Narcotics vs neurontin

My personal opinion…

Did high-dose Neurontin, made me tired and wanted to sleep all the time.

Did Neurontin+Vicodin, made me feel no pain and sleep all the time.

Started Lyrica, life came back and stopped vicodin and am very happy.

My opinion is very personal but asking your Dr. to try something different until you find what works is key to living with this “wonderful disease”.

Message me anytime if I can help and take care.

Jerimy

Jer, I never fail to be amazed at how differently we all react to the meds we take! Since my reaction to Lyrica was so bad, I wonder if I need pain meds in the future how neurontin would be for me – and then I think about those who react so bacly to Cymbalta when its my saving grace 🙂 .

I use neurontin. I can go on lower doses when able to and it doesn’t bother me to increase my dose when I need to. I am one who has All kinds of allergic reactions to meds, but I have had none with neurontin so far, and I’ve been on it since Sept 05. I tried Lyrica with more problems, so I went back on neurontin. I agree with Jer, its important to take control of your healthcare, don’t be afraid to try things, or change if you have problems. With neurontin, start off with a lower dose and ramp up until you find the right amount. Gene can tell you the max amounts. Take Care.

as you can see different things work for different folks. neurontin worked for me & cheaper than lyrica. all are better than percocet. many of us take neurontin [gabapentin], a non-narcotic, for peripheral neurological pain. neurontin is specific, it can work even when ordinary pain killers do not, even the opiates like methadone. great success w many. v safe. start at 300 mg 3X/day [900 total] & increase by 300 every other day till pain stops. taking it 6X/day instead of 3X/day gets more bang for the buck. 3600 is theoretical max/day that your body can absorb. 5600 is practical absorption max/day. the only reason for the slo build up is it may make you sleepy till your body gets used to it. take care. be well.

gene gbs 8-99
in numbers there is strength

You are sooo right Gene, Meds work differently with all of us. I used neurontin for 6-8 months and it works good for nerve pain but I just could not live with the side effects. Worse bowel and bladder dysfuntion, but the knicker for me was complete sexual dysfuntion. For the past year I’ve taken a few Vicodin a week to give me a few hours of relief when the pain is really bad.

Take the rest of the day off,

Rob

Neurontin messed with me emotionally, I just wasn’t myself on it, quick to become angry/depressed. My doc won’t put me on it again as he feels it’s more of a liability than it’s worth. But I do have weird side effects to these types of meds, so don’t go by me.

I do take Norco and Soma when I can’t take the pain, but try to keep that at a minimum. Neither helps with the tingling (my digits/hands/limbs fall asleep when any pressure is put on them which is hard to avoid at bedtime), but the pain improves. Soma has allowed the best sleep I’ve had in ages (my limbs fall asleep all through the night, wake me ever 15 min. to maybe an hour, but by then it’s really bad). I’ve actually been able to sleep for hours at a time without waking up, and can go right to sleep if I do wake up.

Tricyclics help with pain, but again, I get really crabby on them…SSRI’s help with the fatigue, but cause pain in my case (a side effect not everyone is familiar with). I’ve heard they can cause restless leg syndrome, too, especially in combination with an antihistamine.

Life is so full of surprises. What works for one doesn’t for another. Though all of it the one though that has helped keep me sane [relatively speaking, that is] was that if I can feel the pain that means I’m still alive. By the way, I’ve tried Percocet and it did absolutely nothing except make me feel sleepy.