Gabapentin for Pain User Reviews (Page 5)

• veg...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• April 27, 2017

"Gabapentin works really well for my degenerative disc disease and back arthritis without making me sleepy like opiates. It's not addictive as well. The only downside, after taking it for about 3 months, is it seems it's making me gain weight and gives me a lot of gas. And I'm eating less than I did before taking it."

• Cou...
• February 27, 2012

"I normally take narcotic pain pills. I have, usually moderate, pain in my joints and especially in my back. I decided to try Gabapentin. It did really help for the pain, and I also had a very relaxed feeling. A couple of things I did not like were: 1) I was very clumsy and disoriented. I couldn't walk right and almost fell over several times. 2) I laid down to watch a movie, since I was stumbling around my house, and I ended up passing out for hours... from about 3 to almost 7 today. Now the 'sleep aid' isn't necessarily a bad thing, but maybe this medication is best only taken at night for some people, including myself."

• Sle...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• September 22, 2015

"I was prescribed gabapentin for horrible, 24/7 MS pain, 300 mg 3x a day at first. It did nothing for the pain, and I spent the entire month I was on it feeling like I was drunk or on a bad 60s-type acid trip; I was dizzy, staggering, confused, and nauseated. My doctor said to give medications a fair chance to work and the side effects should only last a week or so. She increased the dose to 600 mg 3x a day when I got no relief from the pain. After a month, I couldn't stand the awful side effects anymore and was still in pain, so I just quit taking it."

• THE...
• May 26, 2017

"I was prescribed this for nerve pain, but I also have RLS. Gabapentin is a winner in both areas. Unlike some of the other people taking it, I get energy from it. I take 2800 mg a day. I can't say enough good things about it. If I had to only take just one medicine, this would be the one for me."

• ski...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• April 28, 2012

"I have a herniated disc at C6 and a pinched nerve that shoots pain down my left arm. I started taking Neurontin 300 mg once a day for a week, then two a day the 2nd week, and now 3 a day. I'm a local truck driver, so reading your reviews had me worried. When I started this medicine, my doc also started me on Robaxin. Everything was okay until the 2nd week. I got the high feeling for about that whole day. Then the third week, same thing. I stopped taking the Robaxin cause it leaves me groggy and unfocused. I have ALMOST no pain in my arm after 3 weeks on Neurontin, even after I stopped taking the Robaxin. This medicine is awesome. I had doubts about its effectiveness until reading your comments. Thank you everyone. It doesn't affect my driving ability after I stopped the Robaxin."

• She...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• July 31, 2018

"I was first given gabapentin for back pain. I increased the dose too quickly, though, and had some side effects. Dizziness, memory issues, and the like. However, I did increase from 200 mg X 4 daily and eventually got to 400 mg X 4 daily. Increasing by 100 mg at a time. Let me tell you, it did ZIP for pain. But my mood? What a difference. I have suffered from depression and anxiety as long as I can remember. Can't tell you how many drugs and combinations I tried. I had no idea how 'bleah' I still was until suddenly, I wasn't. What a difference, I can't tell you. As far as I know, I am NOT bipolar. Just your garden variety depression and horrible anxiety. Give it a try. Finally, I feel at age 62 that I am truly peaceful and content!"

• Kay...
• August 24, 2019

"I was first put on Gabapentin 300 mg last year, 5-18-2018, for the pain of my osteoarthritis. Till January 2019, I thought it worked great, except putting 30 pounds on and severe dry mouth. I also take nortriptyline for antidepressants. I had to have 6 cavities filled in my teeth from the dry mouth so bad at night. Got off, and the doctor put me on Tylenol and ibuprofen 800 mg three times a day. It worked a little at first. Then nothing. So I have lost the extra weight. Gonna try it again. It works great for my pain. I have made a lifestyle change with food. No pasta, no breads, and no snacks, except once a week to reward myself. I also have a nighttime mouth rinse to help with dry mouth. The pain in my body with osteoarthritis is horrible. There isn't an hour of the day I have pain running through my body. Pins and needle feeling in my feet, my back hurts. Pain runs through my body all day. It's so sad, I'm only 43 and going through perimenopause."

• fel...
• March 11, 2017

"This is my second day of taking 100 mg, 3 times a day. I tell you they've helped me with the pain. I can walk and sit up and sit down, without being in agony. I've had sciatica now for over 2 years in my back, buttocks, and legs. I would go to bed to sleep and wake up and couldn't go back to sleep because of the pain. The pain would stay with me all day. I was taking codamol 30/500, ibuprofen, and also using cream and hot water bottles too. All I ended up with was pain not shifting and a stomach ulcer. This new tablet I'm taking has helped me loads, like I said, it doesn't get rid of all the pain, but it's such a relief that I'm not in agony anymore. The doctor has put me on some anti-sickness tablets, metoclopramide, that helps too."

