Gabapentin :: Miracle Drug For Sciatica And Peripheral Neuropathy
Jun 6, 2016
I suffer from sciatica and peripheral neuropathy in the feet. Have tried to address both with diet restrictions and daily walks. Yet, the arthritis like pain in the back of my calfs and legs is getting intolerable.
My girlfriend has extensive lung problems and chronic resultant pain from coughing for hours on end - in the back and thorax areas. She was prescribed Gabapentin to relieve that pain. Works for her.
So she gave me two tabs to try for my problems. It was as though a miracle had taken place. No pain whatsoever. Almost no side effects - other than a slight feeling of increased relaxation.
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Was on 600mg Gabapentin 3 times a day for peripheral neuropathy to little effect. Was prescribed Amitriptyline, took 25mg for 3 days then 50mg for 5 days - replacing the 2 Gabapentin at night. Reduced Amitriptyline to 25mg after awful side effects. Took for 2 days with 300mg at night (in addition to the 600mg in morning and new GP said stop Amitriptyline and increase morning dose to 900 mg. Was OK for a while, but then feet and lower legs started severe pins and needles, difficult to walk. Disturbed sleep last night and feet and legs still bad. Is this withdrawal from Amitriptyline? How long will it last? GP rang and said gradually increase Gabapentin to 900 mg 3 times a day and if necessary go to 1200 mg 3 times a day.
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I have peripheral neuropathy with severe edema from the waist down. My doctor will not give me water pills. Is there anything I can take homeopathically?
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I finally got a GP to take some notice of the pain levels and I'm now on gabapentin and zapain while I await a referral.
I was so glad to be given *something* I didn't really bother asking too much. I understand the zapain is a straight up pain killer but I'm a little unsure - even after reading up - what to expect of the gabapentin?
is it also a pain killer? I'm on 900mg / day now and although I have pain constantly, I can't be sure which drug is more (or less) effective, if at all?
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I'm really disappointed in myself i'm 26 years old and suffer sciatica really bad in my buttocks nerves going down one leg and along my back. I recently changed my doctor to one closer to home. On my first appointment my doctor made it clear I needed weaned off the 400mg of tramadol and 400 mg I take a day I was prescribed them two years ago along with Sertraline 100mg a day for my anxiety. The doctor and I never discussed me becoming addicted ever, I haven't tried to stop taking them as it was never suggested before my current doctor told me I was most defiantly addicted I have to be considering the dosage I've been on every day and the length of time I've been on them.I have not had them for a few days once as I'd ran out and it was the weekend I wasn't too fused and knew I would get them on the Monday morning I felt fidgety and anxious didn't know ok w what to with myself all of Sunday and when I slept on Sunday night I had the sickest terrifying dream I woke up sweating and scared I don't know what I was scared of by I was for hours. Can this be withdrawal symptoms.
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It started with a crawling feeling in my left foot, then one day my back started playing up. I have always suffered a bit of sciatic pain on and off but this started and just didn't go away. Doc referred me to physio and it has just got worse and worse. he said i had very sensitive nerves and i am now on 300mg gabapentin three times a day but the pain is just getting worse. Pressure like pain in lower leg, pins and needles in foot, shooting pains in but,shin,and thigh. i now have to sit when making dinner and if i stand for any time i have to stand on one leg, (not very attractive) Docs and physio just keep saying its going to take time but never say what it is prop. physio just says i have sensative nerves and i am very bendy.
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I'm a bit worried. I had a urine test at work but forgot to mention that I had some antibiotics about 3/4weeks (maybe more) prior to the test, the antibiotic was penicillin VK.
I've read most antibiotics stay in your system for up to around 4-8 hours, especially penicillin VK. Some other sources reckoned between 7-10 days max. Although most said up to about 8hours max.
So I'm wondering if this would show up in the test at all?
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Does anyone have personal experience of this problem? A 79-year-old friend with vascular dementia has been prescribed a whole series of atypical antipsychotic drugs over the past eight months, all with varying disastrous results. And yes - I know this is an off-label use of this group but they still get prescribed for dementia sufferers all over the western world.
