Been taking Gabapentin

[Docb]

Been taking gabapentin for a week for neuropathic pain and it has done nothing to relieve it.

My waking BG for those seven days as been 8.1 compared with an average of 7.4 for the seven days prior to taking it. A simple students t test indicates that here is .99 probability that those averages are different. Good enough for me - gabapentin raises my blood glucose.

So for me, I can report that gabapentin not only has no effect on neuropathic pain, it makes me feel cra*p, lethargic and doddery and also causes a statistically significant increase in my waking blood glucose.

Need to get onto GP methinks.

Caveat....These are observations about me and will not necessarily apply to anybody else.

 

[Grannylorraine]

I the same similar issues with it, did nothing for the pain, made me feel awful and raised my blood sugar levels. I would have been willing to put up with the side effects had I not still been in pain. Mine was for trigeminal neuralgia, thankfully that bad flare up passed eventually and now I try to get through on strong pain killers when attacks happen, but I am aware I am lucky that I don’t have it constantly.

 

[Eddy Edson]

Been taking gabapentin for a week for neuropathic pain and it has done nothing to relieve it.

My waking BG for those seven days as been 8.1 compared with an average of 7.4 for the seven days prior to taking it. A simple students t test indicates that here is .99 probability that those averages are different. Good enough for me - gabapentin raises my blood glucose.

So for me, I can report that gabapentin not only has no effect on neuropathic pain, it makes me feel cra*p, lethargic and doddery and also causes a statistically significant increase in my waking blood glucose.

Need to get onto GP methinks.

Caveat....These are observations about me and will not necessarily apply to anybody else.

Have you tried other meds for it? Assuming yr prob is idiopathic facial pain, www.uptodate.com says ...

For persistent idiopathic facial pain, tricyclic antidepressants (eg, amitriptyline) are the preferred treatment [76]. When tricyclic medications are contraindicated or poorly tolerated, gabapentin or pregabalin are preferred alternative choices. In one case report, topiramate (titrated to 125 mg two times a day) was beneficial [77].

Which I guess is pretty much the same as for other neuropathies.

 

[Docb]

Have tried them all in the past with little effect from any. The pain has got much worse over the last six months or so and I suggested to Doc I tried them again and he agreed. I bypassed amitriptyline this time because it gave me crazy psychedelic dreams last time and I am not into that sort of thing. If the doc suggests pregabalin, then I will give it a go.

The effect on waking blood glucose was interesting for me in that a perceived increase in BG was backed up by statistical analysis of the numbers. I focussed on my waking reading because nearest thing to having all other factors equal.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Sorry to hear the gabapentin hasn’t worked out for you Doc

 

[trophywench]

Well - pregabalin does work a lot better for some folk @Docb - so defo worth another try.

 

[Docb]

Thanks all. Phoned surgery, seeing doc on Thursday - surgery does not have any sort of messaging service.

I'm stopping the gabapentin even though the label tells you not to stop it without GP permission. Doing that is against all my instincts which are to work with the pros, the side effects are that bad.

Out of interest, the PIL says one of the side effects of gabapentin is stomach issues which if extreme (mine are not) could be indicative of pancreatitis. Wonder if the rise in BG might somehow be related.