Gabapentin- for neuropathy - I hope you feel better :)

I also have nerve pain as a rare disease paralyzed me a few years ago (though I have been lucky to gain back mobility). At first I was taking oxycodone every 4 hours and it was horrible, I was a zombie. I have weened myself off (I only take it on extreme occasions) and now I take tramadol. I know you don't want to take any meds like it but I take the slow release 150mg and it doesn't knock me out. If your pain comes and goes it might not be right for you but as mine is constant I take it at scheduled times so that my pain rarely passes a 4/5. It is no cure, but it makes it tolerable. Hope it helps and wish you the best!

Lyrica, Neurontin, Cymbalta all are good for Nerve pain. Narcotics and Tramadol don't treat nerve pain. Tramadol is highly addictive, and can be very dangerous if your taking any other meds for Psych reasons like Benzo's or Anti-depressants, as it has an Anti-Depressant chemical built in. So you have to be careful before you just try Tramadol. Its' also very hard to detox from.

You don't say where your nerve pain is, if its in a body part in an extremity or close to the skin, Lidocaine patches help some people. If you have a Compounding Pharmacy near you, they can make a topical cream with Gabapentin and Lidocaine if your Dr. will order it.

My nerve pain is located in the thoracic (mid) area of my back. I broke 6 ribs and its the nerves that run along those ribs. I also have pain in my neck from the whiplash that damaged my vertebrae. It's a constant pain that worsens with sitting, lifting, etc. The pain is both superficial and deep if that makes sense. Ive used lidocaine creams and/or muscle creams and it gives a slight relief for about 20mins but most of the pain is deep.

I've tried neurontin and had no effect. Gabapentin I had an allergic reaction to. I've had a nerve block and had no relief. I had a nerve ablation, where they burn the nerves. in August but it is wearing off. I've been taking Vicodin on days where it's unbearable, especially while I'm working. But a couple days ago when I had a rather large flare up the Vicodin didn't seem to help at all, which scares me. I don't like taking it because I know it screws with my head but if this is no longer helping me it means I have no fall back for when the pain really gets unbearable. And that is inevitable. Having the temporary relief from the nerve ablation was a blessing and a curse. I don't want to be in this much pain but sometimes I think I was used to it more before. On the other side, now I think back to before the nerve ablation and wonder how I even managed to get out of bed with this amount of pain.

Sorry long post, a lot on my mind obviously. Thanks for the feedback!

Hi I have had nerve pain for over 20 years due to a spine injury and screw up surgery by a neurologist so now I have another nerve damage . I was put on Gabapentin at first it never worked nothing worked. I was also in terrible pain from rsd. Now 25 years later I am back on Gabapentin, as well, as fentanyl patches for my pain. I have a rx cream which is gabapentin and ketamine and lidocaine . I take Lorazapam to help sleep at night . it doesn't take pain away but helps because I also take flexural for bad muscle spasm. Do you have burning nerve pain or just nerve pain? People have the wrong idea about addictions. If you take so many meds so that you get high you can get addicted to it. But if you are only taking it for pain relief then your fine. The big thing is say if you break your a wrist and your put on oxy , you only take for the period that your in terrible pain , then you switch to advil or x tylenol with codeine. that's the problem people stay on when they aren't in pain and get addicted. don't mix it up with your body getting accustom to taking something. I had to stop taking Lorazapam for 6 months because my body got so accustom to it that I couldn't sleep with out it. Now I take every other night. sometimes I forget it doesn't matter cause I am really up every two hours any way. Lyrica can cause some people terrible side effects , which cause mood swings and suicidal thoughts so be care. Always read info sheets for adverse reactions and ask your pharmacy if the meds your on work together. Sometimes they are too busy and don't watch. Oh I was also put on MS contin but that is very hard to come down off. Really badly gets you hooked. I found didn't help nerve pain. hope this helps casey One woman's opinion.

