Aa
Adding Gabapentin to my regime of meds...not good!
Hey all...hope everyone is feeling well today!
As some of you know I have been told to add Gabapentin to my regimen of meds..300mg, 3 times a day. I started my bedtime pill last Thursday and didn't seem to have much of a problem with it other than by the time noon came around on Friday, the TN pain was back with a vengeance.
So, I tried to add another dose of the Gabapentin yesterday at supper time. I feel asleep watching tv which is not normal for me but I slept about 1 1/2 hrs. I went to bed about an hour after the nap and I had no TN pain all evening.
However, at about 4:00 a.m. I woke up feeling the most nauseous I have ever felt. When I tried to get out of bed the dizziness was overwhelming and it took all I could muster to get to the bathroom where I sat on the edge of the tub in the dark throwing up while trying to not fall headfirst into the bowl! It was all I could do to get a ginger Gravol (and of course I only had 1/2 a pill left) and make my was back to bed without killing myself. After taking the Gravol I was able to go back to sleep and while I am still pretty unsteady on my feet I feel a whole lot better than early this a.m.
Some of you "old-timers" will remember our dear Ada! She often expresses how horrible the vertigo that she endures can get and now I can somewhat relate to her problem and I have offered her my greatest sympathies!
What I would like to know is if anyone has had such severe side effects as this while trying to titrate up on their Gabapentin? Of course I don't want the pain but I can't see myself living through night after night of this! I am going to just take my bedtime dose for a few more days now and I hope it will get better but I would like to know if it will?
Lots of Hugs,
Rena
Hi there.. I take Gabapentin for a few years now and slowly went up to 2700 a day now, I do change to amount as my symptoms act up. If I need more I take another 300mg.
I hope you feel better soon
take care
wobbly
I hope you feel better soon
take care
wobbly
Wow...we could be twins! hehe Seriously, I had the same thing happen with my first dose...fell asleep on the love seat for about two hours then very carefully made my way to bed bobbing and weaving but the stomach churning didn't start until about 4:00 a.m. and I woke up that way and lurched and bobbed and weaved to the bathroom and succumbed to the stomach churning.
So, I tried my second dose last night for the second time and while I started sweating profusely and was incredibly dizzy, I also took a ginger Gravol with it so the stomach churning wasn't there! So I will try this same method again tonight and hopefully I can make it through another night!
I really appreciate that you are sharing with me Mary...it's good to have someone with similar results to talk with! I will for sure check into what michelleric has to say before I decide to let anyone cut into my head! I am not fussy about the idea but when the pain is intolerable I think most of us are willing to do anything to get rid of it! Thank you so much for sharing your experiences with me Mary and I will take what you have said and work with it for sure!
Guitargrrrrl...hey there! I just wanted to let you know that I am currently on Citalopram and Elavil and they are both AD's and I don't seem to have any problem with it. Perhaps Wellbutrin has a different make up that doesn't jive with other AD's? Thank you for your input grrrrllll! Yes I hope my Dr. McDreamy is on it for sure! tee hee
Lots of hUgs,
Rena
So, I tried my second dose last night for the second time and while I started sweating profusely and was incredibly dizzy, I also took a ginger Gravol with it so the stomach churning wasn't there! So I will try this same method again tonight and hopefully I can make it through another night!
I really appreciate that you are sharing with me Mary...it's good to have someone with similar results to talk with! I will for sure check into what michelleric has to say before I decide to let anyone cut into my head! I am not fussy about the idea but when the pain is intolerable I think most of us are willing to do anything to get rid of it! Thank you so much for sharing your experiences with me Mary and I will take what you have said and work with it for sure!
Guitargrrrrl...hey there! I just wanted to let you know that I am currently on Citalopram and Elavil and they are both AD's and I don't seem to have any problem with it. Perhaps Wellbutrin has a different make up that doesn't jive with other AD's? Thank you for your input grrrrllll! Yes I hope my Dr. McDreamy is on it for sure! tee hee
Lots of hUgs,
Rena
Hey Rena - I hope things get better for you soon. Be really careful with Elavil/Welbutrin. I'm not sure how two ADs will react with each other, but I'm sure Dr. McDreamy will be able to sort this out - just sayin'...
Cheers!
Cheers!
Hey girl...yes I am on Elavil 75mg at bedtime and have been on it for quite some time. I have had a few episodes of excrutiating pain in my legs (like pain that made me cry) and that is another reason why I think he put me on Gabapentin. I will definitely mention the Wellbutrin if I can't get adjusted to the Gabapentin and I appreciate you sharing your wisdom with me honey! As I said before I will le tyou know what is going on and thanks again!
Hugs,
Rena
Hugs,
Rena
Wellbutrin is another I haven't tried but suggested by my neuro for pain.
