I've just been prescribed gabapentin for by RA. I can't take steroids or anti inflammatories so my GP was limited in his choices to try and help my pain. I am supposed to take it with my methotrexate and cocodamol.
How have people found it? I wonder if my GP thinks I might have fibromyalgia as well as RA.
Hi Frankie
I'm on gabapentin for nerve pain. Although I'm on a low dose, I do find it helpful for settling my nerve irritation at night. I haven't found it has made any difference to my general joint pain. However, I saw a pain specialist last month who suggested pregablin and he said it tends to work better for generalised pain. I'm hopefully starting this next week.
Good luck!
Hi frankie
I was taking it but once the dose was increased my tummy couldn't tolerate it so then my doctor prescribed pregablin which I seem to be tolerating x
Hi Frankie Farr, sounds like youre havong a struggle at the moment 
However I wonder if you should be being referred back to your consultant if u are needing gabapentin to deal with your ongoing pain, perhaps your RA drugs are needing some adjustment- there are many others to try if mtx isn't helping sufficiently that can be used in combination or alternatively to the mtx. I think there's mixed responses to gabapentin but I have no personal experience of it, I generally call my ra clinic if my pain gets too high so they can review me. Hope that helps a bit- fingers crossed u find something to help soon. X
I see my rheumy regularly they can't find a dmard that's works for me. I nearly died on triple therapy. I feel a bit like a ball being batted between them and the GP. Their stock answer seems to be get the GP to do something
Oh it does get to a point where u feel like a ping pong ball it's no fun. I think your rheumy is being a bit rubbish telling u to go to the gp, it's the rheumys job to get the ra and pain under control, I think I'd be going back and telling then they have to do something more for you- perhaps you're now eligible for some anti tnf therapy?? Keep pushing them or they will just ignore you!
Iv taken it for around 3 years now and i take quite a heigh dose 900mg 3 times a day it dose help i also have fibromyalga and arthriris it dose help.with nerve pain hope it works for u i also do benepali injections
I had it after shingles and it made me feel otherworldly so I didn't persist
I tried pregabalin or Lyrica as it is known here. It was one of the worst experiences I have ever had and I am not alone. I will not now try gabapantin as my body obviously hates those horrid mind altering drugs. Be careful on Lyrica as it is very very difficult to get off once you have been on it and has terrible side effects. If you take it and start to feel anything that doesn't feel right, get medical assistance as soon as possible. I also have friends who tried it and had psychotic episodes, some were so sexually aroused it was painful and embarrassing, I lost my mind in that I could not put words together or remember anything and my legs swelled up so much I thought they would burst.
Yes I had (more than usual) difficulty with words
Made me feel like an idiot especially when the big boss wanted to discuss something and in the end had to admit I was taking a new drug that had completely screwed with my head.
I think pregabalin has been black listed in Scotland not sure about England. So far I've taken 5 tablets with no obvious side effects but the nerve pain has reduced though obviously not the joint pain. I'm just not sure the nerve pain warranted it. Having said that 5mg oral steroid was enough to make ,e verging on psychotic so I suppose e everyone is different.
Had to laugh at what happened to you on the steroids. My husband has advanced lung disease as well as the RA, so they gave him 30mgs. of Prednisolone a day, ( with no warning that they can make you behave oddly.) I had to forcibly remove the drugs from him and flush them down the toilet as he was smashing the house up and raving in the middle of the night! He was bright red in the face and looked about to have a stroke. Sometimes the medical people do more harm than good! I hope you have found something that helps your pain without the appalling side effects.
oh dear!! themain thing they do to me is send my blood sugar levels right up
I too was put on 30mg of prednislone and despite RA I got up at 3 am and started shifting really heavy furniture around! Red face too! I didn't know then that steroids can cause damage to bones etc. I do feel much better on them at a lower dose but now only take as a stop gap when in severe pain.
