Anyone been on Gabapentin?

Thought about calling the doc for a script for these shingles. Felt like there was a hot curling iron in my armpit when I woke up today. Does it work and did you have side effects?

I’m on it. One incident so far regarding side effect.

I take gabapentin for Restless Leg Syndrome. I've been on it for several years with no side effects. My sister also took it for RLS, but she quit because she thought it made her gain weight. Not sure what you would need for dosage, but I take 400mg daily.

I have to take it for muscular dystrophy it has helped greatly no side effects.

My wife took it for her MS. She had to quit it due to side-effects. She takes carbamazepine now. I don’t know if it works on shingles like gabapentin.

I clicked on this thinking that Gabapentin might be an island off the coast of Wales or maybe Scotland.

Three different doctors have prescribed it to me through the years. Every time the same side effects. Swelling of the legs and hands

It will make you sleepy . But you need to be on Valtrex for shingles. Start it as soon as you feel the first tingle or burning. Took mine the first day I felt the burning and in 2 weeks blisters gone and only 1 day of pain.

I've been taking it since 1999 when I had a cervical epidural steroid injection for a pinched nerve. The doctor who did the injection got lidocaine into my spinal cord which paralyzed my left side for a couple of days. After that came the pain. I take gabapentin (Neurontin) every day. The only side effect I've noticed is memory loss. A neurologist at Mayo Clinic said that was a possible side effect of the drug.

A few years ago my wife had a severe case of shingles even though we both received the shingles shot. She had large blisters all across her lower back and down her leg. The Dr. at Urgent Care prescribed 800mg acyclovir 5xa day for 10 days to decrease pain and heal the blisters. After that she was prescribed 300mg gabapentin but could only take at night because of dizziness.

Think I took it following a 2nd knee replacement. Probably about ten days. Don’t remember good or bad. Must have been OK.

I can be susceptible to mental side effects of medicines. I took it for several months for nerve pain. It put me into a fog and made me terrible to live with. I said and did bad things i have would never consider on a clear mind. It almost led to a divorce of a perfectly stable marriage. I have it listed as an allergy on my medical records. Oh and it didnt do jack squat for nerve pain. It takes a couple weeks for the effects to start to manifest. My mother in law came home with some for back and nerve pain. I warned her of it. About 10 days later the cops ended up there, that woman went nuts and is still nuts. Probably still on that medication.

I have been on it for about 3 months. I have had a chronic cough for the past 7 years and have been to all kinds of doctors trying to figure out the cause. The ear, nose and throat doc had heard of it being used to help in such situations and asked me if I wanted to try it. I said sure, it couldn't hurt as I had tried about everything else. I take it 3 times a day. Has worked pretty good for me. Still cough once in a while, but nothing like I used to. Have had no side effects.

Made me mean and wanted to fight anyone at the drop of a hat!!!

My wife was taking 900mg 3x day for pain. She was also taking baclofen, clonopin, + others. Her only side effect was she slept a lot. I wis it would have made her gain weight. Our dog was even on it.

When I got the injection that sent lidocaine into my spinal cord, it short circuited some of the nerves on my left side according to Mayo Clinic. I've tried weaning myself off the drug quite a few times, but my left arm starts aching and I go back on it.

You are correct in that it isn't like taking an aspirin to make a headache immediately go away. This drug has to build up in your system before it has any effect on the pain. You don't get high from it. At least, I didn't.

When my incident first started, they put me on Hydrocodone because the gabapentin didn't do anything for the pain that ran down my left arm. I got sick from the hydrocodone and only took it for two days.

Are we talking about the same drug?

I’m taking it 3 times a day, manage to share the road with some awful drivers all day without road rage. I really don’t feel anything other than my sciatic isn’t throbbing.

One dizzy spell in a year.

Yes same drug hobbie. I would like to add to my previous post that yes it made me mean and that was alot of the problems that it caused in my life at the time. Any of those drugs that change the chemical makeup of your brain to sort out nerve pain can have bad side effects that are pretty random and not always easily relatable to taking a pill. Once i had surgery and got sorted out and off all the dang pills the army was giving me i finally got my life sorted back out. I was taking the gabapentin because i had been on narcotic pain killers too long and they had to take me off. I was taking all the way up to MS contin before i just had to quit. My life started spiraling out of control during all this slowly and really crashed once i got discharged. Once i was able to get off the dang pills and got my pain sorted out i realized all the crazy crap i had been pulling was not me at all and was because of the dang fist full of pills i was taking per doctors orders. I never took any pills off the street or any of that. I was just taking my medicine as prescribed. I try to put my 2 cents out when people are asking about medicine like this just so they have more information than i did. Now i am very very hesitant to take any pills at all except the very few that i have to take to have any quality of life. My gout prevention pill and arthritis med and one for my ptsd.

