peeperjj's Journal, 05 November 2020

progress!! so happy for you.  

Thanks for the update, and great to hear of improvement! 

Good news!! 

I am so glad you’re feeling better, love!! 💖 

That is such wonderful news!!! Do you get side effects from gabapentin? (sp?) My doc will give me an rx for nerve pain, but I'm nervous about it. 

Thanks everyone! Bear, the first pill I took about 7pm and it knocked me out by 9-9:30. The next morning I took the second pill and it made me have that cloudy headed drunk feeling. I was fine, could see decently other than a blurriness around the edges of things, no balance issues and my brian worked fine, well as about as good as usual which isn’t saying much lol. The third pill had a bit more blurring but a lot of meds give me vision changes. After that not really anything. Day 6 today and the pill today made me a bit off. I was okay enough to drive but my eyes wouldn’t focus 100%. I could tell there was a wide load coming but not what it was. Of course the sun was glittering off of it too. My eyes have been an issue with all meds that have vision changes as a side effect. I seem to be sensitive to that side effect. Not sure if it was morning pill or afternoon pill as I can’t remember taking the afternoon one. Overall I like it. I can handle the tiredness at night as I have insomnia and it doesn’t bother me during the day. I’d rather have that at night and 1-2 times a week slight blurriness rather than the pain! My nerve pain was right up there with labor contractions lol. Although... I think I’d take nerve pain because at least I didn’t feel very nauseous with it and could still get a little sleep. With labor not so much lol.  

Bear, I also was taking 800mg Advil (what I take for migraines) with the gabapentin. Now I’ve backed off to 400mg which is what I take for normal headaches. If my choice was gabapentin or any narcotic pain reliever I’d choose the gabapentin hands down. Way less side effects for me.  

Thanks Peepers! That sounds awful to be in so much pain! When you feel like that you'll do most anything to get it to stop! How scary to have blurry vision! Maybe that will go away with a little time? Being able to sleep better sounds like a good thing! I have some kind of pinched nerve from my low back that has caused numbness in my left thigh near the knee for almost a year. PT didn't help. I had nerve conduction tests and it's not hindering anything functionally. It's not the sciatic nerve. It may be scar tissue near an incision I had similar to a 'C' section as the pinched nerve runs through my groin. At night I get pins and needles in my feet unless I have my legs bent. I use pillows under my knees as it helps some. I used to take Aleve daily but I stopped because I think it's contributing to my severe acid reflux.If I can fall asleep I'm fine. So maybe I'll try the gabapentin if it starts getting worse. I'm hoping when I lose more weight it might go away. I hope your vision gets better. I'm very happy you that your mobility is improving!!! 

Wow bear I’m sorry to hear that. Not sure what it could be. If it’s a nerve issue for sure then I think gabapentin will work for you. Honestly I’ve been on it for a week now and only had vision issues twice. The second pill and then like day 7. I’m thinking something else is contributing like maybe not having food in my stomach, being tired etc. Even with my glasses my eye dr said I have dry eye syndrome and I’m to rest my eyes every few hours because for some reason they get strained then blurry vision. So you may not have that issue at all! My pcp said to take the first one a few hours before bed when I’m at home to see how it affects me. The next day I was at home too so I could see what happened. It’s honestly not bad for me but I realize everyone is different. A friend has been taking it for years and at a much higher dose. She broke her back and later her neck (chemo caused osteoporosis). Somehow those breaks are messing with her nerves even after surgery, braces, PT etc. She says she takes 1200mg 3x a day. Mine is 300mg 3x a day. I’m self weaning off of them and have been skipping the afternoon one unless I’m trying to get laundry and stuff done. So far so good. One day I had to take the afternoon one because it was achy and starting to hurt slightly. Maybe a 3-4, but wanted to get ahead of it.  

That's so awful about your friend. The drug must be pretty powerful. I'm glad there's something out there to help. Hopefully it does. I just want to make sure I really need it. Weighing the risks. I hope your vision does get better. I know how scary it can be driving or in an environment you aren't familiar with when you can't see clearly. I wore my glasses to the store once and I could not tell if it was my husband or someone else standing a few feet away from me. I never see as well with my glasses as I do with my contacts. 🤓