Yes I am on these and finding them very good. Night times are so much better and find I sleep better. They don't totally take away all my pain as I have a lot of damage to many joints through arthritis but on a whole I'm doing better.Was on nortripalines but have come of them in favour of trying gaps bentinck and I'm glad I did. On 700mg per day but was weaned off one and onto another. Hope they work for you. Xx
I have been on gabapentin for the last 3 year's know on maximum dosage. Plus other pill's. I have fibromyalgia, arthritis, and my list goes on. Up to date It works for me. X
I'm on gabapentin too and I find it really helps me as I can't take a lot of the pain killers because of my i b s but the gabapentin are fine, they have also stopped my restless legs which I suffer from to.I tried pregablin and didn't like it
Was on Gabapentin then Pentagablin? Anyhow it now called LyRica here in UK. Couldn't do without it ?
Hi frankiefar, I have fibromyalgia and I have been on gabapentin for years now , I started on a low dose but like everything you become imunne the longer you are on them , I am now on the max dose but again havebeen for years now I don't think that I had any problems with them but I would go without them they really do help me although we are all different but I would recommend trying them if they dont agree with you then you can always try something else , it can be a lot of trial and error until you get a combination of medication that works for you.
Good luck
Loraine x
I think these responses might be helpful because they show how varied peoples responses can be.
Hi everyone thanks for all your great responses. It's really frightening when you read the leaflets. I think maybe I shall stop reading any in future. I'm on 900mg a day from today. I think my doctor prescribed them because I can't take amiltryptaline or any anti inflammatories so he was looking for something to support the cocodamol. The methotrexate I'm on hasn't worked yet and the dose has been lowered so much in an attempt to get anything in to my system that it's probably next to useless.
I was getting nerve pain because of the swelling in my joints and ribs and I think it was this he was trying to help. I had terrible pain in my right breast for months and although I couldn't find a lump I was getting increasingly worried. The gabapentin seems to gave stopped this within 48 hours
Hi Frankie,
Yes I find it really scary to read the leaflets. Very good to keep them to refer to if something unusual happens. Gabapentin helped with my nerve pain in my feet which started with a flare up with RA. After 4 months of not being able to sleep 300mg 3 times a day really helped. I'm taking 2 a day most days now but did too much dancing on Saturday night and really felt it on Sunday. Hopefully you will find a combination that works for you. As is shown on all the replies one size/drug really Does NOT fit all
Wishing you all the very best. Keep challenging the RA team and the GP, if you don't keep ringing they think everything is OK
Michele
Can't take that, gives me the worst heartburn ever. Ask your GP about Nabumetone, it's an anti-inflammatory. Best one for any stomach issues. And for Pain, mention Oxynorm. I can't take morphine, and this is a good alternative, there is a slow release version as well
Been taking Gabapentin since early last summer when diagnosed with Severe OA, started off on lowest dosage which didn't even kick in, dosage has been increased twice since, now on 300mg three times a day. But as others have mentioned, it helps with the nerves but not the pain. I have good & bad days with it, & the occasional full nights sleep. Now booked an appointment with my GP next month, and if possible, up the dosage again, or try something else! OA has worsened and kicking rapidly to other joints..... Happy Days Ay... 😕
Sorry to hear that. I know what you mean. It doesn't do anything for the joint pain. I'm supposed to take 900mg a day but I find 600mg a bit much
I've been gabapentin for a while. It does help for the nerve pain. 👍
Yes I took gabapentin before and it did not help at all so I stop taking them it was a waste of time for me, but I hope it works for you!
I’ve been prescribed both low dose prednisone and gabapentim (not both of these at the same time). Gabapentin is more useful for nerve pain, but now my GP reckons I might have fibromyalgia as well as my RA I might suggest he gives me the gabapentin again to help me reduce the high doses of morphine.
The low dose daily steroid turned into a high dose daily steroid as I was going through another dreadfully painful period. I used to run a lot and knew the side effects could be serious, but when one of my Achilles tendons snapped completely, going undiagnosed for 4 months meaning the ends retracted and I needed a big operation with muscle grafting, I swore I’d never take another steroid tablet. I’ve had local injections and one IM injection but no tablets. It was hard to give steroids up - they made me feel wonderful and are very seductive - but I couldn’t risk a similar injury again.
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