I forget if you're currently taking amitriptyline? I take 50 - 75mg at night. Added this to the mix when gabapentin wasn't doing enough on its own. It helps with this pain, occasionally has a sedative effect which isn't so bad as I take it just before bed.
I forget if you're currently taking amitriptyline? I take 50 - 75mg at night. Added this to the mix when gabapentin wasn't doing enough on its own. It helps with this pain, occasionally has a sedative effect which isn't so bad as I take it just before bed.
Hey People!
Well after my fun with the Gabapentin yesterday a.m. my stomach muscles and my ribs are killing me today! I just love all this crap don't you? he he
Anyway, in my opinion Tammy, everything about MS seems ironic don't you? Everything we have to take seems to make us sicker before it makes us feel better in the land of "stupid MS".
Mike my Canadian friend...my neuro wanted me to titrate to two after three days and then three after three days. However, my pharmacist thought that was insane and advised me to titrate after at least a week. I tried after three days because the pain in my head was so bad after the bedtime pill wore off but I think I would rather have the pain! He did want me to have 900mg/day and that is the way the RX is written out but I am gonna follow the pharmacists directions. I may try to take my dinner time pill today as my hubby is home if something happens but I will see if the pain is worth the "illness it causes"! hehe
db my longtime Albertan friend...well I can't very well go off the Tegretol honey because I have been on it for seizures long before it was utilized for pain. I am concerned about the mix with my other meds but my doc knows that I am on all of these meds so I hope he knows what he is talking about! hehe I haven't tried Cesamet or Sativex but I have tried the latter and while it does affect my abilities to perform some tasks, in small amounts it does help with the pain. However, if I have too much it makes the pain worse so go figure eh? I will struggle my way through this and see how it goes and if I am too sick and dizzy I will certainly let him know.
Jess...thank you for your kind words and I hope you continue to have good results with Gabapentin.
Well tomorrow will be 7 days since I started the Gabapentin 300mg at bedtime. I may try my second dose this evening if the pain gets unbearable but otherwise I will wait until tomorrow. I will let you know the results and thank you so much for your responses!
Lots of Hugs,
Rena
I agree with Mike that it might help to work up to that dose. I've been on gabapentin for almost 2 years. I only take it at night, before bed, to help me sleep more comfortably. I usually take 400 mg, but if I'm having a tough day I'll take the full 800 mg pill.
I hope you get used to it soon!
~Jess
I hope you get used to it soon!
~Jess
Ugh, sounds miserable, Rena! I take between 2700 - 3600 mg of gabapentin daily. I don't get any discernible relief at doses lower than this. I started at 300 mg 3x daily. I've never had any side effects at any dose. I'm confidant that my fatigue, dizziness and occasional vertigo are symptoms of the disease, since they started before I was on any med and they've been a constant, regardless of whatever dose I've been on.
Neuroas like gabapentin because of its generally low side effect profile. Your reaction may subside as your body adjusts; and you may need to approach it more gradually as Mike suggests. It may be that your reaction is due to the combined effect of adding this to your current mix of meds. Again, it may subside with time; if not, you may want to try it without the Tegretol, etc and see how you do.
Neuropathic pain is so frustrating as it's difficult to treat, for most of us the meds are only partially effective, and the specific cocktail that helps one may have no effect on another. So it is a lot of trial, error, and patience to figure out what will work best, at the lowest dose, with the least side effects.
Other options are Sativex, Cesamet, and marijuana. The side effects of the first two were too much for me, even though they really helped with the pain; the latter had minimal effect on my pain and the usual side effects that impair normal functioning. Perhaps your experience would be different.
Talk to your neuro, he may have ideas about other meds and/or suggest a more gradual titration of the gabapentin. In the end it will be a decision about the tolerability of side effects vs the tolerability of the symptoms you are treating. Severe vertigo may be worse for you than severe pain, or vice versa. Everyone has their own tolerance thresholds for these symptoms.
Neuroas like gabapentin because of its generally low side effect profile. Your reaction may subside as your body adjusts; and you may need to approach it more gradually as Mike suggests. It may be that your reaction is due to the combined effect of adding this to your current mix of meds. Again, it may subside with time; if not, you may want to try it without the Tegretol, etc and see how you do.
Neuropathic pain is so frustrating as it's difficult to treat, for most of us the meds are only partially effective, and the specific cocktail that helps one may have no effect on another. So it is a lot of trial, error, and patience to figure out what will work best, at the lowest dose, with the least side effects.
Other options are Sativex, Cesamet, and marijuana. The side effects of the first two were too much for me, even though they really helped with the pain; the latter had minimal effect on my pain and the usual side effects that impair normal functioning. Perhaps your experience would be different.
Talk to your neuro, he may have ideas about other meds and/or suggest a more gradual titration of the gabapentin. In the end it will be a decision about the tolerability of side effects vs the tolerability of the symptoms you are treating. Severe vertigo may be worse for you than severe pain, or vice versa. Everyone has their own tolerance thresholds for these symptoms.