• Mum...
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• April 30, 2016

"I have been taking gabapentin for about 6 years now. I have 2 collapsed discs in my sacroid spine, which have been causing chronic pain for 9 years. I take 500 mg 3 times a day but can increase it when the pain becomes unbearable. On the higher doses, I do get drowsy, but in my normal dose, it doesn't affect me. It just helps reduce the nerve pain. The only side effect I get is a dry mouth. At the moment, I am suffering from shingles, and it is a godsend. I have had shingles previously and wasn't taking gabapentin at the time, and the neuropathy pain was awful. I also find it helps a bit with my fibromyalgia."

• Dis...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• March 28, 2021

"Not only did this medication (600 mg once a day, not before bed) not help my pain as much as hoped, but it actually caused other problems, like burning eyes, burning skin on my arms, legs, and face, blue fingernails, swollen hands and legs, pain on washing and drying hands and wearing clothes that I have worn for years, and waking up with and spending all day with an intractable headache so bad I thought I was having a mini-stroke, plus brain fog, walking instability, memory loss, feeling super cold. I finally realized that gabapentin must be behind all this and tapered to half on the advice of my provider. Been only 2 days of tapering and many of the side effects, e.g., burning eyes, handwashing pain, dizziness, and headache have gone, plus my brain is so clear, something I haven't felt in the 2.5 months on this medication. Was told to do a week to 10 days on 300 mg and then stop, which I will definitely do. WILL NEVER TAKE THIS MEDICATION AGAIN!"

• dia...
• November 1, 2011

Gabapentin "I was on all kinds of pain medicines, naproxen, and Flexeril, and still had pain until I went to a new doctor, and he gave me this medicine. I don't understand why other doctors don't prescribe this medicine. It has helped my pain so much."

• jul...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• January 14, 2016

"I was taking gabapentin for about 4 months, and it really helped with the side effects and pain from stenosis in my lower back, which is trapping my sciatic nerve. However, due to my ankles swelling and weight gain, my doctor has switched me to Lyrica, and OMG, I'm only on day 3, and I want off it. I have decided to return to taking gabapentin, as the side effects are nothing like I am experiencing now."

• Jap...
• August 19, 2019

"I have degenerative disk disease, bone spurs, spinal stenosis, 3 herniated disks in my lumbar spine and one herniated disk in my cervical spine. Osteoarthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, I’m permanently in pain. I was on tramadol for about ten years. I am now being told by my new pain management doctor that I don’t need to be on so much pain medication (350 milligrams a day), so he decided to take me off of it. I went through a tough time coming off of the tramadol. The pain management doctor upped the gabapentin to 2400 milligrams a day. It does not help control my pain. I sit in my recliner, constantly shifting my sitting position from one side to the other, unable to find a position that will not hurt me after a few minutes. My pain management doctor then told me my only option is surgery. It really feels like he is trying to force me to have surgery. Unfortunately, there is no guarantee that I’ll be okay after the surgery."

• Hap...
• December 22, 2016

"Severe burning nerve pain from shingles on the side of my face and scalp. Pain was so severe it broke me down. Standard pain medications (Tylenol, etc.) were not strong enough to take even the edge off my pain. Doctor prescribed this. Took two days to fully work. Now I'm approx. 90% pain-free. Taking 300 mg three times a day. When I first started taking it, it right away made me very drowsy--enough to overshadow the pain to get a bit of sleep. I was grateful for at least that. This drug also has a nice relaxing effect. It still makes me drowsy. I'm okay with that as it is helping me rest so I can recover. I know drugs don't work for everyone, but I'm grateful it is working for me. Winter 2016."

• nbu...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• November 29, 2017

"I have stenosis, scoliosis, arthritis, bone spurs, and degenerative spinal disease. Most of my back discs are showing damage of some type. Gabapentin is the ONLY thing that has helped me after years of trying different doctors' advice. I have only been on it for 8 weeks, and although far from pain-free, I can function each day. I occasionally will have a bad day or up to several, but that was caused by something I did physically. I started with one pill a day, adding another each week, so the effects were mild. Except for some tiredness, I have no other side effects. This is a lifesaver for me."

• jim...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• September 7, 2016

"I have found Gabapentin to be absolutely awesome for severe nerve pain in my legs. After taking 1600 milligrams per day, I found the pain to go away for the first time in 2 years, but then the pain came back ten times worse. I went up to 3600 milligrams when I started to feel the pain come back. I realized I missed a dose, and I took some more, and the pain goes away. Gabapentin has been great."