She's been on mirtazapine 20mg once daily for about five years (with no apparent ill effects) and olanzapine 10 mg once a day for three months. Two months ago she very rapidly - over a few days - developed massive swelling of her left hand, with complete loss of use of the middle, ring and little fingers of that hand. An X-ray was inconclusive, mainly as she couldn't straighten the three affected fingers, and her doctor has been mystified by this ever since. He finally decided it was arthritis but it didn't look much like it to me, given the degree of swelling and deformity, and the speed with which it had come on. Anti-inflammatory drugs have been prescribed, but with minimal effect.
I visit her in her high-security psycho-geriatric unit at least three times a week. Last Tuesday (six days ago) she was still feeding herself perfectly normally with her right hand, once her food had been cut up for her. Three days later, she could no longer hold a spoon, fork or cup. Her right hand isn't swollen but I can clearly see the identical deformity in her last three fingers as in her left hand. All three fingers on both hands are curled up and twisted over each other.
After raising Cain at the home, I've managed to get her an emergency appointment at a rheumatology clinic tomorrow. In preparation for this, I've been doing some research over the weekend (and no, not on Wikipedia) and have discovered peripheral oedema (swelling) is a rare, but known, side-effect of olanzapine. I also found a long paper that had clearly been published in a learned journal on the subject of peripheral oedema with combined mirtazapine and olanzapine use. Unfortunately, it was in Turkish!
Has anyone suffered from this and how quickly did it improve once the olanzapine dosage was reduced? Also, how serious is the rebound psychosis when olanzapine is withdrawn?
She was originally on risperidone, but when that had to be tailed off because it left her with severe Parkinson-like symptoms, it left her way more psychotic than she'd been at the outset, with the result she stabbed another resident in the lovely retirement home she was living in. She's stayed that way ever since, hence the transfer to a grim high-security psychiatric unit, where she'll end her days. She was subsequently put on clozapine for a couple of months, which caused terrible athetotic movements - constant bobbing, weaving movements of head, jaw, tongue, arms and upper trunk - which made her life unbearable. I have to say, however, that when that was gradually withdrawn, I didn't notice any rebound psychosis.
I'm furious with myself for not researching this sooner, as I'm a former nurse, though neuro was my speciality. I'm even more furious with her idiot doctor for prescribing a med that isn't authorised for dementia, then failing to notice she was suffering from a known side-effect. Ditto the nursing staff at the home. When I mentioned this to the head nurse today, she blithely said she'd known all along it was a side-effect of olanzapine - though I suspect she was just covering up her ignorance.
My friend is beside herself, and it breaks my heart to see her like this. She knows there's something wrong, but doesn't understand what it is. She can't feed herself at all now. I tried her with a biscuit this afternoon and she couldn't even hold that. She's already dangerously underweight (BMI 17) and now she's refusing to let the staff feed her, as she's not used to that. I'm the only one who's allowed to feed her, albeit only a few mouthfuls, but I'm 71 myself and can't continue going in twice a day. In the meantime she's screaming and shouting all day and all night in anguish and sheer terror, and attacking everyone who goes near her. She tried to bite my face today.
Sometimes patients who've been on this class of drugs for long periods know much more about them than the professionals, which is why I'm posting here. Is this terrible condition likely to be a result of olanzapine (and possibly mirtazapine)? And can we expect severe rebound psychosis if her doctor tails it off? (Always assuming he even agrees to do that.) Also, does anyone have any experience of other recently-developed anti-psychotics that don't cause appalling side-effects of one kind or another? Though I have to say, from my own nursing experience, that I suspect there's no such animal.
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I'm wondering if anyone has ever experienced distortion in their peripheral vision. It's a bit difficult to explain, but it's almost like objects are a different shape in my peripheral vision than when I look straight at them. It often looks like straight lines are bent in my peripheral vision, or objects just seem to shift position but then shift back when I look back at them. Sounds very odd I know. I do have astigmatism on both eyes, but is this a normal symptom of that?
I have some other odd visual symptoms, such as trembling vision (straight lines appear to tremble) and light sensitivity. I had a virus about 6 weeks ago which I'm still struggling to recover from - achiness, fatigue, some muscle weakness. I've had blood tests, MRI brain scan and my eyes fully inspected by 2 ophthalmologists.
