Hi All,
Hope all as well as may be.
Not dropping in as much - partly due to the forum problems, but partly to try to break a rather negative pattern of focusing on MS most of the time. I realised it wasn’t doing me any good, and have consciously tried to cultivate interests that have nothing to do with it - even if they’re still mostly online, and don’t involve getting up off my backside!
Anyway, for once, I have a specific practical question.
After many discussions about it in the four years since diagnosis, I have eventually relented, and agreed to a 60-day trial of Gabapentin, in hopes it might ease my foot pain - even though I have serious doubts it is nerve pain at all.
As with every new drug, I was quite scared after reading the list of side-effects, but eventually bit the bullet, and took my first one yesterday. After all the fear/hope, it was quite an anticlimax when absolutely nothing happened. I didn’t feel at all better - neither did I feel any worse (no side-effects so far).
I’ve been instructed to take one the first day, two the second (today), three the third and every day thereafter, to a regular 300mg per day, which I gather is still quite a beginner’s dose.
I was wondering, IF it is going to work, how long should I expect to wait? I am probably comparing it rather unfairly with Baclofen, which, when I took it for the first time, had almost instant results!
I realise I need to at least get up to the full dose and stick with it for a couple of weeks before I can draw any conclusions. Day 2 is far too early.
But how long have most people found was long enough to tell? I’m really relieved I haven’t thrown up, turned yellow, broken out in a rash, or any of the other horrible things you’re warned about when starting a new medicine. But I must admit to having allowed myself to get a bit excited about the possibility of an immediate improvement, so I’m disappointed I can’t detect any difference at all yet. If anything, I think I had a slightly worse night than usual last night, with a severe leg cramp, which have been mostly eradicated with a combination of Baclofen, quinine and diazepam. Has anyone had a “paradoxical reaction” to Gabapentin, which meant they experienced MORE cramps or other symptoms, in the first few days of taking?
It might be just coincidence, as of course, I’m hyper-vigilant at the moment. I always have still had the odd cramp, in spite of all the medication, so having one on the day I’d begun Gabapentin isn’t necessarily cause and effect.
Thanks,
Tina