Gabapentin!

[garydavidturneryahoo]

I started experiencing sciatica seven weeks ago, following my continually carrying a heavy object. I have been taking gabapentin for this now chronic condition for the past five days, and, in this time, my pain has increased. Is this just a temporary side effect of the medication, and/or a sign of the healing process? Should I persevere with this treatment?

[Nudd]

Not sure Gary but I take gabapentin as part of a cocktail of drugs for my sciatica/scoliosis. I would have thought that the first line of defence was ibuprofen 4 00 4 times a day as it is an anti inflammatory and that what’s you need to calm down the internal inflammation, I also take co-codamol which you can get from the chemist. My gabapentin was added for the nerve pain associated with sciatica. I would try ibuprofen for a few days which should help. You also can have the dose of gabapentin increased but maybe try the basic stuff first before asking for that?

[Nudd in reply to Nudd]

Sorry mistyped. Ibuprofen is THREE times a day!

[Linelover15 in reply to Nudd]

Hi thereI have something called cauda equina and was given Gabapentin when it caused sciatica. A couple of months later sciatica went but later a consultant told me not to take Gabapentin as doesn’t work and sciatica would have cleared anyway in two months without meds!

Makes you think? Have since returned all Gabapentin tabs to pharmacy.

[KPlex]

I've run the course with NSAIDs. Tylenol is the only one that doesn't bother my stomach. The others created terrible reflux. I've been taking Gabapentin since 2012 for peripheral neuropathy and it's never bothered me. I haven't found it to help with sciatic nerve issues yet. I just had my dosage increased and will see what happens. Make sure you take it 3x daily without missing doses. You should get used to it. If not, you might need to discontinue. Talk with your doctor. My daughter didn't do well on it. Of course, everyone is different. I hope you feel better soon. What has really helped me is a muscle relaxer and I had a spinal injection that was simply amazing...just an anesthetic and steroid. Wow...it's not gone but it is significantly less painful.

[L5s1frozen]

In my experience gabapentin is really only good for chronic nerve neuropathy. Sciatica is very painful and if it is nerve inmpingement you may need a steroid to reduce inflamation. I had a microdisectomy a couple years ago. Sciatica is no fun. Good luck

[ClumberSpaniel]

Gabapentin is not a good drug (unless it’s used for its primary anti-epilepsy properties).

I take 3,600 mg per day for Complex Regional Pain Syndrome & all it has done is made me gain weight & not helped with the pain at all. It does the same to others as well.

[Hemi1980 in reply to ClumberSpaniel]

Exact same thing to me wow glad i read this my doc doesnt beleive me now i know its not in my head making things up

[ClumberSpaniel in reply to Hemi1980]

I’m surprised that your doctor doesn’t believe you. When I next saw my pain consultant (after having taken the maximum dose for a few months) and I told him that the only slight benefit was that a couple of times it made me so wasted that I didn’t know what was going on, but once my body was tolerant of it, I was just taking it for the sake of being told to take it. No dulling of pain, no other effects etc. When I told him this he said “To be honest I’m not surprised. It’s one of the go-to drugs for nerve pain, but we rarely see anyone benefit from it!

I was tapered down from it and it was replaced by Duloxetine (which also did nothing). I’m now on Buprenorphine (opoid) pain patches. I’m on my first patch 2 days in (it releases 10 micrograms per hour). I think this is the starter dose as it’s the weakest one, so when I see my doctor in a couple of weeks, I’ll say it only helped a tiny bit, then that should give them the hint to up the dose. I also need something for the breakthrough pain as well as it’s like being run over.

I forgot to say that I’m also on 50mg of Amitriptyline a day a well. When you first start it. You go to sleep quickly, and sleep for a long time (there was a murder case in the news where a Scottish man murdered two English girls by giving them Amitriptyline first to make them drowsy/sleep before he did what he did). I think it’s occasionally been used as a date rape drug too. Don’t let that put you off in any way, I’m merely making the point that it has drowsy effects, and it does have a little benefit for pain.

I was on a residential course at a hospital for Complex Regional Pain Syndrome for 2 weeks. The other 3 on the course (all ladies) had these pain patches, and they were taking Oramorph when the pain got bad. They said they felt sorry for me but sharing medication is a huge no-no which I already know. I need to speak to my own doctor about that.

Lastly, don’t let doctors swap Gabapentin for Pregabalin, they are basically ‘siblings’ in the pharmaceutical world. Just as bad at not working, just as bad side effects. It’s the equivalent of being punched on the opposite side of the face than the one Gabapentin punched!!

Good luck finding a doctor to listen to you & your concerns with the medication. I was categorically told that “Gabapentin is to ‘go-to neuropathic pain drug, but it rarely ever works.” So the doctor should not be surprised when you say it’s crap! Best of luck!👍

[perregrine]

Gabapentin is a medication that can address nerve pain but not the physical cause. It works on the chemical messages between your nerves and so it's not going to improve because of this medication alone. Doctors don't always share their approach but I wouldn't be surprised if they prescribed this as pain relief and they're waiting to see if it improves by itself because it appears to be strain-based.

What stops sciatica is removing the pressure on the nerve. For me, that means waiting a day or two at most until my back clicks in the right way and the relief is instant. For other people, that means no heavy lifting but remaining active and potentially seeking physiotherapy or diagnosis and treatment of an underlying problem.