Neurotin? Does it help?

my doc would not prescribe the lyrica for me because of the weight gain. he put me on Neurotin instead. he said take one pill a day for a few days, then up it to two, then after a few more days 3 pills, on until I was taking 6 pills a day.

on the 3rd day I took 2 pills, and I got totally snockered. I couldn't drive I couldn't walk up or down the stairs, I was so groggy. so I had to go about 2 weeks before I built up enough tolerance that I could up the dosage. took me a few months to get up to the 6 pills. I noticed almost right away, even when just taking 1 pill a day, that I felt better. not cured, but my symptoms weren't as strong. I was thrilled!

well, a few weeks after I started the 6 per day, I started to lose my vision. everything was very very blurry, and it wouldn't go away. I started to have jerky hand movements, and would get really dizzy, fell a few times. it had become toxic to me, I had to slowly wean myself off of it, stepping down backwards, the same way I had built it up. it took about a month for me to get rid of the toxic effects after I had stopped the med.

I need to go back in to the doc and see if maybe I can try a lower dosage, or if I have just become sensitive to it and have to give it up. I have been on various meds over the last 6 yrs, but now I only take 2 rx. Sinemet for RLS, and Ultram for pain. I use over the counter things, like Salan Pas pain pads (can't live without them!) and recently started taking malic acid/magnesium. there is a big thread about it here on the board, you can read about it there. I've been on the M&M (malic acid/magnesium) for about 6 weeks now, and I really think it is helping me. but like usual with fibromyalgia, not everything works for everyone.

poco,

 

I am on a very small dose of neurontin (300mg at night), and honestly, I don't know if it's helping or not.  But, I continue to take it, in hopes that something-anything will help with the pain.   I see my GP next week, and I'm gonna ask if he could raise my dosage, because I really don't feel any pain relief.  Also, I know that 300mg is a very low dose.  I didn't have any problems when I started taking it, but I take a lot of other meds, and I have a very high tolerance due to my checkered past.  Sometimes I say that my past is so checkered that it's plaid.

 

Anyway, the only advice that I can give you is to try it out.  What works for some people doesn't work for everyone.  Good luck!

Well sometimes I feel like I am the town cryer for Lyrica but here I go again.  I could not use neurontin and did try for a month but was so darn ripped and sleepy I couldnt function.  I got on the Lyrica after reading a bunch of posts online about the pros and cons of it and decided to give it a chance.  I was very concerned about weight gain as I have worked so hard to drop over 75 pounds this past year.  Heck I cant gain any as I gave away all my fat clothes or should I say fatter clothes as I am still a chubby size 16.  But I did start the Lyrica and what I found as far as a reason why it might make you gain weight is that at night I was getting the munchies bad!!  But I kept low cal and low fat snacks on hand and after a time these cravings went away as long as I made sure to have a good dinner.

 

I was woozy at first on the lyricaand with each dose increase but it faded after about 5 days and then I would level out to normal.  I have gotten a great deal of pain relief on the things that could not be helped by narcotic drugs,mainly the horrible neuropathic leg pain that also had the feel of restless leg synndrome with it. I had been at the point of rocking and crying from late afternoon tillbedtime and then up most of the night hurting and that was gone the first pill and had stayed gone.  I did get all over pain relief at first but that seemed to fade but the main pain I was concerned about never came back.  I did have to titrate my dose and am now on the high end at 600mg a day but alot of ppl never go that high.  My doctor told me that when I got to my optimum dose I would hld steady in pain relief and I have for 5 months now with no weight gain.

 

I did have some edema at first but learned the signs of it and it would happen if I was on my feet too long on hot days so I now whatch for it and put my feet up and it goes away.  Good luck in whatever you try.  What works great for some doesnt work for others.

 

Soft Hugs,

Karen

Well the other day I spoke to my rheumatologist because the first thing he had me try, Skelaxin, didn't do anything for my pain and just made me feel sleepy, dizzy, weak, and uncoordinated.

Then he said he wanted to put me on Lyrica and I said that the drug is so new, how can I be sure it's safe. The doctor said that Lyrica is pretty much just Neurontin and has been renamed and repackaged for Fibromyalgia and since Neurontin has been around for awhile, they know it's safe. Now I was on Neurontin a long time ago, a psychiatrist put me on it as a mood stabilizer and it didn't do anything at all for me, it was like popping tic tacs. Then my rhematologist said that maybe I should try it again now that I have the fibro to see if it helps with this problem. Now I don't remember having any side effects the last time I was on it, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't this time. The whole possible weight gain thing really concerns me because I've had an endocrinologist tell me that I needed to loose weight because I'm at risk for diabetes, not to mention I can't afford to buy any new clothing if I do gain weight. I told my doctor I'd do research and think about it, but I doubt I'm going to give this medicine a try. It just seems to risky to me.

If I take Neurontin at bedtime, I seem to be less stiff in the morning, and I love it!  It does make me 'woozy' if I take it during the daytime, though. 

Not sure about the weight gain, as I have gained some, but then again I'm easing into menopause, so it could be that.