Gabapentin time to take effect

[Sminty]

I have Cervical Spondilosis. I have been in mega pain from my neck to my left fingers. I was prescribed Gabapentin 3 x 300mg on Friday. (today is day 5) How long before the pain eases

Thanks 😊

[desquinn Partner Volunteer FMAUK Trustee]

not sure if you have fibro but people tend to notice some positive effect after 1-2 weeks but can take up to a month. This is especially true if doses are being titrated up over time. Most side effects are within the first 30 days as well.

[Sminty in reply to desquinn]

Hi

No, I have cervical Sponsilosis, which is a neck injury, C5/6.

The pain is worse in my shoulder. And forearm.

[desquinn Partner Volunteer FMAUK Trustee in reply to Sminty]

you may want to have a look at another forum for more direct support as this one is specific to fibromyalgia. If it is part of cervical myelopathy there is a forum for that.

[Cat00]

When I was put gabapentin, the same dose as you, I reckon it took a month at least. Made me put on weight though which I hated. It's also a difficult drug to come off, I came off it 3 times slower than I was advised to.

Given that its a drug that is being widely abused and as such is harder to get these days it's worth giving it a go. Traditonally they want you to be at full dose for 6 weeks before they would consider assessing it's viability. It will only ever reduce your pain of course, not get rid of it.

[Sminty in reply to Cat00]

Thanks Cat00

[papakebo75]

Everyone is different,for myself it helped ease the pain by around 20% within a few days and stopped restless legs at bedtime,I find it helps me sleep for about 4hrs undisturbed compared to around 2hrs before starting Gabapentin,some folk experience weight gain when prescribed Gabapentin but I have not experienced this personally,hope this helps you understand Gabapentin a bit more and wish you the best of luck that you find some relief in your medication...

[worried4me5]

Hi

I started getting side effects straight away when I first started on Gabapentin but they settled down quickly. I have found that it helps more with my peripheral neuropathy (I also have diabetes T2), as I have so much less nerve pain. I have had less overall fibro pain too but I do take this with co-codamol.

I hope it works for you but if you have given it the recommended amount of time to let it work and it still doesn't help then it's time to speak to your GP again to find something else that may work better.

Best wishes,

Ang