How long before Neurontin is working??

[angiebee]

Hello, I have been taking 600mg of Neurontin (gabapentin) for neuropathy 3x a day for a week, I am working my way up to 900 mg 3x a day. Does anyone know how long it will take before it is working and I can tell a difference???  

[itzmejudy]

Please don't increase the dosage of Neurontin without telling Dr. it can have serious side effects. It is trial and error when on pain meds. I have neuropathy and throbbing pain in my legs and take Neurontin 400mg 3 times a day, It hasn't worked yet so my Dr added Tramadol but it is to soon to tell if will work. The medication has to be increased slowly to find the right dosage. If you need a dosage change don't wait call and ask to get in ASAP for med change. Have patience, I know its tough sometimes but it may take a long time to get the right medication and dosage. Sometimes it can take a month before you will feel the medication working. Take care

[ggreg]

Angiebee,
On the Elavil plus/or Gaba drug, that is not something you should ask for, nor do I know the answer.  You had said the doc would maybe give you that, so leave it up to her, just go see her, tell her your problems, and let her take over the visit.  Hmmmmm, I don't know anything about that claudication thing or the rhematoid (other than there is such a thing as rhematoid arthritis).  Lastly, you can just get neuropathy without it being connected to a disease like diabetes, so at least the doc has done her due diligence. Thank you for sympathizing with my car wreck, lifelong problem for me, but I've done most of the things I wanted to before the whole thing went to pieces.  I sure know what you mean about feeling lost, these forums are wonderful, and then the specific websites for whatever you have (small fiber neuropathy, if that's what they finally settle on) have particularly nice people if they have a forum community.
Bye!  GG

[angiebee]

Thank you so much for the information and taking the time to send it to me, I really appreciate it, I never think of questions to ask the dr till after I leave, then such a long wait for my next appt. I have looked up neuropathy and small fiber neuropathy, I found that's the cause of the burning tingly sensations and that it can cause pain, just not my kind of pain. Have you ever heard of claudication (spelling??) Its just like that but the doctor did assure me that's not it. I have good BP, I'm just turned 38 and the pain doesn't subside when I lean on things such as the grocery cart. However, I took the kids to a park today that has a 3.7 mile trail and we walked around it, I had to sit several times (I used to be able to walk it without rest) but today the pain was definitely better, almost bearable...or it just moved up cause my back hurt instead of my legs. Maybe the 900mg of gaba is helping and my back hurt because its been months since I've been able to walk.  When you say add the elavil do you mean I should ask to add it in addition to the gaba?? Also, I didn't know abt the vitamin E. I take a multi vitamin and B12 daily. I am sorry to hear about your car accident and again thank you very much for taking the time to answer my questions, I've been kinda lost, seems like one day I walked 3 or so miles a day and the next I could barely walk 3 blocks. Oh and they did all the blood work, I'm not diabetic and the rest of the results were ok except slightly and I mean slightly low B12 and slightly high rheumatoid, not sure what that means but the dr wasn't concerned so I'm not going to be :)

[ggreg]

Dear Angie,
I am sorry that I realize now I completely missed in your original post that you have neuropathy.  Then I now see in your most recent post that the doc thinks it's small fiber neuropathy.  The treatment Elavil that I threw out the window, well, that IS a standard solution for some patients with small fiber neuropathy, and when you see your doc in a few months, could be if they added that in, you might like it and it may help.

You can do a general investigation from your home page search rectangle for "small fiber neuropathy" and even just "neuropathy," and you will read that your symptoms are as a result of that condition.  Also, sometimes the neuropathy is caused by some illnesses, like diabetes, so generally docs will check out your health to see if they can relieve the symptoms of neuropathy by treating any illness you have that may be causing it.  Me, as I mentioned in another post, I have a bad back from a car wreck that is the root of all my leg problems, as well as many other symptoms that have disabled me.  I take four drugs to keep it all straight, the gaba drug, an opiate, a tranquilizer, and an SSRI antidepressant.  The Elavil you spoke of is a diff drug from my SSRI, and actually I think the Elavil is a much better choice.  But I take that SSRI drug to offset the tranquilizer's depressive effects.  Also, the opiate I take is so mild, while it stopped my leg pain, it never did touch my back pain, which is why they added the gaba drug.  

But anyway, I'll be interested in hearing how well your plan works to increase your Neurontin dose to 900mg as far as reducing your pain.  That Neurontin kind of relaxes a person, too, once you get past the sleepiness, takes a while to get used to diff drugs.  At your next appointment, if the doc adds the Elavil and a few months go by and you STILL have problems, the doc should know there are more drugs to add, including the opiate category, which is what helped my legs.  I also have some neuropathy, restless legs, painful feet, numbness.  I still have numbness and my feet still hurt a lot, but my leg pain is gone, which was the main problem I had, of course.

