Neurontin?

cornelia · Post by **cornelia** » Sat Jan 27, 2007 10:10 am

I find that Neurontin still works after 2 1/2 years for pain and PLM´s and yes, it waxes and wanes. I find that it works less under stress and beautifully when there is no stress.

Corrie

jumpy · Post by **jumpy** » Sat Jan 27, 2007 9:44 pm

Andy, it is really a good idea if you are on multiple meds to keep a list in your wallet or pocket. I keep a notebook in my purse with all my meds, the dosage and when I take them. It helps at my regular dr apts and when I had my kidney stones and was in dire pain, I could just give them the list. I sure can't remember everything. Also, My sympathy with the stone. Been there done that and don't want to go there again. Pat

jumpy · Post by **jumpy** » Sat Jan 27, 2007 9:54 pm

David, about the neurotin and requip. I was on the neurotin before the Requip. The Requip seems to work and we are splitting it up to try and prevent or control the augumenting. I won't know if it works for a while. The neurotin was not working very well, so I swiched to Lyrica. Today was my first day on it and so far so good. Maybe a little groggy and still the leg pain. I think it takes at least a week to show any response...Pat

Kwazylegs · Post by **Kwazylegs** » Sun Jan 28, 2007 9:16 pm

Jumpy,
Thanks for the tip about keeping a list of current meds on a card or something so I don't have to try to remember all of them while in a stressful medical situation. I'm not sure if what I have is stones...because of the incredible pain on voiding. I went to an immedite care facility to get it looked at. I'm not sure about the value of an abdominal CT scan for my symptoms, but they ruled out an infection and stones (except for one small 1-2mm one near my prostate. So, now I'm taking Levaquin, Flomax, and Tylenol 3 for the exquisite pain I have each time I empty the 'ole bladder. This is getting off the Neurontin thread topic...sorry guys. The scary thing about the medical stuff I'm going through now is that I think I'm getting pretty good at tying those accursed exam gowns they give you in the exam rooms

, and my pharmacist is calling me by my first name whenever he sees me walk into the store. Oh well, now I have to see about fitting a urology appointment in between my periodontal surgery this week. This too shall pass, right? Hope you all are having a good weekend, and that your symptoms aren't giving you too much trouble.---Andy

catsup · Post by **catsup** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 2:35 pm

i have been on Neurontin for a week now, after finding that Requip keeps me awake.
all that has been written on this thread has been most helpful to me, so thank you everyone.
Neurotin is working for my RLS.
the Neurontin has indeed increased my apetite. i am already over-weight so i will be watching this closely. and i am having stomach pain and bloating. the personality part is interesting to me. i have more energy and am noticing that i am more compulsive. i am doing house chores that normally i drag my feet about. my wood floors look beautiful! i woke up faster this morning and got right into the day, compared to my usual, depressed trudging. so, i will stay on it, watching how the side effects evolve.

moll

Sojourner · Post by **Sojourner** » Thu Feb 01, 2007 5:21 am

Thinking out loud and and update...hope I don't jinx myself. Have seemed to settle in on 900 mg of neurontin which I take in one dose about 11 pm. The head pain and squealing in the ears has decreased to a very manageable level at this dose. The neurontin still does not make me sleepy. Thanks to some good advice--hint, hint--I have started taking a 5mg vicodin at about 10:30 pm. I try to hit the sack about 12:15 am or so after visiting the forum and playing a game or two of computer solitaire. I try to throw in a hot bath or shower also. I am experiencing some success with this regimen. The legs are quiet and the PLM's are generally absent and, some nights, I am able to get to sleep a bit easier and more quickly. Actually, have had at least two days of 6 hours sleep with only a few brief interruptions. UNHEARD OF in a long while. Sooooo, I feel lucky for the time being and keep my fingers crossed. Curiously, I had been drinking warm milk (a standby) with my neurontin and that seemed to make it less effective than just taking them with water---at least based on some limited experimenting.

Anyway, I'm grateful and my run of luck only makes me more appreciative of all your help and encouragement. It also makes my wish that everyone here can also find some little bit of magic that much more sincere.

ctravel12 · Post by **ctravel12** » Thu Feb 01, 2007 2:10 pm

Hi Moll and Mark. I am so glad that you are finally getting some much needed relief for your rls.

Please keep us posted on how you are doing.

It is such a wonderful, caring and supportive group. Just love it.

Thank you for sharing this with us. Like we have all said before, we learn from each other.

brandy · Post by **brandy** » Thu Feb 01, 2007 8:57 pm

Mark,
I am absolutely thrilled to hear of your success. Fingers are staying crossed for you!

Kwazylegs · Post by **Kwazylegs** » Sat Feb 03, 2007 3:22 am

Mark,
Great news about your success in the sleep department! It seems like the combination you arrived at is right for you. Keep us posted. Hoping all have a great, restful night tonight. ---Andy

