Anyone with Daily Persistant Headaches tried Gabapentin?

[JDSouza90]

I have tried pretty much all the preventatives with no luck including Topomax that I am just about to withdraw from. Interested to see people's reviews of Gebapentin as that seems to be my last option!

[Cally01]

I have daily persistent headache which builds to migraine. Gabapentin done nothing, part of the side affects was headache! Made me tired, weak and nauseous.

Hopefully someone else has better results.

Good luck 🖒

[Mia51]

Hi there,I like you have tried everything.Gabapentin made me feel awful,dizzy and sick.Maybe it will work for you,hope you have success.

[Badknee]

Gabapentin didn't do anything for my headaches. As I've posted before, Atacand or the generic Candesartan, has shut down my migraines. It's a BP pill, but I don't have BP problems. I started taking it January 14, 2014... and have thrown up only one time since then. It CHANGED my life.

Good luck to you. I started having them when I was about 18... I'm 66 now... thank goodness for Candesartan. 👍🏻

[blinc in reply to Badknee]

I've got a short list of preventatives with positive experiences - yours is at the top of it! Does sound hopeful! It's so hard to get an appointment at my dr's, that I tend to rely on Triptans (on repeat), but every so often, when I have a bad phase, (on day 12 of migraine-free!), I think I must try another preventative...I will leave feedback if i try your suggestion! Thank you again.

[seawarrior in reply to Badknee]

Candesartan does nothing for me......

[Stoppain]

Hi there, Gabapentin did not do anything at all for my pain, I'm diagnosed with Chronic Paroxysmal Hemicrania and Hemicrania Continua (depending on which of my specialists is speaking) and nasty side effects of feeling absolute crap, nauseous, dizzy and weak.

I've tried Indomethacin which actually worked but caused vaginal bleeding, which continued for 18 months after stopping taking them (and needed to procedures to stem the bleeding)

Topiramate was the worst in terms of changing me from a normal human being to more like a zombie, not able to speak properly, loss of normal control of the left side of my body (horrible horrible drug)

Sadly the Greater Occipital Nerve block made things worse, increasing neck pain and left sided paraesthesia dramatically and these symptoms persist.

On clinical trial with Gammacore which is actually a great help, in terms of reducing the length of the spikes 10/10 with pain which before lasted for several weeks at a time.Generally these now don't last more than a day or two. Initially it also reduced the background pain from 6 or 7 out of 10, to as low as 3/10 at times!

Spikes of pain are still unbearable though, and the only thing so far that helps with the spikes has been Sativex (which I bought on the black market to try) it makes me very relaxed and can reduces the spike by about 50%. Sadly my neurologists are particularly biased against it despite the fact it really helps and has no horrible side effects, just makes me drowsy and hungry, lol. If I was a smoker I'd definitely try Cannabis but I've never even smoked a cigarette!

I was due to start Candesartan, but as I already have low blood pressure, my GP refused to prescribe it!

Now due to start Flunarizine, but not at all keen as I've had such awful experiences with prescription meds since 2013 and don't know if the other symptoms I have daily now (left sided paraesthia throughout left side of my body, face/head/neck/arm/hand/foot and vertigo) are a result of them.

[babs1234 in reply to Stoppain]

Hi not tried it myself but have friends who take a tiny drop of cannabis oil for pain relief and it works wonders. Seriously thinking of trying it myself. Oh and no they don't walk round high 😉

[Stoppain in reply to babs1234]

Yeah, trouble is I'm in the UK, and it is still illegal and I can't/ dont know how to get access to any 😔

The only cannabis that is legal here is Sativex, manufactured by GW Pharma (the government insist it has no medicinal value, except of course when they licence it, but don't get me started on that)

[babs1234 in reply to Stoppain]

I live in the UK too my friends live in Gran Canaria. I'm sure they get it off the internet. I will ask and let you know

[Stoppain in reply to babs1234]

Aaaw thanks!

[Cally01 in reply to Stoppain]

Hey stoppain 😁 cannabis oil helps, i don't smoke so i put a tiny dot ( the size of a full stop ) on a bit of rice paper ( or the wee rice paper decorations you would put on kids cakes )

It reduces the intensity of my HC when it's off the scale.

Be well 🖒

[babs1234 in reply to Cally01]

Where did you get the oil from Cally x

[fishbang in reply to Stoppain]

I've been on a similar path to you. Diagnosed Hemicrania Continua, Indomethacin worked amazingly but after I trialled it for two weeks it the stomache problems stopped me eating properly for six months after. Moved onto Celebrex which didn't work as well and my specialist didn't like the amount I had to take to get a good result so wanted me to reduce the dosage and combine it with something else. Topiramate was horrible and resulted in me crashing my car. Eventually I moved onto Gabapentine and the change was amazing. I want from struggling to cope to looking for a job in two months. But. I was having to take three doses through the day and between doses I could feel myself slowly crashing until the next one, riding the peaks between doses through the day. It also made me very irritable.

Finally, two years ago I moved onto Pregabalin and I won't say that it's perfect but it's by far the best drug I've been on so far for the pain and being able to actually function.

[babsmcd]

Gabapentin have worked for me so everyone is different and definitely worth a try . I have had daily head pain for the last 4 years and diagnosed with basilar migraine . I have tried all the preventatives but I am happy to say that Gabapentin have worked for me . Except for feeling tired I don't feel dizzy on them whereas before I was also on daily medication for dizziness .

[JDSouza90]

I got the oil online but it did nothing for me I'm afraid

[ShelleyT]

It didn't do much for me. Did you try Topamax sprinkle capsules vs the pill form? When I used Topamax pills, I didn't get any relief. But when I used the 25 mg sprinkle capsules, I got relief. My doctor says she has a few clients who have only responded to the topamax sprinkle capsules, which unfortunately cost more. Might be worth a try.

[Mizznells]

Yes, I was prescribed Gabapentin to help me "sleep" I've had a headache for over 3 years with muscle pain, vertigo symptoms n more. This medication puts me to sleep but I wake up feeling sick n with a rebound headache so I stopped taking it. I researched new methods I reviewed with my doctor that are helping me a lot. Hope you feel better! justmizzheadache.com