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I had a PVD about 2 years ago, plus I've always had floaters, however, I just had a new floater and the doctor did laser eye surgery. I always have a great deal of anxiety and since this just happened right before I was to go out of the country on vacation I had a major panic attack and couldn't force myself to go. I was scared to be in a foreign land for fear something would happen. I don't want this to control my life, but now it has.
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Anyone else experience flashes of light at the peripheral edge of their vision?
Over the last week I keep having them and swing my head round, like a flash has gone off.
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About a year ago or so I started to notice a change in my Peripheral vision. I found myself having to completely look to my right while driving because of a blind spot and I also noticed when I shaved my underarms I could no longer see them (very blurry) if that makes any sense. I didn't have and insurance so I had to wait. Fast forward to last month. I saw an Ophthalmologist thinking it was vision problems of some sort. Well, I miserably failed the test that checks for peripheral vision. He then looked at the optic nerve and didn't see anything that would suggest normal vision loss. He said I have lost almost all Peripheral vision in my right eye and a good amount on my left. He referred me to a neurologist that I will see this Monday. I was glad because I had also been having some issues with what seems like pinched nerves in the neck and shoulders, I thought it could be related to some nerve issues. So my other issue which I didn't correlate as being possibly related until today is that I have been having some major digestive problems that have flared up on and off since February. I am having a lot of indigestion, gas and constipation.. The constipation is pretty bad, sometimes I can't go and I resort to taking laxatives for relief. And I have this really annoying muscle twitching in my lower abdomen! It feels like a vibration, I have been having that for a couple of weeks now. I have been so miserable that I made an appt for next week to see a gastro doctor. But then tonight I Googled the vibrating issue and was noticing that there were many people on MS boards with similar problems. And then it hit me that there seems to be a lot of coincidences between my issues and MS. Now I am worried. Did any of you experience similarities before a diagnosis? And how are people diagnosed?
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Has anyone found anything to help neuropathy after ALIF surgery? It has been 19 months and the pain is increasing. I cannot bear to wear anything except the loosest of clothing, I cannot walk without a cane or walker, I have new bowel and bladder function problems within the last 3 months. Is there anything that would even work temporarily to allow an airport ride? I buy even groceries online. I am in pain management with a respected doctor. I have have PT, water PT, massage, acupuncture, and narcotic medication. The fusion on L4/L5 and L5/S1 is fine; my life is not worth living.
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In May I was told I had a vitamin d deficiency. My level was 11. Right before i was told about my low d i had burning pain throughout both of my thighs. If anything touched my thighs it felt like bees were stinging me. I went to the neurologist because I was also getting numbness in my arms. He told me i had mp or another name for it is lcpn from wearing tight pants. I bought new pants and waiting six weeks. Saw him again and now he thinks it's because my d levels were so low. D is up to 50 s now so why am i still in pain. I had an emg done on my legs and it was normal. Emg on arms showed mild carpal tunnel. I was tested for hiv 5 months after any exposure results were negative. He tested me for a bunch of other stuff all was negative. Could all of this be vit d
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Just going into an air conditioned room; a fan is blowing on my legs; even at home in the evenings my feet and calves get cold. Then comes that cold-to-the-bone feeling for hours. Does anyone else have this problem? If so, what do you do to prevent the misery from cold feet that are hard to warm up?
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i have just realised that a small part of one toe is numb - start of neuropathy? I hope not. Has anyone tried using the homeopathic tablet Kali Phos for this or indeed anything else?
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I have heard they have this to help neuropathy. Have not thoroughly checked it out. Has anyone tried this or know anything about this?
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Has anyone tried methadone for nerve pain? I've just started a low dose and wondered if you had any side effects and how long they lasted? Most important, any relief?