Kwazylegs · Post by **Kwazylegs** » Sat Feb 03, 2007 4:07 am

By the way everybody, you might remember a week ago my posting about the recent epidural I had for the pain/numbness in my right leg. Well, the injection seemed to do the trick for the leg, but I developed some urinary tract pain on urination that I thought might be stones or something. (I know this is kind of off-topic, but I need your help with this pain). Because of my RLS and PLMS and leg pain, I've previously been prescribed and have a supply of Neurontin, clonazepam, tramadol, Tylenol 3, and Vicodin 5/500mg. Because of the severe pain on emptying my bladder, I've been taking some of these for the pain of this condition. I've been taking 1/2 tab of the Vicodin with .25 mg clonazepam every 3-4 hours for the past 6 days, and this worked well...the Vicodin for the pain, and the clonazepam for the "fear" of voiding. Well, today I had a cystoscopy under general anesthesia (no abnormal findings!), and I now find the pain more than I can tolerate without changing the meds around. I'm dragging you all through this urinary stuff because so many of us have used pain meds for our RLS-related pain, and I have very limited experience with the effectiveness of the narcotic meds...specifically the tramadol, Vicodin, and Tylenol 3. Have any of you found any of these meds particularly helpful for other non-RLS pain? The urologist gave me another Rx for Vicodin 5/500 to be taken 1-2 caplets every 4 hours as needed, but I'm afraid of this dosage. On the other hand, as I'm typing this, I'm dreading the inevitable reality, that I'm gonna have to "go" sooner or later. Sorry for this "thinking out loud" post, but I could really use some support/encouragement with taking this quantity of pain reliever. I need some anxiety relief along with the pain med to overcome the fear of voiding, and clonazepam is the only med I have for this. Any ideas? Thanks. ---Andy

Post by **ViewsAskew** » Sat Feb 03, 2007 6:17 am

Maybe I missed it - and not exactly an answer - but did they say what was causing the pain? It's "just" an infection? This perked my ears, because my best friend has a similar situation many years ago. After a lot of tests,a horrible doctor, and no results, she finally figured it out herself - she has chronic cystitis. She's learned how to manage it and mostly through diet. If she goofs up, the pain is back and it is nasty. While is affects mostly women, it does affect men. So, for what it's worth...

Anyway, my guess would be that the Vicodin would be the most effective, but not sure why I think that.

Mostly, so sorry you are going through this. I hope it clears up soon.

Sojourner · Post by **Sojourner** » Sat Feb 03, 2007 8:21 am

Have some personal experience in using vicodin for shoulder/back pain as well as a small hernia. The vicodin was and is quite effective...more so than for my rls.

Closer to your situation, my sister recently had two surgeries related to bladder problems. Issues with pain and urination pain were expected and vicodin was prescibed to help with this pain during the recovery period. I do not know the dosage or how many she was supposed to take. I do know that for the first few days she took one every several hours on a regular basis. After than it was more on an as needed basis. The vicodin was very helpful in her particular case.

I think that while pain is a real issue for you and from which I hope you can get relief. More importantly, Andy, I hope the cause of your pain and medical status can be determined so that the vicodin, if helpful, will not just mask the symptoms of a more important concern.

I truly am sorry you are not feeling well and wish you a speedy recovery.

catsup · Post by **catsup** » Sat Feb 03, 2007 2:37 pm

IF YOU ARE AFRAID OF TAKING TOO MUCH VICODIN, TAKE THE TWO TABLETS EVERY SIX HOURS AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS. VICODIN COMES IN DIFFERENT STRENGTHS AND 5MG IS THE LOWEST DOSE, SO I WOULDN'T WORRY ABOUT IT. AND YOU PROBABLY SHOULD'NT ADD ANYTHING TO IT, LIKE CLONOPIN. TWO TABS OF VICODIN SHOULD HELP WITH THE ANXIETY AS WELL AS THE PAIN. IT MAY CAUSE YOU TO FEEL SOMEWHAT EUPHORIC, IN FACT. HOPE YOU FEEL BETTER SOON! (OOPS I'M USING CAPS!)

MOLL

jumpy · Post by **jumpy** » Sat Feb 03, 2007 2:41 pm

Cystitis is something I do know about. If that is the problem. Penicillin is the best antibiotic to take. It knocks it out quick. I know they have all these new drugs that they want to try out on you. But the old stuff works best. Pridium is a "pain killer" for painful urinating. You can get a form of it otc. Might want to try a larger than recommended dosage of the otc. Sulfur drugs also help. And there is another one Usept. I'm not sure how well that works because what we last thought was an infection was actually 2 large stones.. I hope that is all it is because and infection can be cured. You might ask about diet. There are things like lettuce that I was told to not eat. Hope this helps. I know it's miserable. I'm not by any way a doctor but have been there....Pat

Kwazylegs · Post by **Kwazylegs** » Sun Feb 04, 2007 3:21 pm

Thanks to you all for your support and suggestions. So far, the urine cultures have come up negative, the CT and cystoscopy have revealed no abnormality to explain the pain, and yet here I am with this accursed pain when I void. I've tried pyridium (uristat), and I'm not sure, but I think it makes the pain worse.

Pat, I'm allergic to penicillin, sulfa, and most anti-inflammatories, and so even though my cultures have been negative, I've done a course of Levaquin, and now (post-cystoscopy), I'm taking ciprofloxacin? They've also prescribed flomax for mild prostate enlargement, and I'm drinking gallons of water. Geeze! All this treatment, and no diagnosis! I've had salads for the past two days, so I'll stay away from lettuce, like you suggested...I'll try just about anything at this point.

Catsup, I think you might have something there about taking a couple of the vicodin every 6 hours. I didn't know that the strength of vicodin I'm using isn't the strongest available...like I said, I don't know squat about narcotics. I've been taking 1/2 caplet every 3 hours, and the pain relief hasn't been good. I think the thing I have the most reservation about is that I'm taking the vicodin for an unidentified problem, and that I wonder how much longer I'll need to take the med.

I don't know about you guys, but I think I need another urologist. I mean, I'm happy that they haven't found any tumors or anything, but still I have this pain, and the doctor I've got doesn't seem to be directly addressing the cause of this pain. I've asked him, but he seems to dance around my question by suggesting yet another test (renal ultrasound on Monday). I guess I need to know just exactly what the US is for, and how is it going to help with the pain?

Well, thanks again to all of you, and for letting me kind of "hijack" this Neurontin thread. ---Andy

Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) Discussion Board

Neurontin?

neurontin?

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