Neurontin and gabapentin

I was first prescribed Neurontin in November of 2008 for cervical disc bulge touching my spinal cord causing severe nerve pain in my left extremities. I was prescribed narcotics and eventually prescribed Neurontin. The side effects from Neurontin, at that time, were seemingly intolerable, but as the narcotics were decreased several months later, I found the Neurontin was actually effective and did its purpose. The side effects from the Neurontin were not that great to outway the pain factor I had. I believe this drug does its job!!!!

I have been on gabapentin for almost two weeks now. It seems to have helped with my sleep problems and also has helped minimally with my pain. Unfortunately, I have also experienced severe headaches, rapid heart beat and the inability to climax, along with feeling very "spacey" mentally. As I type this, I am waiting for a call back from my doctor's office. I don't think I am going to be able to continue taking gabapentin.

I am my husbands caregiver. He is on many medications the last 26 years due to chemical poisoning thanks to our government not protecting their civilian painters at the Army Depot where he worked.
He has permanent brain damage, CRS damage, memory loss and short term memory, CHF and Bollis Emphysema. Now he also has Type II diabetes a severe case as he was not diagnosed for 7+ years of testing.
To make this short. He has been on many drugs for pain, diabetes, blood pressure, the brain damage, ( he is a recovering, not drinking alcoholic)
Recently the doctor took him off the Codeine # 3 that he had been taking for almost 15 years, 8 per day. and gave him time release Morphine Sulfate.15 MG. They also gave him Gabapentin for the neuropathy which is severe in his feet and starting to go up his legs. He is over weight, above the waist, and has not had a problem with High Blood Pressure, for many years since taking 60 mg daily of Inderal. His Blood Sugars have been between 98-140 without medication. When he was first diagnosed he was put on glyberide and it worked so good he was off it in 6 months and totally diet controlled since then but about every 3 years he would go on it for about 6 months and then he was ok again.
He has not needed it for the last 7 years. Since starting the gabapentin he went from 300 to 600 to 900 and slowly increased the dose to 1600 mg. The 300's are caps, the 600's are tablets.
All the sudden he has pounding headaches, I took his BP which we had not been watching and it was 198/115 with a 98 pulse. The only change was the gabapentin and Morphine. The morphine does not seem to be causing any side effects, once he was used to getting sleepy.. but once the gabapentin was added, all he does is sleep. The blood sugars also went up with the blood pressure. His were 358 higher than they have ever been except when he was first diagnosed. I was able to get the glyberide and that is bring down the sugar levels only taking 1/4 tab 2 x a day, and the blood pressure is also coming down, it was 139/85 with a pluse of 76 which is still too fast. I talked to some pharmancy friends and they said " Its the gabapentin " so I told the doc I wanted to stop it and he said to start leveling off, one 300 mg cap every 4 days. We were down to 2 a day till Friday and saw the doctor. Due to his taking Cymbalta they did not want to give him any of the other anti depressants so they want him to back on the gabapentin up to 1200 a day instead of the 1600 a day.
Taking into consideration his medical issues and meds, I don't believe this is a safe or sound decision, but I know how much pain he was in before the gabapentin.
I wish they would be more forthright about the side effects of this medication. They said it only causes blood sugar issues in 1 % and they did not even address the high blood pressure etc.
His pupils are also different, he has the kidney pain, but his biggest problem is sleepy.. hopefully it's not his kidneys or his heart. They did blood tests on Friday and I am asking for a EKG.. in the mean time we are monitoring both blood pressure and blood sugar 6 or more times a day. Thank you so much for sharing. It really helps to know we are not alone.

Starting ever 3-4 months, then every 1 to 6 weeks with no known trigger I get a burning skin sensation that comes on suddenly and within 10 minutes or so I feel blow torch heat staring with neck and face then limbs and trunk that actually looks exactly like a sunburn, but feels about 10x worse and no peel afterwards. And my face muscles weaken, face droops, and I look 10 years older at it's peak. These "attacks" usually only last 30 to 45 minutes and driving with AC on full blast or taking a cold shower is the only relief during. All I know for sure is this never happened in my 44 years until prescribed gabapentin.(Nuerontin). I have GAD and my doctor suggested a 400 mg pill along with at Xanax 4x a day. I have tapered down to 1 gabapentin in the mornining and intend to quit in 10 days. Bad news is I've been at the low dose for the last 6 months out of the 18 months on it and the attacks haven't changed as hoped, in fact I'm writing because I just had one last Thursday and again today (Monday, only 4 days later)... a new record for shortest span between attacks. Could recognize no benefit or difference with regards to it's effectiveness treating my Generalized Anxiety Disorder. The Xanax as needed appears to be all I need alone. Only exception being that early on if I took my 100 mg Xanax w/out a gabapentin you could get drowsy while driving.... I break them in 1/2 doses or drink coffee, does the trick. I'm on only these two drugs and don't see the same side affects posted about Xanax so I deduced it's the gabapentin and am stopping it. Yes I too noticed occasional blurred vision, confusion, and munchies, reduced libido, more difficult or no orgasm as well on gabapentin. Too bad.

i have been given gabapentin 300 mg twice a day
I have taken it only for 3 days but with the very first dose I felt funny...dizzy, sleepy...but I still drive my car...will I get used to these effects or will i have to discontinue??
I take it for cervical spondylosis.

I've been taking Neurontin for about 2 months (300mg 3x/day) to lessen the pain of occipital neuralgia.....the pain is still present, but not disabling. This is the only medication I am taking.

Side effects I've experienced are extreme fatigue the first couple weeks....then, tired often if I don't get enough sleep. Another thing I've experienced is weight gain and increased appetite - Big time!! All I want to do is eat.

I'm forgetful and miss doses often. If I skip two doses, the pain comes back full force and I'm in bed for a day.

wish you all the best.

Someone here mentioned one pupil was "unequal", which I found interesting: I had an eye exam a couple weeks ago for eye pain; it was noted that my left pupil was more dialated....this is a first for me. However, overall, my eyes are good...

I,ve had a stroke, I,ve been on Gabapentin (neuronton) for 3 years. I take 600mg 3 times a day. I have memory problems; I feel weak most of the time. My daughter says I stare out into space lots. Ihave alot of headaches. I don't go a day without getting sick!!!

My Father took Gabapentin for less than 2 weeks as a pain med for nerve pain caused by cancer along with Morphine and within 1 day of starting Gabapentin he could hardly move and rapidly became debilitated to the point of paraylsis. We took him off the Gabapentin ourselves. He has been paraylized since October 28th, from the waist down. Any other readers affected in this way???

After taking 200 mg a day for 5 months I developed hives on my stomach and love handles. The itching is driving me nuts. Anyone else have this and could it be kidney damage at this low dose?