• Mea...
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• May 1, 2019

"I have very painful non-essential neuropathy of the feet. (No good reason) Neurontin helps my foot pain a lot, but I seem to still have plenty of pain to go around. I’m on 600 mg at bedtime 10:30, and it also helps me sleep! It helps me sleep so well that I can’t drive in the mornings or early afternoon (on the highways) because I fall asleep behind the wheel. My prescription continues to say I am to take 3 per day. I would nap my life away. Also, I’ve noticed the longer I’ve been on it, the more I notice my memory isn’t as sharp, which is hopefully just because I’m tired. But it works better than Lyrica, and hopefully, it isn’t addictive. It does help, though."

• mam...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• December 2, 2014

"I am taking a trial of gabapentin for pain in my right shoulder caused by surgery to remove a large lipoma. I have taken it for 3 weeks. I feel nauseous, have vivid dreams, and sleep more deeply than I am used to. It has helped some with the pain, but I think I need to take the medicines more in the evening. Maybe get my doctor to look at when I take it. I only have the pain about 2 a.m. when I am awoken by a stabbing, aching pain where I had the surgery. If I sit up in bed or get up, the pain goes away in about 20 minutes. The problem is that I cannot sleep sitting up and, of course, I can't do without sleep. When I am up and moving around (or even laying down and getting up to do work as I do in the day), it doesn't hurt. It is very frustrating."

• cap...
• October 9, 2009

Gabapentin "I have a herniated disc as well as severe arthritis in my shoulders and arms. I have had many days of severe pain and restless nights, very painful mornings while being on many different narcotics that didn't help very much. After starting Neurontin, the pain has almost completely gone. I am still on Roxicodone, but the Neurontin has made all the difference in the world. I can raise my arms above my head, something I haven't done in months. It does make me a little sleepy, but I am sure that will go away, I have only been taking it for a week now. My opinion is to take it at night, everyone needs a good night's sleep anyway. It is great for me."

• Ken...
• June 10, 2016

"Was taking 2x 5 mg Norco per day. They gave some relief for my sciatica. Muscle relaxers did nothing but make me tired. This stuff did wonders! I felt noticeable relief from the first 300 mg pill! I take three a day and take a single 5 mg Norco if I know I am going to do something that will irritate it. I can now take long walks, garden, and exercise normally. Doesn't make it go away completely, but makes it bearable with an occasional back stretch. Hopefully, I can now lose weight easier. I am a big guy. I'm 6'2", used to weigh 250 and bench 360. Now I am overweight and weigh 350 and bench 250. I hope to lose 80-100 lbs and see how the old spinal disks do then. On the downside, it makes you feel a little weird, especially at first."

• Dav...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• November 2, 2019

"I have been on gabapentin for four months now, and the difference in my pain is amazing but still not one hundred percent. I started off with 300 mg daily for three days, then 600 mg daily for three days, then 900 mg for three months. Next time into the doctor, I asked if it could get increased as I was still dragging my knuckles on the ground, so to speak. I got put up to 1200 mg per day, and I am now at least able to walk with two canes around the house and short distances outside. I said a ten because if the right dose is found, I know that it will work well."

• Win...
• November 24, 2008

Gabapentin "I have chronic pain in my thigh from degenerative disc disease in L4-L5. I have tried a couple dozen medications and this and Robaxin are the only things that help. I agree with the previous posts about the dopey feeling and would further suggest that you do not have to drive anywhere, even the next morning. I still felt like I was drunk about 10 hours after taking this medication."

• But...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• December 12, 2015

"If the purpose of taking gabapentin is to hurl you into a state of psychosis, then it gets a ten because this is a very real side effect of this drug. The Pfizer company does not want you to know that it can and has caused many people to go into a psychotic state. Not for a day, mind you, but for as yet an indeterminate amount of time. They put on the warning, do not abruptly stop this medication, but they don't tell you why."

• Jay...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• January 27, 2020

"Very helpful but wish there were more nerve damage medications that were stronger. I’ve been on gabapentin for 2 years now. My dose is 800 mg 3 times daily due to a very serious frostbite injury in 8 of my fingers and losing part of 1. Without it, I can’t even really use my hands, so I’m very grateful for it, but so far not so much study for nerve and can still feel a lot of pain in my fingers at this point."

• Big...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• January 11, 2016

"Was prescribed gabapentin for restless burning legs at night, 300 mg. I heard some bad reviews, so I didn't really take it. Got hurt at work aggravating my sciatica in my left leg and knee to the point that nothing took the pain away. So I started taking 600 mg 2 times a day, and I can say so far it definitely gives me about 75/90% relief of my sciatic pain, especially when I take Motrin 800 mg with it. Hope it continues to work."