To ask about gabapentin and nerve pain/sciatica success stories?

Worked amazingly for my cervicogenic headaches

I had my NHS MSK physio appointment today. I saw a lovely therapist. Because I’m doing a lot better (due to pain meds) they want me to remain on them whilst I work through exercises. Again they say I’m not at the point where we look at MRI / injections, which i do understand as I clearly am improving, I’m just keen to get off the drugs. That is our agreed goal for the physio therapy. They have referred me to a gym programme where they work with me on the equipment to get me back to how I was.

@EggbertHeartsTina oh my goodness poor you. Those sort of falls can really shake you up even if no major injuries. Good to hear you have an appointment next week to discuss and fingers crossed for a bit of massage

@SpamChaudFroid so sorry to hear of the side effects on your mental health I hope you’re ok. Do you have people to talk to and things to keep you busy?

I’ve had a bad few days myself. This is very outing if anyone who knows me comes across this thread. On Sunday I went to another concert - with the whole family this time. Leg has been doing much better, and I was having a good time.

On the way home I tripped over whilst running for a bus. My baby was in the carrier on my front. We both hit the floor - my knees and hands, and unfortunately, baby’s head. I went straight to a&e and after 4 hours monitoring they decided baby was fine.

Since the incident I have been in a heightened state of major anxiety; pregabalin is supposed to treat anxiety; but I’m wondering if it could also make me anxious as I become dependent on it??? I haven’t felt like this since I had a panic attack two years ago and thought I’d punctured my lung

As for the leg, the fall injured my knee on my good leg and my pelvis seemed to take some of the force as it now hurts. Mornings I wake up in a lot of pain but once I’m moving it’s still so much better than it was.

MSK physio next week. I’m hoping they may offer some massage as I am SUPER tense. I am thinking I perhaps need to see someone about my mental health too.

Sorry for the moany post, I just feel all at odds at the moment and like I’m the worst mother ever!

Hey @SpamChaudFroid sorry to hear of negative side effects of the medication. Maybe it will level out?

No I wasn’t offered the injection route first. When my surgeon saw the MRI results and the size of the bulge he just said it wasn’t worth it as the injections only treat symptoms, they Don’t treat the root cause of the problem. I also spoke with one of my colleagues who had had a similar disc problem, she was told the same thing after an MRI i.e. injections wouldn’t help her however she decided to request the injections and she said on reflection she wished she had just gone for the surgery straightaway as they didn’t do anything for her.

Hope the MRI goes okay and that you get the results of it soon.

I hope everyone is ok and maybe radio silence means everyone is ok?!
I had my first post op physio session this week. Very interesting chats about perceptions of pain, how to be confident in my back as it’s been ‘fixed’ and not panic about further complications

@SpamChaudFroid that is annoying re-police cuts. We don’t even have a police station in a reasonably sized town now.

I took my dressing off the other day as it was two weeks post surgery. The scar is not as neat as I thought it would be… It looks literally like someone has taken a chunk out of my lower back! Perhaps it will settle down over time. Or I can tell people that it’s where a shark attacked me

@EggbertHeartsTina I just search meditation or yoga nidra on the podcast app on my iPhone. Hopefully this link will work, like this one podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/blue-lotus-yoga-with-jill-amison/id373778930?i=1000376607269

Also there is a podcast called meditation minis - about 10 min episodes so easy to fit into the day

I've had sciatica for 14 years since I was 27. I've tried pretty much everything.

I was so glad when my doctor prescribed Gabapentin. It was started low and increased to maximum dose as I wasn't feeling any different. I ended up putting on 2st in weight and had no pain relief from it at all.

He then prescribed Pregablin ( more expensive ) and this didn't work either.

However, I'm glad to hear about lots of success stories where it has worked.

My wonder drug has been Nortryptyline, 3 at night ( I take lots of other meds during day ) and this has been very effective for me.

Yes @Bloodybackpain I tried the body scan a couple of weeks ago and it really helped! I found it on a webpage though - do you have any links to relevant podcasts? Thank you

@SpamChaudFroid I’ve been using the cbd oil from Holland and Barrett, it does seem to help, tastes yuck though!

@EggbertHeartsTina it’s tricky when you’re tensing with pain and causing issues elsewhere. The hospital physio picked me up on tensing my shoulders too much. One thing I found helped was meditation podcasts, specifically yoga nidras so it’s a sort of whole body scan to relax - don’t know if that would help ?

Excitingly last night I didn’t feel like I needed co codamol so skipped it . Feel really stiff this morning though!

Spam yeah I don’t think being stoned will be conducive to looking after an 8 week old

Sorry I have no idea why I assumed the addicts were youths! What did they say to you when you had a go at them?

Bloody I’m seeing a physio at the MSK appointment. Yes you’re right I need to write things down otherwise everything just speed out my mouth in amongst tears!!! Think I’ll draft a proper timeline and everything, and list what I can’t do.

Today I went on a little nature walk with my family and actually, as long as I kept moving, the pain was relatively at bay. And all I’ve had today is my paracetamol and pregabalin. I had to sit down a few times when the burning got to me. But in general a good day. They always coincide with when I’ve had a relatively decent nights sleep so I think my problems are now coming from tense-ness and very tight muscles. My Piriformis, where the was sciatic nerve runs, is very tight according to my osteopath. My shoulders are constantly tense. I’m just a huge ball of tense! This would explain why I felt almost 100% after that lovely first acupuncture session (I’ve stopped these now as they provided no more relief and are £40 a session which I can’t afford with the osteopath on top).

I therefore think surgery wouldn’t be the way out for me but I wouldn’t say no to an offer of steroid / epidural injections if MSK thought it would help.

Top of my hip is really aching today in a muscular sort of way.
Even though I’ve been managing walking a bit now I think I’m missing my running with regards to headspace ie sticking headphones on and pootling through a nice park not thinking about anything.

@EggbertHeartsTina I would guess pain shifting around is because you’re using different muscles to compensate? I hope your msk appointment goes well, writing stuff down for these types of things really helps. Do you see a dr at that appointment or is it a physio?

So much to catch up on! Spam good to have you “back” hahahaha... sorry what a terrible pun! Your experience with the meds and the youths sounds shocking, hope you’re feeling ok!

bloody glad your recovery is going well. Although avoiding sitting must be hard!

daisy that’s great news!

avo I feel for you. August feels like a long time especially when you’ve already been in pain so long. Fingers crossed for a cancellation.

I have been up and down. Some days are pretty good, some are shit. I’ve been doing a lot more walking but I have to stop frequently

MSK physio is end of this month. I’m hoping when they see my tears and the fact it’s been 3 months they’ll refer me on for investigation.

Moving around in bed is agony and I’m up every 2-3 hours with DS2 so nights are the toughest.

My pregabalin was increased which has made a difference. I still need codeine for bad days. I’ve never been this reliant on meds

My butt is really hurting now, whereas it was more my thigh before. The pain has shifted a lot. Is that good??

@SpamChaudFroid I invested in a sun lounger too! Although it arrived yesterday and now it’s totally cloudy today of course.

Positive news from me. I’m virtually better, though it’s taken well over six months. No longer need any of the medication or the TENS machine. Hydrotherapy helped a lot and I’m now under the care of hospital physio. I’m back at work. I still use the stick but more as a signal to others - and it helps me get a seat on the tube.