Can anybody tell me the pro's/con's of neurotonin?
I'm very nervous of side effects, short term and long term.
Thanks all.
Posted by gardenoflyme (Member # 9261) on :
I have been taking neurontin for almost 4 years now to help with sleep. I take 300 mg 1 hour before bedtime. Doesn't always guarantee great sleep depending on which abx i am also on, but I always get a nice 3-5 hour chunk of sleep followed by either another 3-5 hours or a few 1-2 hour chunks.
No real problems at that dose, although I was told I will need to titrate down to quit or I will really mess up my sleep.
Posted by 1981Z28 (Member # 3484) on :
If I were to start this, it would be for nerve pain. The souls of my feet are really taking a bad kicking so my dosage would probably be higher than yours.
Thanks for your reply though as I always wake up in the middle of the night for no reason other than being extremely hot (not sweating, just hot) and it takes me an hour to get back to sleep. Maybe the neurotonin will help with that too.
Anyone else?
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
It does indeed improve your sleep! I took it for pain also, but I didn't really have neuropathy.
I took it for about 5 yrs. Just dropped that med about 3 months ago.
Posted by Aniek (Member # 5374) on :
I tried it for foot pain, but I couldn't get up to a useful dose because it made me too tired. But I'm on Flexeril too and I think it was just too much for my body to handle.
The pain doc who prescribed it said it is one of the safest drugs for pain management. I can't vouch for the truth of that comment though.
Posted by lesley1954 (Member # 7626) on :
My 15-year-old daughter and I are both on 600 mg of Neurontin at bedtime. It seems to help her more with sleep and pain than it does me, but I have longstanding sleep issues. Actually, it helped me a lot at first, but after about a week that benefit was pretty much gone. Too bad.
No side effects for either of us that I can tell and we've been on it for about 3 months.
Posted by minimonkey (Member # 8693) on :
I take Lyrica, which is a similar drug to neurontin. I was taking a high dose for a while, but found it didn't help much with the nerve pain at all-- now I just take a very small dose before bed.
Neurontin does have side effects for some folks -- including (sometimes significant) weight gain and a general feeling of being drugged. Lyrica supposedly has fewer side effects on the whole.
If you are having pain in the soles of your feet -- have you been tested/treated for Bartonella???? Foot sole pain seems to be a big sx of Bart from what I know.
Posted by 1981Z28 (Member # 3484) on :
OK, I might use a little bit at night if I need to as the last thing I want is weight gain. I spend a lot of time on stage and battle the extra weight I already have and I don't need more.
Yes, I tested for Bartonella and am waiting for the results but in the meantime we're treating Babs with Zithro and Mepron and the foot pain has gone from excrutiating to just painful. Thanks for the suggestion though, nice to know we're thinking the same thing guys!
I think I'll ask about the Lyrica as I really don't want to feel drugged out either! Thanks for that info as well!
Posted by Aniek (Member # 5374) on :
If you start slowly on neurontin, increasing every week, then your body will adapt more easily to the fatigue.
As far as weight goes, if the pain is preventing your from being active, you could actually lose weight by treating the pain. I am able to exercise only because of my pain medications.
Posted by Catsmeow (Member # 9485) on :
I haven't heard anything about weight gain myself. I've been on Neurontin for 1 1/2 years w/o any change in weight. I actually lost a few lbs...
I take 1200 mg, down from 1800 mg. I have very severe tingling and heat in my feet, due to nerve damage. It's the only thing that works for me.
I was really afraid of side effects also but was pleasantly suprised that I had none. I started out on 900 mg, then progressed upward. It does help you sleep better but I still have to take 30 mg of Temazepam, also.