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kem

Updated 11mo ago

Struggling with Gabapentin for Fibromyalgia

So, I am taking Gabapentin for my Fibromyalgia. It is a great medicine but I definitely feel the fatigue side affect. I need to increase my dosage but am afraid of even more fatigue. I'm stuck! The side affect on top of the normal fatigue is awful enough without increasing the dose. I need more pain relief but am torn on what to do.

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Maryslim

2y

I've been taking gabepentin for years. I don't feel the fatigue, but I also don't feel my fibro anymore too. Only when it rains. I take 800mg in the morning and 800mg at night.
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kem

2y

That's great. See I am only on 300mg. I definitely need more but have been putting it off for a long time because I am afraid that I will feel too tired to get up. The longer I take it the less I feel the fatigue. I know eventually I would get over the fatigue but I have a small business at home and want to still have enough energy to do what I am able to get done each day, which already isn't a whole lot. If I don't increase the medication my pain will only get worse I know. Guess I just need to suck it up and increase it.
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Krissylee

2y

😥
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emokitty

2y

Physical therapy I've heard is really good with that.
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kem

2y

I did physical therapy and it only agitated the osteoarthritis that I also have. It was so painful to go through physical therapy.
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PurpleMage

2y

I had bad fatigue at first but it gradually went away. Are you taking B12?
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kem

2y

I'm not taking vitamins because I have hypertension, high blood pressure, and vitamins raise blood pressure so I am scared to take them.
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AlKhalil

2y

Believe me, even when the symptoms are very visible or measurable by labs, most people around you will still not get it except perhaps if they suffer from a very similar condition. By our nature each of us is obsessed with his/herself and don't want to be bothered by the problems of others, even at the same time we are wondering why other don't care about our problems. We simply think that "I" have enough problems and cannot add the burden of others to them. We justify this to ourselves in hundreds of ways in order to pacify our conscious and not add another reason to lose valuable sleep. Furthermore, while it is generally hard to communicate and share any issue with others, this becomes even more difficult when the parties involved do not share the same experience(s). If you have never been to the circus you would not understand references to what happens there. Similarly, if you were never handicaped you will not be able to understand the life of one. There are also millions of types of handicap and each is absolutely unique a difficult to grasp. This becomes even more difficult to relate to when one is trying to communicate to others a feeling, like pain. The best that medical geniuses were able to come up with is asking you to give your pain a value on a scale of 1 to 10. What? My pain this time is 7.35. No, I think it changed. It is now 7.7, but it temporarily goes up to 8.66 or drop to 5. Or since I was just been shot the pain felt like 10 but I discovered years later that passing a kidney stone was even worse. Should I rate passing the stone as a 14 or should I go back to my medical records and edit all my pain scales? I know that this silly but I am trying to make a point about how difficult it is to really express pain in a way they could understand. What one cannot understand would usually be discounted and brushed aside.
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kem

2y

Yes, it is very hard to try to even explain the pain and what it feels like. Different areas of my body hurt at different levels. Very hard for others to understand. I have a great doctor though.
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pianochick

2y

❤️
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Maryslim

2y

I have a sister, who has never been disabled and doesn't understand what it is like to be disabled. She doesn't understand me at all. After not talking for 30 years, she still thinks she has to control me. I am more independent than she is. I get upset when I have to use an appliance to move, she thinks I'm dumb. What do you do.
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DeeDee123

2y

Gabapentin made me very tired and weak. I still experienced the pain using it as well. I was on 300 mg 3x a day and it just did not help. So I switched to Lyrica and that works better than Gabapentin.

The content in this post is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.

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