The point im trying to make is please be hesitant to just take crap docs will give you because half of it is them just experimenting around to sort you out and it can have horrible life altering side effects before the docs figure it out. Or it may not effect you at all. More than likely though the person taking the pill wont notice any changes themselves and may need to talk to your loved one to help keep an eye on you. ive also taken pills similar to this and had bad suicidal thoughts that immediately ceased once the pill wore off. I think i may be a little more sensitive to certain pills than other people. these are just my experiences and you wont read them on any side effect labels.

Yep. I was prescribed the drug and took it but was not on it.
It made me dizzy, blurred vision and wanted to kick the dog.

People's systems react different to many medications.

My wife had best results using a lotion called Sarna for the itching and pain.

I take as a nerve deadener for Agent Orange issues, and I GOT shingles WHILE taking it. Got the shingles shot series at the VA and have had no problems since.

Weight gain is one side effect and large doses dumb you down. My wife’s doctor found out how much she was taking and flat out asked her if she felt dumb sometimes.

My wife takes it for RLS and to help her sleep. Works fine for her.
Tom

Wow. Glad you got it sorted out Possum.

Yes same drug. I still have the bottle with 20 days worth in it. I have nerve damage in my legs. I am on lyrica and it helps some not much.

Gabapentin may also cause some serious side effects.
...
They include:
violent behavior, aggressiveness, or anger.
anxiousness or restlessness.
anxiety that is new or worse.
depression that is new or worse.
irritability that is new or worse.
mania.
panic attacks.
suicidal thoughts or behavior.

Amazing how the same drug affects people differently. I've taken it for 5 or 6 years, drive a semi daily, with no problems at all.

I agree. I had high hopes and within a few days I turn down right savage.

Dont count out the weight gain of this junk too. i gained 50 lbs in about 6 weeks on lyrica and had previously gained alot from the assortment of other junk they give to me to "see what happens, maybe it helps". That weight has proven to be harder to lose than normal too. Finally lost about 50 of it at the moment. Got at least 30 more to go to be halfway healthy.

Yep. I was prescribed the drug and took it but was not on it.
It made me dizzy, blurred vision and wanted to kick the dog.

People's systems react different to many medications.[/quote]


I was put on it for fibromyalga. Constant pain but this is what happened to me also. Wasn't worth it so I quit taking it.

Have had Shingles for over two months. Been thru two 10 day dose of anti viral and on Gabapentum for over a month. Still have some redness across the left chest and pain is somwhat less. Most of my pain is in left shoulder blade and under left biceps.Shingles is the pits, haven’t shot a bow-no strength.

Do u have no strength because you feel sick or is it something with the nerves? Sounds terrible, not looking fed to this possibly lasting months. P I think im gonna hold off on the meds for a bit and see if it gets better on its own. The worst seems to be at night-the pain is waking me up. Advil it is for a while.

No strength from the pain in left shoulder and left arm plus the inactivity from dealing with this for two + months.

Oh been taking 3/4 ibuprofen every night since to help me sleep. Tried Tylenol and naproxen sodium for pain during the day with no help.

"Horrible side effects before the docs figure it out." Sounds like the covid "vaccines" you're describing.

I have weaned myself down to 100mg a day of gabapentin. Other than memory loss, I can't think of any side effects I've had and I've been taking the stuff since 1999. The memory loss could be a product of getting old too, according to my wife.

My wife and her aunt say they can't go without it.

I'm guessing they mean because it helps make the pain more tolerable because it doesn't make you feel high or anything like that. I assume they take it for some kind of nerve pain.

I could be the poster child for Gabapentin. Both knees replaced. Right knee ( 1st one ) turned out bad. Only 95 degree range of motion even after 4 months of therapy. Scar tissue got me on right knee and now Left knee hurts me because I favor that knee. Gabapentin , Requip , Amitriptylin , Diclofenac I take 2 times a day. Cocktail of pills. Plus a heavy pain pill 2 times a day. No side effects and I have been on it 5 years. I could not work with out it. You need to try it fir 45 days before you will see improvement. I never had any side effects. Maybe some people do. But at least try it. MD

Aunt takes it for her back. My wife takes it because of a botched hysterectomy.