Yeah, unfortunately narcotics don't do much for Nerve Pain, its just not a pain that they work on. If you've already been through the rounds of Off Label Nerve Pains and got what you could from them, it sounds like you're doing all you can with the Nerve Ablations. You can only do those so many times a year though, and with many of those type Treatments, after they've done several they can stop being effective. The above poster mentioned Benzo's (Lorazapam) and that can help you relax, which can help you at night. Although if you're going to try a Benzo, it's generally good to start at the lower end of the scale with Klonopin and see if it works.

Sorry I don't have anything else to suggest. I deal with Peripheral Nerve Disease myself from breaking my Thoracic Vertebrae T6,T7. There just aren't a ton of options for Nerve Pain. I use a combo of Lidocaine patches, a compounding cream and low dose Lyrica, and it keeps the pain at a tolerable level, but it never goes away. Then when it amps up it send stingers (they feel like bee stings) randomly off into my left calf. It is irritating as hell.

I hope your able to find something to help you in the near future.

Thank you for the advice and for sharing what has worked for you both. It still feels very new to me I guess, still learning about it and what helps and what doesn't. I'm going to try out vaporizing CBD oil as I read it helps with severe pain. I don't like taking the meds because I'm very sensitive to side effects. I'm not as concerned with addiction but more the mental aspect. I'm dealing with significant mental and emotional issues as it is, I don't want the medicine to aggravate it. I will take physical pain over mental/emotional pain any day.

My pain ranges from a stabbing, aching pain to a burning, piercing pain. Nothing has ever taken the pain away completely, not even the ablation. I'm concerned about how often I can do them as well. It's only been five and a half months and I already want to have it again. Once I know what it's like to be in less pain I want that all the time, like anyone would I'm sure. I need to consult with my doctor and try to plan out what at least the next year or two will look like.

I'm guessing this will be like anything, what works for some doesn't work for all. Every body works differently, especially when they have been injured. Again, thank you for the input.

I have to disagree on Tramadol. Tramadol and Tapentadol do have nerve pain qualities because they have a partial action on serotonin reuptake.

What does the serotonin do?

Right now it feels like nothing helps. Not really any way. I'm always in some kind of pain. I don't remember what it's like to not be in pain.

Nucyinta (tapentadol) is marketed to treat nerve pain, so I hope it works for some. I've never used it.

I have used Tramadol, for a few years, back when it first came out, it never touched my Nerve pain. It does have that anti-depressant side to it, but its not formulated chemically the same as Cymbalta or a typical SSNRI anti-depressant, I'm not sure it hits nerve pain receptors the same. I've not come across anyone who's had success with it, I do know its a hard drug to deal with, so unless your really desperate for something, I'd try every other option.

I've done all the LA and SA opioid/narcotic meds over the last 31 years. Currently on Morphine and Oxycodone and neither of them touch the nerve pain. I don't even expect anything narcotic to help it.

Tegretol or Epetol the generic brand. I have been using it 21 years.

I have Atypical Trigeminal Neuralgia, constant severe nerve aches in my face. I use Nortriptyline (tryciclic antidepressants treat nerve pain well) I also use OTC Lidocaine patches for breakthrough pain.

I hope one of these could be helpful.

Eeyore22:

Serotonin is a chemical your body makes and is found in the gastrointestinal tract, blood platelets, and the central nervous system. Its job is to regulate your "happy feelings". So when your depressed or have a mood disorder/emotional disorder it's been deduced that your Serotonin levels are off. Anti-depressants raise or lower Serotonin levels depending on the type of Anti-depressant. When Ultram (Tramadol) came out as a new type of pain med several years back, it was formulated with an anti-depressant chemical so it effects your Serotonin level, so the thinking behind it being helpful for nerve pain would be aforementioned.

But just because something affects your Serotonin level doesn't necessarily mean it helps with Nerve Pain.

Studies actually only validate 2 classes of off-label meds for Nerve Pain, Tricyclic Anti-Depressants and Anticonvulsants. And they're going purely on "physical reaction" data, because they don't know exactly how they work or why. Newer SSRI and SSNRI Anti-Depressants didn't have the same positive results.

Oh ok I thought you were saying serotonin was linked to the nerve pain but this makes more sense, thanks

I had great success with steroid injections with marcaine, because injections can do chemical ablation of the nerve.