Sorry about this vent but I need to know if anyone else has had this problem.
I have just been to see my doctor about getting some more of the 400g Gababpentin I’m on and I get told that I shouldn’t even be on the dosage that I am on.
My neruo sent a letter back in April this year saying that I was allowed to go up 300g three times a day at the most but I got told my the doctor that I could keep raising it until the pain was bearable so I did.
At the mo I’m taking 1,300mg three times a day and was told this afternoon that I am above the national average and he is really worried about the amount I am taking cause it’s not doing anything.
I think it would help also if i saw the same doctor but I don’t i haven’t since we moved in 2005.
I feel really let down and I’m now beginning to think that I am addicted to gabaentin and I just don’t know what to do. If only all the doctors before had read the letter from my neruo I wouldn’t be in this position.
I don’t know whether to say anything to my MS nurse when I see her on Monday as we are going to talk about other meds that I can take as I am fed up with taking 15 tablets a day. As my kids say I’m going to rattle soon.
Thanks if any one could help me.
And sorry for the rant but I just don’t know what to do
Definitely speak to your MS nurse - she will be better placed to advise you than your GP I think. Don’t really know what else to say, I’ve never been in your situation and I’m lucky that my MS doesn’t really cause me pain - perhaps there could be a review of all the meds that you’re on?
thats what im going to talk to my ms nurse on Monday and i have been in agony with both my legs for 18 months now and im just at the stage where i want to give up cause its the same every day i dont get a break from the pain.
I have to make myself get up and move and do stuff everyday whatever the pain is like.
I wish that my gp etc was happy with me taking the amount im on but they all cant agree with it.
And suppose it dont help when you see one doctor that is happy with you having that dosage then you go back a month later and see a different doctor who isnt happy.
Hopefully on Monday it will be all sorted out and i wont stress out over it all like i am doing
Allie, I spoke with my gp and asked if he could read up on me and my ms and also ask another gp to do so, as I got sick of explaining my symptoms over and over again to strange new gp’s who appeared all the time. He rang me back a few weeks later and promised that two gp’s would do just that and for me not to worry, always book with them. However over the years all has slipped again and Im back to square one.
There somehow doesnt seem to be the same patient/gp relationship there once was so now I dont bother them with my ms, save everything up for either neuro or ring ms nurse should I need help.
As for medication, its the neuro or ms nurse who can sort out doseage. Gp’s arent up to speed with what level of medication is required to deal with ms. I would ask ms nurse to check to see if there is anything else you could take and wean off the gabapentin. Im sure pregabalin is similar, or amytriptyline. I felt like you and did just that, changed meds and weaned off others. I now take lots of my own natural supplements and feel tons better for doing so. A word of caution though, gp’s dont like patients doing their own thing, neither do neuros however there are some drugs which msers need regardless, its the working out which ones you need and which are no longer needed.
Speak up for yourself and be heard. Tell them you dont want large amounts of meds if there is an easier route. Good luck.
Pain management is a real issue for some people with MS. I would ask for a referral to a pain management clinic. They might be able to help you, or at least look to see what else can be done.
Get someone to go with you if you can, it helps get your point across.
Of course some medication works better for some than others and sometimes things work for a while but the effect seems to wear off.