You started at 300mg 3 times a day? Wow, that's 900mg/day. I thought you had started at 300/day. I think you should titrate up to 900/day during a 10 to 15 day period.
I'm no expert, I'm only going by my own experience with Gabapentin. Follow your Doc's orders, but are you sure he/she wanted you to start at 900mg?
So sorry you're having these side effects, and the TN pain to boot.
Best wishes, Mike
I'm no expert, I'm only going by my own experience with Gabapentin. Follow your Doc's orders, but are you sure he/she wanted you to start at 900mg?
So sorry you're having these side effects, and the TN pain to boot.
Best wishes, Mike
I have been on gabapentin for a long time, and I take a pretty high dose. I too had the extreme dizziness, and it came back each time we ramped up the dose. This side effect goes away though. I couldn't tell you if the sleepiness subsides though. I'm always exhausted, and I don't know how much is MS, and how much is meds.
It's ironic isn't it? MS already causes profound fatigue, and yet everything they have to treat it also causes fatigue.
Tammy
It's ironic isn't it? MS already causes profound fatigue, and yet everything they have to treat it also causes fatigue.
Tammy
Have an Answer?
You are reading content posted in the Multiple Sclerosis Community
Top Neurology Answerers
Australia
ON
Queensland, Australia
Queen Creek, AZ
Find out how beta-blocker eye drops show promising results for acute migraine relief.
In this special Missouri Medicine report, doctors examine advances in diagnosis and treatment of this devastating and costly neurodegenerative disease.
Here are 12 simple – and fun! – ways to boost your brainpower.
Discover some of the causes of dizziness and how to treat it.
Discover the common causes of headaches and how to treat headache pain.
Two of the largest studies on Alzheimer’s have yielded new clues about the disease
Odd - with DMDs it's a universal dose. Take it all or not at all.
But gabapentin is something like judging how much garlic the sauce needs. It depends a lot on what the individual diner likes and will tolerate.
I started taking gabapentin the first week in September (2011). The Rx read to take 400mg at bedtime for a week, then twice a day for a week and three times a day thereafter.
The first 400mg knocked me out as I sat in a chair. I awoke at 3am wondering what had happened and where I was. I barely managed to stagger safely to bed through the dizzy, stomach churning haze.
I don't like to be hit hard and fast by drugs but convinced myself to try this a few more nights. The second night I took the capsule and went straight to bed. I woke up in the morning with my CPAP mask in my hand. I remember picking it up but I guess I fell asleep before I could get it on my face! Whoa....
But I had no more nausea, lots less morning hang-over and a significant decrease in pain within a few days so I stuck with it. I did decide not to add a daytime dose until I could maintain some wakefulness after the night dose. Besides, the pain was tolerable through the day as long as I moved the baclofen doses around to cover that time slot - for a while.
It was a good SIX WEEKS before I decided I needed daytime gabapentin for daytime pain. Since I was still getting knocked out cold (ok, maybe just cool) by the 400mg dose I asked the doc for a lower daytime dose. He ordered a supply of 100mg capsules. I took the first one the morning of October 18th. Within a few days I was taking 100mg in the morning, 100mg in the early afternoon and the 400mg at night - AND was able to decrease the baclofen to three 10mg doses each day.
The first of February (2012) I started taking 200mg in the morning, 100mg in the early afternoon and 400mg at night until all the 100mg caps were used. I finally worked up to a full 400mg dose each morning and night about three weeks ago. I've missed a baclofen or two with no bad result but don't plan on cutting back any further right now.
My pain is controlled with NO gabapentin ick, dip or weave. I can stay awake during the day (thanks to CPAP and Nuvigil) and long enough at night to get myself tucked in properly. Must say though--I think I've only used Ativan to help me get though a night once or twice since that first dose of gabapentin. Maybe sleep is easier when pain isn't interrupting all the time ;)
I needed to go this slow initially from physical necessity. Once I found some relief I chose to continue to take it slow so I could remain alert at work. I don't have a plan right now to add the third daily dose that was originally prescribed. Tylenol is enough to handle pain that breaks through the present pharmaceutical line of defense. I'll deal with future needs as they present themselves.
Not everyone needs to take it this slow.
Not everyone has the luxury of waiting so long for satisfactory pain relief. My threshold isn't higher or better. It's just where I got relief.
I'm certain I wouldn't tolerate TN pain for more than the second it takes to react and yell out in pain. I'll be contacting michelleric about her doc with the magic needle if TN ever decides to give me more than the occasional zap. (And I'd ask you to do the same before submitting to any doc with a magic scalpel!)
So, a lot of words and explanation to suggest you might want to hang in there a while and talk to your doc about just how much zest your palate prefers the chef use when spicing up your life.
Mary