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Neurontin
Hi all, Thank you for taking my question. I have been lurking around this site for the last three months and thought that you might be able to help with a simple question. The basic question is - How long should it take to feel relief from taking Neurontin? I have been taking 3000Mg a day for about 3 weeks now and still haven't noticed any difference.
A little background. I have been doctoring since April 1st for pins & needles/numbness/tightening/pain/tingling in both hands. Also, my arms and chest feel as if I have an extremely tight shirt on. The MRI revealed a spinal cord lesion at C3. I am still testing to figure out the cause of the lesion - tumor/MS/transverse myelitis/something else. A doctor prescribed Neurontin starting at 300MG/day and then increasing up to a possible 3600Mg/day.
A little background. I have been doctoring since April 1st for pins & needles/numbness/tightening/pain/tingling in both hands. Also, my arms and chest feel as if I have an extremely tight shirt on. The MRI revealed a spinal cord lesion at C3. I am still testing to figure out the cause of the lesion - tumor/MS/transverse myelitis/something else. A doctor prescribed Neurontin starting at 300MG/day and then increasing up to a possible 3600Mg/day.
Your very lucky to manage a level 3 for your pain. The goal of our pain managment clinic is to get the pain down to a 3 and keep it there. A lot of here do not have tolerable pain and mine has been around a 7-8 for the longest time now and I'm absolutely going out of my mind! Maybe the neurontin is working a lot better then you think it is. Most pain management clinics and doctors are striving to get our pain levels at a tolerable level and keep it there. They are not striving for us to be pain free. Although, it would be very nice to be pain free. I think there are very few people in pain management that are actually pain free or have pain less then a 3. Good luck.
I really don't know what to think about neurontin/gabapentin, whatever one wants to call it. I started on it last Monday at 300mg 2X day and as of last night I've had enough. And I'm fairly tolerant of most anything. The dizziness, morning grogginess, not to mention sleeping in over 4 hours past normal the past 4 mornings convinced me this wasn't for me. I could not even phantom taking as much as you are much less having no side affects because that hit me right from the first pill. I knew within a half hour I definitely had taken something. I guess this is a case of it either works or doesn't..
Glad to hear it seems to be working for you..Me? it was one of those benefit "verses" situations for me..I did not have any further interest in pursuing the pain relief this way feeling the way I was (and still having lingering affects bothering me)..
Glad to hear it seems to be working for you..Me? it was one of those benefit "verses" situations for me..I did not have any further interest in pursuing the pain relief this way feeling the way I was (and still having lingering affects bothering me)..
Thanks for your comments and help. Yes, I am on 3,000mg of Neurontin daily with no side effect. I figured it was the case that this drug just doesn't work for me and we need to try a new one. Luckily, the pain I have is tolerable (about 3 on a scale of 1-10). I will speak to my Neurologist about other possible drugs.
Hello and welcome to the forum. I too, have severe neck pain and something that is piercing into the spinal cord according to the MRI. I've tried taking Neurontin and I had a severe reaction to a very small 300mg dose. I'm glad because from what I read, this is not something I want to take. You are on a much higher dose then I ever was. It does frusterate me that he wants to raise your dose. Your already at a theraputic level and it should be working if it is going to work.
Tell your doctor that you're not getting any relief from everything your trying. Tell him you've taken OTC pain medications and whatever else you've done to help with the pain. Don't specifically ask for a certain medicine unless they ask you first. I know your in severe pain and you SHOULD be on something much stronger. If this doctor isn't going to help you today, it's best you move on to another pain management clinic.
I've been undertreated intentionally with the pain for over a year and it was awful. I was given minimum medications for spinal cord compression. Please, seek care elsewhere if this Neurologist is not willing to make you comfortable.
Hopefully they will start tapering you off the neurontin/gabapentin right away. Your body becomes dependant on it very quickly and you need to taper from it. Neurontin is not really geared for the direct neck pain. Neurontin is for the pain that radiates in the limbs. I was told this by two doctors and I did try it anyways. I have very severe neck pain.
Is this something they can surgically fix? If it is, then I would be looking for a good neurosurgeon asap. It may not take care of the pain, but it will stop from the progressing damage that may occur. Your injury is at a very dangerous level.
Good luck with the spinal tap today. Make sure if you get a headache to tell the doctor asap. If the spinal fluid leaks, it will give you a severe headache and can be helped with a blood patch.
Tell your doctor that you're not getting any relief from everything your trying. Tell him you've taken OTC pain medications and whatever else you've done to help with the pain. Don't specifically ask for a certain medicine unless they ask you first. I know your in severe pain and you SHOULD be on something much stronger. If this doctor isn't going to help you today, it's best you move on to another pain management clinic.
I've been undertreated intentionally with the pain for over a year and it was awful. I was given minimum medications for spinal cord compression. Please, seek care elsewhere if this Neurologist is not willing to make you comfortable.
Hopefully they will start tapering you off the neurontin/gabapentin right away. Your body becomes dependant on it very quickly and you need to taper from it. Neurontin is not really geared for the direct neck pain. Neurontin is for the pain that radiates in the limbs. I was told this by two doctors and I did try it anyways. I have very severe neck pain.
Is this something they can surgically fix? If it is, then I would be looking for a good neurosurgeon asap. It may not take care of the pain, but it will stop from the progressing damage that may occur. Your injury is at a very dangerous level.
Good luck with the spinal tap today. Make sure if you get a headache to tell the doctor asap. If the spinal fluid leaks, it will give you a severe headache and can be helped with a blood patch.