Some solutions you could try to help your symptoms, used to be when my feet began hurting, I would soak them in a pan of cold water, and later I would just sit on the edge of the tub and run cold water over them.  That might help that part.  Heat on your legs, like a hot water bottle wrapped in a tea towel, can help pain.  Vitamins can help, especially E, so you can eat cereal that usually has a bunch of vitamins in it, and if it doesn't have E, you can take that as a supplement in addition to cereal.  And doing some good stretching of your legs can relieve tension in them, as well as doing an easy walk around the neighborhood can improve circulation in them.  I remember one time I could barely walk and I had a couple Swedish professional massages done and, gosh, I could walk again, so that's another idea.

Sorry again that I was so sloppy in my first couple three posts, talking like I knew everything, and not noticing you told us you had neuropathy.  That is your main diagnosis, whereas mine was back pain that led to leg pain, and I talked from that point of view before, which was a mistake.  So, I've tried to make up for it by this post.  By the way, if you find some websites in a general search for your neuropathy, it'll give symptoms that, at least as far as I could tell when I researched it, match up really well with your situation, the burning, numbness, and pain.
GG

[angiebee]

oh, I might have got the elavil wrong, its another medicine that has good results treating nerve pain, I believe its an anti depressant, but the doctor said it would cause weight gain more so than the gaba so I don't want it.

[angiebee]

I wish I knew what was wrong to look it up.I have tried, I don't seem to fit into any category. My feet tingle/legs tingle and have a burning sensation,Mostly when lying down or sitting. Then whenever I walk stand for more than 10-15 min the bottom of my left leg (most often sometimes the right) goes to sleep and then there is extreme pain, and it not just in one place, sometimes the lower half sometimes my thigh. The pain is releived with sitting. I've tried tylenol, advil, and darvocet but it doesn't relieve the pain. The doctor feels like its small fiber neuropathy and says the gaba will help the pain. I've decided I'm not waiting 3 months so I upped my medicine to 900 mg yesterday. I don't have much choice in the dr I'm seeing its an ins thing. However, it seems I'm the only one that thinks not being able to walk for more than 10 min is a problem. Sorry, to have vented a bit I'm just really frustrated.

[ggreg]

Well, since I don't know what the name of your condition is, if there's any pain involved, Elavil isn't going to particularly help that!  Outright pain medications is the way to go, if pain is the main feature of your illness.  You can look up your disorder online and see what the "treatments" are, and they'll usually list some first-line drugs that work for it.  But sorry to hear it will take you another three months to get your medicine dose adjusted, and at the same time, let's hope when your dose reaches 900mg 3x, that you'll notice some difference.  Some pain just isn't treated right by the gaba drugs, if you have pain, and if your doc is suggesting treating pain with Elavil, well, I think you might seek a second opinion on your pain once you reach 900mg and don't find relief (keep your regular doc appointment, tho).

[angiebee]

She told me the only other medication was the elavil, I don't want that, also I have lousy ins and getting an appt with my doctor is close to impossible. My pain is relieved with sitting. Its VERY irritating to have to sit every 10-15 minutes greatly messes with my life. Thank you for your responses, they are very much appreciated...

[ggreg]

Angie, when you get to 900mg 3x daily, and you still have pain, I think you could call your doc and just find out if you can squeeze in sooner to see him, just a thought if you want to and if your pain is unbearable.  I think Susan's post about how much she needs to get pain relief suggests you may also need an increase, too.  But again, as you said, that you've read it doesn't work for some people, that may be your situation, in which case the doc might add to or change your meds.

[angiebee]

I am so happy its working for you, I have read it doesn't seem to work so well for some people. I am hoping it will work for me. If not I'm stuck till November when I have my next drs appt.

[susan261077]

hey, im on neurontin too, with me it wasn't working
so my dose was going up and up
im now on 5000ml a day ive been on this dose for 3yrs now i have no pain at all now .
im takeing it for sharp pain in my head  

[angiebee]

Thank you for your reply, my pain is in my legs, when walking or standing for more than 10 min. Its from small fiber neuropathy. I knew taking it slowly was to lessen the side effects, in my case, it makes me so sleepy. The Dr. Said my other option was elavi ( I think) but I don't want that, because she said it would cause weight gain (more than the neurontin) so I'm hoping the neurontin works!!!

[ggreg]

Depends on the pain you're trying to get rid of.  If it's sharp pain, say, in the lumbar spine, you should have noticed a difference the very next day after you started taking the medicine.  I'm not as confident about delayed results in things like fibromyalgia, however.  My back pain disappeared overnight, but of course as the medicine wore off, like overnight, it would tend to reappear, albeit still less than when I didn't have the medicine.  The going slow on increasing dose, by the way, has more to do with lessening side effects, rather than it taking a while to build up in the bloodstream like some drugs do.  Also, try to find in the pharmaceutical info, either with the bottle you were given or online, if there's any particular foods or drugs that will lessen its effects.  In the end, I think you will need to go ahead and either call the doctor or make an appointment for him to review the effectiveness of your drug.  You might need something different to kill the pain or settle your nerves.  There are a variety of pain/nerve drugs that can be used, and if the gaba medicines aren't helping, even after let's say they double it, then for sure you'll need something different or in addition to your Neurontin.