(No Subject)

Hi new member here. I've had these strange symptoms for about 4 months. They just began out of nowhere. My entire body will feel this non-localized pain, most prominent in my back and shoulders, it runs up the sides of my face a bit too. I've tried to describe it to a few different doctors and they really couldn't help me because of my lack of an accurate description. It mostly feels like pins and needles, sort of like if your arm or leg "falls asleep." Pins and needles is such a mild description though. I'll get goose bumbs and chills. It is so debilitating that I can't even stand the thought of taking a shower, my body will respond to the most mild of touches, or a mild change in temperature. My girlfriend will lightly touch my face and it will send this intense shock of pain all down my body, I cringe at the thought of even being touched. It comes and goes throughout the day in different intensities but significantly calms down when my body is at rest. Sitting at the computer reading, and especially when I go to sleep. It goes away completely as I lie down and ill wake up feeling great, that is until I actually get out of bed to get dressed. My body will respond to changes in temperature both hot and cold but mostly cold. I got lucky because very early on my doctor prescribed neurontin for anxiety and I discovered that it worked really well in calming this pain. At higher doses it stopped it completely and I finally felt normal. I had to take increasingly larger doses though and I found myself running out early and suffering until I could get a refill. Does this sound familiar to anyone? I've had no injuries or surgeries or anything. I have no idea what this is or what caused it to happen to me Thanks.

Hi there...I'm sorry to hear of your pain issues..

If I could ask a few questions as I'm not quite sure I understand about the Neurontin prescription..

When you say you kept running out early, were you upping the dosages of the medication on your own? Usually a Dr. has no problem prescribing that particular medication all the way up to 3600mg a day. It's meant to be taken on a schedule x amount of times per day, every day.

As well as it can be dangerous to abruptly stop taking it as it can cause seizures...

So, with any medication, if it's not working at a certain dosage, you need to just contact your Dr. and then ask them if they will tirate the dosage up without trying to do so on your own.

Since it works so well for you, when is the next appt. with your Dr. in that you can talk to them about making sure you get a full 30 day prescription at the dosage you need?

Thanks for sharing more and being honest...

In a sense yes, it helps those with seizures or Restless Legs Syndrome....As well as it is very effective for nerve pain...But it's not a typical "anti-anxiety" medication like Valium or Ativan.

And as I mentioned, it's actually very dangerous to take more than the recommended dosage of a medication. Not just what your Dr. has prescribed you, but greater than what even the manufacturer suggests is safe...

I'm so glad that you didn't wind up in the ER with those extremely high dosages!!!

I'm not trying to be judgmental at all...I'm just very concerned for you in that it's really important to just pick up the phone and contact your Dr. if you think a medication isn't working as well as you think and see what they have to say before ever trying to change things on your own.

The reason this is so critical is for your safety number one, but also if you are ever prescribed any type of controlled substance in the future, taking more than prescribed could cause you to be dismissed from the Drs. care and then have a "red flag" on your medical records which would make care even more difficult.

For true anxiey issues, I would suggest seeking out the care of a Psychologist and find some healthy ways you can work on things.

For the nerve pain issues, I would go to a Neurologist or a Rheumatologist and let them run some tests as well as they can be able to prescribe the Neurontin if that worked for you.

Do you have any appts. coming up with a Dr.?

Welcome to the boards. This is a group of people who do care and will listen and encourage.

I take neurontin 2x daily for a total daily dose of 1800mg. Be careful and take only as prescribed, this is a medication that is used in seizure patients, it can have some crazy side effects, and we don't want you to hurt yourself! Have you had any MRI or other tests done to try and find the source of your pain and symptoms?