gabapentin- mg?

[Bunce]

How many Mg of gabapentin do people find effective in managing nerve pain. I am on 900 mg and it bearly touches the side.

[joannie1964]

Hi I started Gabapentin about 2 weeks ago at 300mg od, then gradually increasing it over the next few weeks to 1800mg. You can go even higher than that dose so 900mg is not excessive but again as pain is subjective its different for everyone. Have you got to increase it further, if not prob best to see your GP as you may need a higher dose.

Good luck sweetie.

Hugs

Jo x

[momzz70 in reply to joannie1964]

Hi! Just started taking Gabapentin 3 days ago. My Dr. didn't tell me about the side effects. I can't walk without loss of balance,  nausea, confused.  I don't feel like I can drive myself anywhere. I feel out of it.  Called the Dr. nurse. He said it would take about 7 days for my body to get use to this. Just wondering what you guys think? 

[healthylass]

At one time I was on maximum dose which I think was 3600mg which was effective but side effects could not take it and asked to switch to pregabelin which has maximum dose of 600mg it does help the pain but not to same extent as gabepentin

[Hidden]

Gabapentin usually works best if taken with a prescribed pain killer i. e Naproxen etc x

[Calixthecat]

I have been on gabapentin for 2 years 900mg a day but the pain was getting worse. I saw my consultant and asked if I could increase the dosage and she said yes as I was on the minimum dosage anyway. I now take 600mg in the morning 300mg lunchtime and 600mg before I go to bed and it works well. The only trouble is that as you are pain free you end up doing to much physical work and that sets you back for a day.

Hope this helps

[BeccaWhite]

I am on 900mg 3x per day and have been for the past two or so years.

It only helps me with certain pains and sensations some of the time, but doesn't touch the rest of them, even at this dosage.

What it has helped with is some level of sleep; I had only a couple of hours or so a night for 16/17 yrs before I started taking this. Now I sometimes get 6 !! This is quite amazing and has made a huge difference to me.

[Hidden]

Gabapentin was a complete nightmare for me.... I was taking 900mg 3 times a day and combined with the other meds I was taking (tramadol, oramorph, paracetamol, narproxin) I became severely depressed. So I was weaned off everything and now I take nothing and suffer. There were 2 times where the pharmacy could not deliver my top up gabapentin and I suffered really bad withdrawal symptoms... It was something I never want to go through again. I was on all that concoction for over 4 months and to be honest they did nothing for me apart from make me feel depressed... The pain was still there. So after the bad experience and feeling so low the doctor took me off them... Now like I say I cope with nothing. Partially out of choice and because I cannot take certain meds with the anticoagulant injection I am taking now. So rather than mess me up again I just try an cope on a daily basis...ha ha sometimes I dont! I am learning to understand how much pain I can cope with...or not!

[Rebecca97]

I was on the full dose of 900mg a day and all it did was make me sleep! Got no pain relief whatsoever- came off that and tried pregablin and no pain relief either!

[Nny777]

I've been taking Gabapentin for about five weeks now, just the 300mg dosage, and for the first three weeks it was like a miracle drug - it didn't just stop my arms hurting constantly, it also seemed to put me in a really good and energetic mood (I assume it's the antidepressant side of it working favourably with my existing antidepressants) but now it's gone back to doing nothing at all. I know I'm taking a lot less than anyone else here but I didn't think I'd have to go up this fast - and I'm assuming that the higher the dose, the more predominant the side effects are.

I was particularly worried when I saw that side effects included wanting to self harm and kill yourself. Did anyone get this reaction?