Neurontin

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Ladylacy
Ladylacy Member Posts: 773 Member
in Head and Neck Cancer #1

My husband has been complaining of nerve ending pain in his feet and now his arm.  Our hospice nurse has been trying to get him to give Neurontin a try to see if that helps.  Has anyone taken this medication and what problems did you have with it.   When reading the side effects it scares me especially when it talks about drownsiness, dizziness as he already has dozes a good part of the day.

Sharon

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  • KTeacher
    KTeacher Member Posts: 1,103
    #2
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    Before bed

    I take it before bed.  I don't want to be drowsy during the day.  It has helped with the nerve pain left from shingles.  It didn't help last year when I was having horrible pain on the right side of my head, but then we found out that I had a tumor on my skull and cancer spread on my nerves on my cheek.  Didn't need it after Cyberknife.

  • fishmanpa
    fishmanpa Member Posts: 1,227 Member
    #3
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    Neurontin (Gabepentin)

    LadyL,

    I have neuropathy pretty bad in my feet and neck. I'm on 300mg 3X a day. It helps. I'll be talking to my MO in a week or so when I see her about possibly upping the dose as I still get pretty bad "stabbies" in my feet, especially at night. I didn't/don't have any noticable side effects other than what you mentioned for a few days at start up.

    Positive thoughts and prayers

    "T"

     

  • Hondo
    Hondo Member Posts: 6,636 Member
    #4
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    Hi Sharon

    I too have the nerve end pain problems and I found little help for it except for Eucalyptus oil. I spray it on where the pain is and sometime on large areas of my body that is hurting, it is the only thing I found so far with no side effects. The only problem it must be Pure not mixed. This is the info on the bottle; EU-CAL Pure Australian Medicinal Oil of Eucalyptus. I get it at a Flea Market in Tampa, let me know if you want to give it a try and I will see if I can find an address for you

    God Bless

    Tim Hondo

  • debbiejeanne
    debbiejeanne Member Posts: 3,102 Member
    #5
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    sharon, praying for relief

    sharon, praying for relief for your hubby.

    God bless,

    dj

  • jim and i
    jim and i Member Posts: 1,788 Member
    #6
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    As if cancer and it's

    As if cancer and it's treatment aren't enough torture the side effects of treatment keep on torturing. Praying for relief for your husband and comfort for you both.

    Debbie

  • Duggie88
    Duggie88 Member Posts: 760 Member
    #7
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    Hi Sharon

    I remember Neurontin well. Not so much the side effects but because I had to take it in liquid form by mouth and I hated the taste. I called it norrotten. As to the side effects, I was taking so many drugs I forget which one caused which side effect.  Drowseness was diffinately one , I fell asleep a few times on the turnpike driving home from radiation. I was also on oxycodone so I can't state how it worked for pain because I don't know which one was taking care of business. If it works it is well worth the extra nap. I also remember you have to wean yourself off of it and can't stop cold turkey.

          Jeff

  • Ladylacy
    Ladylacy Member Posts: 773 Member
    #8
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    Thank you

    Thank you all for your comments.  So far he is having no problems with it, but then again has only been on it for 2 days and only takes 6ml twice a day.  His is liquid but it goes in his PEG tube since he can't swallow so therefore isn't tasting it.  

    Sharon

  • MarineE5
    MarineE5 Member Posts: 1,030 Member
    #9
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    Sharon

    I too was on Neurontin for nerve ending discomfort in my mouth and throat mainly. My Radiation Oncologist had me start with 300MG's 3X's a day like T. I increased it up to 1,200MG's 3X's a day per the RO as the discomfort from the Radiation increased. I had used the Baking Soda and Salt solution mainly from the start until about week 4-5 which took care of the discomfort in my mouth from the sores.

    One thing to remember with this Neurontin is that your husband has to wean off of it and not go cold turkey as that will cause some side effects. I had no problem with the Neurontin as it worked as prescribed by my RO. I started to wean off of it roughly one week after my final radiation treatment.

    My Best to Both of You and Everyone Here

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