LOL !!! I thought 300mg was low !
Funny how one little typo changes the entire story ... :)
Yep, sounds like neurontin isn't working for you. It has never been a good choice for me - I have tried it 4 other times with no luck.
I did try Lyrica for a week (doctor gave me a sample) and that actually did work - but my insurance company did not approve it. It is too expensive to purchase without insurance.
Maybe your doctor will suggest that for you to try.
Please keep us updated... and good luck tomorrow!
Funny how one little typo changes the entire story ... :)
Yep, sounds like neurontin isn't working for you. It has never been a good choice for me - I have tried it 4 other times with no luck.
I did try Lyrica for a week (doctor gave me a sample) and that actually did work - but my insurance company did not approve it. It is too expensive to purchase without insurance.
Maybe your doctor will suggest that for you to try.
Please keep us updated... and good luck tomorrow!
Thanks for the comments.
Actually, I have been taking 3000mg/day. I take 1200mg in then morning then 600mg in the afternoon and 1200mg again at night. I have been following this routine for about 3 weeks.
I will see my Neurologist tomorrow for a Spinal Tap, so I might ask him about taking something else.
Actually, I have been taking 3000mg/day. I take 1200mg in then morning then 600mg in the afternoon and 1200mg again at night. I have been following this routine for about 3 weeks.
I will see my Neurologist tomorrow for a Spinal Tap, so I might ask him about taking something else.
I recently had an allergic reaction to neurontin - so my doctor thought that perhaps I had started out with a little too much. I had started with 300mg 3x day.
He has now asked me to try it again very slowly - he asked me to take 300mg 1x day for a week - then 300mg 2x day the second week and 300mg 3x day the third week.
I see you have been on 300mg 1x day for 3 weeks... If my dosing is supposed to be a slow graduation - yours is like molasses running up hill !!
I think that your dose may be so low, you have not even seen the affects of what it might be able to do for you.
If your doc thinks you could go up to 3600mg a day eventually, how long does he plan for that to take? Most people take much more than 300mg 1x day - as a matter of fact, I have never heard of anyone on such a small dose who found relief.
Now, with that being said - there are people who have taken great amounts of neurontin and it has done nothing for them - so you may find that increasing the dose does nothing for your pain - but you will never know until your doctor increases it.
Hope that helps a little - I would call the doctors office and ask if you should increase the daily intake after 3 weeks since it is doing nothing to help the pain.
Please let us know what happens - I really hope it works for you !!!
He has now asked me to try it again very slowly - he asked me to take 300mg 1x day for a week - then 300mg 2x day the second week and 300mg 3x day the third week.
I see you have been on 300mg 1x day for 3 weeks... If my dosing is supposed to be a slow graduation - yours is like molasses running up hill !!
I think that your dose may be so low, you have not even seen the affects of what it might be able to do for you.
If your doc thinks you could go up to 3600mg a day eventually, how long does he plan for that to take? Most people take much more than 300mg 1x day - as a matter of fact, I have never heard of anyone on such a small dose who found relief.
Now, with that being said - there are people who have taken great amounts of neurontin and it has done nothing for them - so you may find that increasing the dose does nothing for your pain - but you will never know until your doctor increases it.
Hope that helps a little - I would call the doctors office and ask if you should increase the daily intake after 3 weeks since it is doing nothing to help the pain.
Please let us know what happens - I really hope it works for you !!!
I am so sorry for your pain. I have taken Neurontin and it really did nothing for my pain but there are also some people that it has changed their lifes so it really depends on the person. A few people on here take it and it works great for them so I am hoping they will reply to your post.
Plus the side effects for me was really bad, I couldn't handle them, my nerve dr wanted me to take 1800mg a day and there was no way I could handle the side effects of that high of a dose. There are so many meds out there for nerve pain if one don't work for you then maybe another one will, it is something you and your dr will have to talk about. Plus 3 weeks is still short of a time, maybe it will take alittle more time to kick in.
I hope someone else has some better advice for you
Jamie
Plus the side effects for me was really bad, I couldn't handle them, my nerve dr wanted me to take 1800mg a day and there was no way I could handle the side effects of that high of a dose. There are so many meds out there for nerve pain if one don't work for you then maybe another one will, it is something you and your dr will have to talk about. Plus 3 weeks is still short of a time, maybe it will take alittle more time to kick in.
I hope someone else has some better advice for you
Jamie
Hi j503,
I want to welcome you to the Pain Management Forum and let you know that we are glad that you have found this Forum. I nedd to let you know taht there are NO Doctors on this Forum ONLY CP (Chronic Pain) Patients that help each other with their own expertise and experience that they have gained from their own Pain issues.
I'm sorry that you aren't getting any relief from your Neurontin. I personally don't take Neurontin but there are several on here that have taken it and I'm sure that they will be on to give you the information that they have.
I hope that you will keep us updated as to how you are progressing. Again, I want to let you know how happy we are that you are a member.....Sherry
I want to welcome you to the Pain Management Forum and let you know that we are glad that you have found this Forum. I nedd to let you know taht there are NO Doctors on this Forum ONLY CP (Chronic Pain) Patients that help each other with their own expertise and experience that they have gained from their own Pain issues.
I'm sorry that you aren't getting any relief from your Neurontin. I personally don't take Neurontin but there are several on here that have taken it and I'm sure that they will be on to give you the information that they have.
I hope that you will keep us updated as to how you are progressing. Again, I want to let you know how happy we are that you are a member.....Sherry
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