Hello friends. I’ve just had the pleasure of traveling to California to see Dr. Buchfuhrer. What a caring and knowledgeable man. I wanted to share his treatment plan in the hopes that it can help others...
I was taking Gabapentin 1200 mg every evening at the time of my visit. He prefers Horizant or Lyrica due to the extended release properties. He switched me over to 600 mg Horizant and upped the dose to 1200 mg per evening when the 600 mg proved not to get the job done.
I am seeing a hematologist to get an iron infusion, as my ferritin levels were at a 90.1 ng/ml. He likes to see it closer to 200-300.
I am also seeing a Gastroenterologist on Friday for a SIBO test, and I’m also experimenting with the low FODMAP diet.
If the iron infusion doesn’t help, if I don’t have SIBO, and if the Horizant 1200mg doesn’t get me to where I would like to be, he wants to add in 1-2mg Neupro Patch daily. This dosage is never to be increased if/when it loses its effectiveness.
If I don’t tolerate the patch, or if I’m still not doing well at this point, then we are on to opioids. He didn’t specify which ones, but he definitely said that was the plan once we’ve exhausted all other options.
I hope this helps someone. Please reach out with questions or if I can expand on anything 😊.