Gabapentin

[Orchid_lover]

Been suffering with constant stabbing pain in lower right side of pelvis, emanating from a small lump just below bikini line for 16 months now. Gynaecology investigations diagnosed Focal adenomyosis, small fibroid on uterus & small cyst on left ovary, but didn’t think any of it could be causing severe pain. Urology investigations diagnosed neurological Painful Bladder Syndrome and told me to try Gabapentin, which I started taking last night. Questions are: what are the benefits of Gabapentin, how long am I meant to take it for, what side effects have others on forum experienced from taking it & lastly has it helped sufferers of this syndrome? (GP didn’t give me any advice & just wrote prescription!). Any advice/help/support would be greatly appreciated.

[juliapiper]

Hello, I'd say be very careful of gabapentin. I was on just 2 tabs (600 mg) per day for 9 months. It didn't stop the pain but just numbed my brain a little so I didn't care so much about the pain. However, I developed gum problems (prob from dry mouth you get with this drug) and decided to come off it. Withdrawal was awful. Took about two weeks. There's a lot if you google about gabapentin withdrawal. It's an opiate. Dr's don't warn you or some seem unaware of the side effects and withdrawal issues. I now take the odd one when my pain is unbearable but would not go back on a regular daily dose.

[Alaine1 Administrator in reply to juliapiper]

Hi Juliapiper,

Gabapentin isn’t strictly a pain medication and doesn’t belong to the class of medications known as opiates. It’s original use was as an anticonvulsant so has been used to treat those with epilepsy. It was discovered by accident to help with neuropathic pain. Some people get on very well with the drug and for them any side effects are ‘easier’ to cope with than the daily pain. It’s a case of trying and seeing how you get on with it which is the same as with any medications. All of my medications for my pelvic pain conditions as well as other long term health conditions have potentially serious and/or unpleasant side effects. Fortunately I’ve been pretty lucky and not had to many side effects. Many of these side effects do reduce or disappear as the body becomes used to it. I personally didn’t find any benefit to taking gabapentin so was changed over to Lyrica which hasn’t helped much either.

There is a useful information sheet produced by the British Pain Society which provides further information for anyone interested or has been advised to take it for their pain- I’ve posted the link below.

britishpainsociety.org/stat...

I hope this helps

[Joolibee]

Gabapentin can help to reduce neuropathic pain. I’ve been taking it for several years and it does help somewhat, but it doesn’t remove the pain completely. It took about 3 months and 2 dosage increases before I noticed any significant improvement. It isn’t a cure and will only help to mask the symptoms. Regarding side effects, this can vary between individuals. I took 1800 per day for a few years without noticeable side effects, but for those who do have unpleasant side effects I think there are alternative medications available. I suppose that reducing the sensitivity of the painful nerves will reduce sensitivity of all the nerves in the body, so it’s best to keep the dosage as low as possible. I’ve recently reduced to 1200 per day for that reason. The reduction demonstrated to me that the gabapentin does have an effect, but I’m trying other methods at the moment. Sorry you have been suffering so much and I hope that you manage to find some relief.

[pizon]

I took Gabapentin for 3 days then my eye site became very blurry I had to stop it I

am very sensitive to meds...as far as your painful bladder I use Marshmallow root tea with slipper elm before meals and it helps also if my bladder becomes burning I use baking soda....you may want to ask your dr. about the perdundal nerve...I was misdiagnosed with having ic (painful bladder) and it was the perdundal nerve .... heating pad is also very good.....good luck