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Gabapentin: can it increase pain?

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Posted 6/5/2015 3:29 AM (GMT 0)
I've been on Gabapentin since the end of April. I thought possibly I was better so I started decreasing my dosage but found that the pain was worst than it was before I started the Gabapentin. Since the Gabapentin works on the nerves I had wondered if it can every aggravate the nerves and cause more pain in some people? Or was I experiencing withdrawal? I was on a very low dosage of 600-900 mg. I can't imagine that my pain would escalate so much in just a few short months?

Has anyone had experience with this?

Thank you!
Posted 6/5/2015 3:42 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Grammy. I've often wondered if we get more sensitive to the pain after having it dulled for a while but I'm not really sure. I dint think the medication would make it worse but I think sometumes when we find relief we start thinking were better and can make the mistake of going off the medication when that's the whole reason we were feeling better. I've done thatmyself. I'm sirry you're feeling worse and I hope you gert some relief soon.
Posted 6/5/2015 4:07 AM (GMT 0)
Gabapenten gave me back my life. I take 300mg x 3x a day; still have nerve pain particularly in my legs. Would like to take more but it makes me sleepy. I can exercise and sleep; for occasional extreme pain take a half Norco. Getting off schedule with Gabapenten can cause me flares which happened last week when I had a minor surgery. Have been taking it for ten months. My primary disease is Sjogrens diagnosed about ten years ago but the neuropathy appeared about four years ago. Numbness is random and may feel like tape is stuck on my foot but it occurs randomly on legs and feet. I had pneumonia 5x in seven years and numerous doctors--pulmonologists and rheumatologists--deny any connection with Sjogrens. My instinct tells me there is; not right when did not have it before.

I feel better with a clean diet and no processed foods. No wheat.
Posted 6/5/2015 3:49 PM (GMT 0)
I think part of it too is that you've gotten used to feeling the pain less - so it's going to seem worse to you when / if it returns. You were (to an extent) likely somewhat used to the nerve pain by the time you even started the med.

I didn't realize how bad my nerve pain was when I was dealing with it. Without gabapentin I can feel energy coming off of people near me (almost like I'm connected to a socket). I've been on it now for about 5 years and I've tried to get off a couple of times. I can get down to a single daily dose but anything lower than that and that electric nerve pain comes back which also brings with it intense anxiety. I've thought at times that it might be related to either withdrawal or that my body has in some way become addicted to the med. I've managed to fix so many other issues with diet and lifestyle that I felt like surely this one had to be better, too. But, evidently not. I think I was dealing with this issue for about a decade without even realizing it. I had no idea what was causing a lot of my anxiety and I thought it was somehow normal to be able to feel other people's energy the way that I did.
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