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Over 2months ago in jan 8th, when i took generic benadryl with dextromorphan, acetomeniphen, phenyleprine,(pill. after about an hour, noticed i loss about 99 of smell which in turn made me unable to taste certain flavors. Throughout the whole day i started feeling unusually shivering and cold. and notice i started to get tingling on the left side of my body. the next day my smell hasnt returned, and i went to the ER, was afriad it was a stroke or some brain injury. Spent 5 1/2 hours trying to find out the cause, but was unable, the whole time the doctor did notice my other symptoms i was jerking twitching while on the bed, and felt very tingly, i also have tachycardia. i was eventually discharged, over the next few days, i still had sense of smell loss which went to 50% but went to 90% loss very quickly over the next few days. While i was sleeping, at night my neuro symptoms intensified, my myclonic jerks, twitching increased, and RLS developed, at the same time i realized i also pins and needle show up on the left side of my body.
After about 1 week, the pins and needle came back on my left hand and feet. Then a few weeks later i noticed i had loss all internal sensations(full or empty bowel,stomach,bladder, eye movements) Any internal movement you can think of is loss. Actually about 99% gone, because i can still have a bowel movement, pee, and stomach sensations only when its overwhelming and prolonged stimulation. i do not have loss of bowel movement, no loss of bladder control.
The pins and needle came and went and move around my hands feet above the ankles. this is over the weeks as its now.
The pins and needles eventually started to appear more frequently on the right side, but not as frequent as left.
In feb 2 i went to the pcp, for possible diagnosis, but i hit a wall, as the pcp kept insisting that my conditions were mental, or genetic in nature.
Within the week, my pins and needles progressed to cool feeling(randomly but not frequently), now im experiencing random joint pains(1-2 sec bursts, not frequently or constant). Also the twitching is more prevelant when i am still.
I have been diagnosed with vit d deficiency, i am taking 2k per day(i dont know how long i have to be on) but she wanted 4k but was scared it causes itchyness, i already have itchyness from the so-called rashes i got, she diagnosed me with atopic dermatitis, which i dispute, as some other doctor said was contact.
Due to me being on welfare(MEDI-CAL ) i am not able to see my medical tests or records online, as they do not have this technology, but the medical center i go to seems to have it integrated into thier database. I do not have to acess to it, unless i pay for copies of medical record, they dont accept cash.
Furthermore, my specialist appt is in aprl 30th, which cannot be changed to earlier, because of me being a mED-CAL patient. i did not go the pcp appt last week because its across the city from where i live, and the pcp is already losing favor, because my previous visits with her was not finding whats wrong with my present conditions, but trying to make up a diagnosis related to mental health issues, hypochondriac, and i felt like i was going to get the same answers as b4.
i was tested for b12 and cbc blood count, but i do not have access to those results. when i requested other vitamin tests, she refused, i also requested lyme(because my symptoms only fit the neuro portion, now that i have limited joint pain). The parasthesiasins and needle, spider web on arm and leg feeling, tickling,prickling, pin priks, coldness feeling,some joint issues) these are constant everyday, there were days where they subside, and when i wake up. loss of sensations prevents me from feeling (if im about throw up acid). abnormal sensations of my right hands. i do not have numbness, loss of pain or itching, but i am certain thats coming next. Any ideas its lupus.i am in college, and i had to drop a class so i can deal and try to find out what my mysterious neurological condtions is..
My pcp thinks this is also hypochondria, because i stupidly told her i had kaiser records, before turning to WELFARE.
You wouldve think that sudden loss would warrant an immediate red flag, but she/they are not taking my condition seriously i am currently taking 4000IU, (2x2000Iu) per day. and taking b12 (1000IU prophylactic, i don't have test results for this yet.
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I've suffered with chronic pain in groin area for over 2years now after a few tests and Mri exam my specialist Dr Chawla told me there's no cure for Neuropathy besides help with medication and pain clinic. None of the painkillers have worked, bad time with side effects! I recently had Acupuncture with Gp only for the pain to spread all over body.
I have had no help and as single parent to 2 children this puts a strain on my depression. I don't want this to take over my life.
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I've been with my boyfriend for almost a year now and we've just started getting sexually active. He has confided in me that he has penile neuropathy due to complications of diabetes.
He's been to doctors and had tests done. The result is there is no problem with blood flow, it's nerve damage, the nerves don't transmit the signal to the penis to become fully erect. I've noticed the base does become semi erect but that's about it. Just curious if anyone has any experience with this and is there anything that will help such as over the counter medications like Cialis?
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