I’ve been taking Baclofen and Gabapentin for stiffness and pain in my fingers, hands and feet for about a year now. I always suspected that the Gabapentin wasn’t doing anything as I didn’t see much (if any) improvement. Yesterday, I went to work and forgot my Gabapentin. I had also forgotten to take my morning dose. I work too far away from home to go back and get it so I just thought it’ll be ok, I’ll just take it when I get home. By the time I got home my right hand and lower arm was so stiff and painful that I couldn’t use it at all. It was horrible. It was clenched up like a claw and I was in agony. A few hours after taking a double dose of Gabapentin it felt a lot better. I’m now back on my normal doseage pattern and it’s not great but it’s an awful lot better than yesterday!
I know Gabapentin is supposed to be for nerve pain and the Baclofen if for stiffness, but the only one I missed yesterday was the Gabapentin so it must be doing me some good. Just didn’t realise until I stopped taking it for a day.
Just thought I’d post this in case anyone had any thoughts or comments?
Fantastic news JZ. Glad you are feeling better today.
I started Gabapentin yesterday for pain in my legs and MS Hug pain so I have been wondering how I am going to do on it. Your thread has made me feel a whole lot better.
Take care and perhaps you should keep some Gabapentin in your wallet just in case.
I saw your post but I don’t know anything about the magnesium stuff so I didn’t think I had anything useful to add. Pleased my post has been helpful but I still can’t guarantee the Gabapentin works. It might just have been withdrawal for all I know. Can’t be bothered hassling the GP or MS Nurse for forgetting my meds. I’ll probably just get told off. As you’ve just done (in a nice way). I’m a muppet for not keeping some handy. I’ll make sure from now on.
Hi I sometimes forget to take a dose and my hand usually reminds me by playing up! I know my ms nurse said she wasn’t surprised when I mentioned it. I only take gabapentine but I guess when you start it you have to build up dose really slowly so if your body thinks you have suddenly stopped, you will get withdrawal like symptoms before you get a true idea of how much help it is still giving. If you come off gabapentine I know you must come off slowly just like when you started. I was told it is not addictive but you do have to follow guidelines when using this drug…if that makes sense. Mind you I am no expert just going on what I have experienced. : ) Hope that helps. Mish x
I was precribed Gabapentin by a neurologist with a vague explanation about how it might help with the numbness in my hands. I certainly wasn’t given any guidelines on increasing/decreasing the dosage. It’s just been trial and error really. The MS nurse says if I don’t think it’s helping just come off it gradually but any time I’ve tried this my symptoms seem to get worse, so I guess it must be helping.
Hi Really, no guidance on how to use it is awful! Although my neurologist recommended it, I get my prescriptions from my GP. I am currently on 3 x 400mg a day. I started on 100mg a day for three days then 100mg x2 times a day then 100mg x 3 times a day etc until I had built up over several weeks to my current dosage. I think that was a very slow build up, not everyone builds up quite that slowly but it worked for me. So if you wanted to come off gabapentine it really needs to be done carefully. However it is usually quite a long term solution. I have been on it for a year and a half now but I still have mild problems on it so don’t really want to find out what it is like without for now. It’s not nice thinking about long term meds but hey if it helps eh? Mish x
I’ll just throw in my sixpence worth if that’s ok I was prescribed gabapentin for recurrent (daily), spontaneous neuropathic pain but it didn’t work for me. Like all the meds I’m on, I spent a bit of time finding out as much as I could about it when I first went on it. I gradually worked up to taking 4 x 300mg tablets, 3 times a day. Which is 3.6 grams a day - this is generally the maximum dose but not many people end up taking such a large amount. If you’re finding that it’s helping a bit then increasing the dose, if you’re still at a relatively low amount, might be a sensible option. Gabapentin was first used as an epilepsy medication - it’s mechanism of action (basically - I think!) is that it causes a general quietening down of brain activity which is why some people can get quite zombified on it. The theory being that certain peripheral sensations/muscle activity are caused my an MS lesion somewhere in the brain. These lesions, and the brains attempts to ‘fix’ them, can cause the damaged neurones to become hyper-sensetive and hyper-active so that they start firing off false messages to other parts of your body. The gabapentin muffles this effect. I didn’t get particularly sleepy even after a month or so at the top dose, so, like everything else (!) everyone reacts differently - suck it and see!!! Word of caution though - if you do decide to come off it in the future - lower the dose slowly. Because it didn’t help my pain or make me feel particularly woozy, I thought it can’t really be affecting me much and I’d come off it over 3 or 4 days; big mistake; I didn’t sleep a wink and felt wired to the moon for over 40 hours. I consulted Dr Google (generally more accessible and more informed than my GP) and realised I was in acute gabapentin withdrawal, so started back on a half my normal dose and came down from there over the next 10 days. Live and learn Good luck!
Yes you must not forget to take your gabapentin because you will be paying for it. My husband takes gabapentin for his hands and if he misses one dose he gets excruciating pain in his hands. Maybe keep a couple of pills at work or in your purse for emergency.
I was prescribed gabapentin for recurrent (daily), spontaneous neuropathic pain but it didn’t work for me. Like all the meds I’m on, I spent a bit of time finding out as much as I could about it when I first went on it. I gradually worked up to taking 4 x 300mg tablets, 3 times a day. Which is 3.6 grams a day - this is generally the maximum dose but not many people end up taking such a large amount. If you’re finding that it’s helping a bit then increasing the dose, if you’re still at a relatively low amount, might be a sensible option. Gabapentin was first used as an epilepsy medication - it’s mechanism of action (basically - I think!) is that it causes a general quietening down of brain activity which is why some people can get quite zombified on it. The theory being that certain peripheral sensations/muscle activity are caused my an MS lesion somewhere in the brain. These lesions, and the brains attempts to ‘fix’ them, can cause the damaged neurones to become hyper-sensetive and hyper-active so that they start firing off false messages to other parts of your body. The gabapentin muffles this effect. I didn’t get particularly sleepy even after a month or so at the top dose, so, like everything else (!) everyone reacts differently - suck it and see!!!