some of my pain is from that too. Thanks for any help and input!

[jenjen1966]

I have increased my gabapentin dose to 300 mg twice a day. I can absolutely tell some imorovement. However, in between doses my pain is worse than ever. I hated the tramadol. It made me feel awful and didn't help a bit. I see a new endo for my hypothyroidism Wednesday so I am hoping that will also provide some relief. I have also started with some of the natural remedies. Guess we will see. But overall I have the most relief with the gabapentin.

[TheLightSeeker]

Hi MallanFallan.
Gabapentin works for neuropathy related pain. If this not your case, it will not work at any dosage amount. It only works for small percentage of people.
I hope it will work for you because it is notoriously hard on the kidneys-drink lots of water- and you can gain a lot of unwanted weight from Gabapentin, even more so when you take larger amounts.

You do have alternative natural options. Do not depend exclusively on prescribed medications, but don't try to wean off any meds without expert help, It could be taxing.
Best wishes!
Niko

[MallanFrallan]

Hi, im also on gabapentin, and been on 300mgs twice a day for over 3 months with no change in my pain. I read somewhere that you would have to take over 900mgs in order for it to give any painrelief. My doc just increased it to 600mg twice  aday so im hoping that will help. I also tried tramadol which does nothing at all for my pain. I take oxycodone for the pain 3 times a day but im lookimg for an alternative since ive been on it for over a year its causing damage to my stomach, and im only 30 so im scared of what im gonna be able to take when im 40....im running out of options... savella was to expensive for me.

[jenjen1966]

Hi and thanks for your response. For my hypo I am only takink cytomel 5 mcg. They did find a nodule on my thyroid during an ultrasound last month. I have an apt with an endo on the 13 of this month. So hopefully that will help provide some much needed help and answers. I have been miserable for over 2 years now. I have gone from a very active person to a couch potato. I recently moved to a new town and had to switch doctors. I believe fresh eyes is a good thing. I will do the search for any additional supplements that I havenot taken. Thanks again for your response.

[TheLightSeeker]

Hi jen.
It's hard to tell, but it might take up to 2-3 months to fully feel the effects.
The question is, will it help you? There are no clear answers, as the effectiveness of drugs, can be slightly better than the placebo effect, so
yes, it's like a shot in the dark, specially when all the proper neurotransmitter tests for determining whether you should be taking it or not, are the exclusive domain of pharmaceutical research  to develop more antidepressant and psyche drugs and not for patients health and well-being! Go figure!

If you want some natural remedies for now, you may do a search in this community for IWILLDOTHIS. It will bring you to a thread I started a while back, with many suggestions, that you can hopefully find useful.

Let me know if you need more info.
By the way, what type of treatment are you getting for your hypothyroidism?
A good Endo should be able to monitor your thyroid hormone levels and adjust your thyroid supplement accordingly.There's no reason to suffer from
thyroid dysfunction. Insist and demand from your specialist to have everything thoroughly checked. You may have an issue with your supplement.
Are you on synthetic or natural?
Anyway, I hope you get some answers soon.
Best wishes.
Niko