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

[SpamChaudFroid]

After nearly 3 months of sciatic pain, (it's bad, I need a stick to be able to walk, well shuffle really) and many different drugs, (codiene, amitriptyline, diazepam) my GP has prescribed gabapentin. I am seeing a physio who has made an appointment for a second opinion as to whether it needs further invstigation, (eg. steroid injections or material removed).

Has this worked for anyone? please someone tell me it works

Hey all! Sorry for radiosilence!

How are we all doing?? @Bloodybackpain how are you feeling post surgery?

@EggbertHeartsTina how are you getting on? When was your physio app?

@user1471433754 welcome! I'm sorry you're in pain again :( totally sucks! Has the pain got any better since last week?

@SpamChaudFroid how are you?

@avocuddl and how are you? I am much better thank you for asking. Although progress is slow, I see an improvement everyday. Managed school run today (5 minute walk). If makes me realise how awful I felt pre operation.

If anyone has surgery suggested i would recommend going for it

I hope everyone else is doing ok?

I went to an osteopath. Payed out of my own pocket (wasnt that bad) and it helped a great deal.

I'm so glad you're feeling better bloody!! That's really positive. Did they tell you roughly how long recovery will take?

I'm okay. Still struggling with the same pain but after the news of it possibly taking till August till I'm even seen, I have myself a talking to and I've decided to just try and get on with my life as much as possible and ignore/put up with the pain. Not ideal but I was going mad at home not doing anything. I am coping with the pain and the Amitriptyline is helping me sleep at night.

I've been seeing a private physio but have not seen any improvement from the sessions I've had. She called the nhs service on my behalf today and explained how bad it was and I had a phone call with someone clinical today who basically just explained what symptoms to look out for for cauda equina which I knew. But has put me on a list for the admin team to contact me if they have any cancellations which is better than me having to call every day. So that's positive I guess and hopefully they'll have an appointment soon. The appointment is basically to refer me to a surgeon. And I'm still undecided if that's what I want. Glad to hear that you'd recommend it Bloody, and interesting to hear from User because I would worry that if I didn't have it, the pain would return in the future. Was it a microdisectomy you had? How long was the procedure? I'll be glad to talk to the consultant for him to explain all of the risks etc. Sorry I'm rambling now!

Hi @avocuddl sorry to hear this. August will come around soon.
Yes it was a microdiscectomy I had.
In terms of recovery, I have been signed off work for three weeks. After that I’ll probably start off working from home a bit, possibly a few half days. The main issue is sitting, the hospital physio said that I couldn’t really sit for longer than 30 minutes for the first 4 to 6 weeks, have to build up to that. So in a desk-based job that is not ideal. Also with driving I was told probably can’t drive for 4 to 6 weeks. I’m also not allowed to run for three months post the operation but I think I will be able to do maybe swimming and cycling and gym stuff. Seeing the physio next week for the first postop appointment so I will ask her more about that then.
The main issue is sitting, the hospital physio said that I couldn’t really sit for longer than 30 minutes for the first 4 to 6 weeks. So in a desk-based job that is not ideal. Also with driving I was told probably can’t drive for 4 to 6 weeks. I’m also not allowed to run for three months post the operation but I think I will be able to do maybe swimming and cycling and gym stuff. Seeing the physio next week for the first postop appointment so I will ask her more about that then.
In terms of risks, it seems to be the risk of the operation not working is around 10%. I decided that it was worth it for the chance of being pain-free. There obviously risks associated with surgery and general anaesthetic to. I think the specific risks in this operation were that the nerves could get bruised during the operation or they could be spinal fluid leaking but both of those risks seem to be fairly self limiting i.e. they would take longer recovery but wouldn’t cause permanent damage.

Thanks so much for that info Bloody. It will be SO worth it not to be in pain anymore! Hopefully you can build up to exercise and be back running! Luckily I've never been into running so don't have that to worry about 🤣

It's definitely made me want to get a lot stronger. If I ever get better I'd like to join a gym and do some gentle weight training as my core strength is rubbish and probably contributed to the injury!

Yes core strength is key. Although I would like to think I have a reasonably strong core from working out and it still happened to me! Maybe it would have happened sooner if I didn’t work out though

Hello Sciatica Sisters, old and new! Have only just got laptop back from Know Nothing How.

Am not too bad, thanks for asking Eggbert and Avo, my GP's increased my gabapentin to an insane dose, (2700mg) and I can manage a hobble, (with a rest every 10 paces or so) with the puppy to the park. A side effect I didn't expect is that my impulse control is almost non-existent - like being a kid again! I had a bit of a set-to with a group of addicts who have begun to use the churchyard opposite my house as a shooting gallery, toilet etc. They were injecting drugs in broad daylight and my puppy ran into all their needles and drugs, so I wasn't best pleased. I was very frightened afterwards, because this rage just came from nowhere.

I'm so pleased your surgery went well Bloody. If I'm not offered it on the NHS I think I'll have to see about scraping the coin together to have it done privately. Staying on gabapentin forever isn't something I want for myself, and I'm still in too much pain to live a normal life.

For those who are garden-bound, I bought an awesome sun lounger. It's more comfy than my bed! It supports all the points of your body which makes you feel weightless, so perfect for sciatica sufferers.

Avo, I'm and shooketh that your GP isn't prescribing gabapentin or pregablin for you. Is there a reason for this? I did have to badger the HCPs a fair bit before this was prescribed.

Eggbert, I found the 2 month point the most painful, that was the stage when I was crumpled on the floor crying into the dogs fur, just desperate with pain and misery. I'm so sorry this is happening to you esp while a new mum.

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.

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

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??

@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?

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.

Haha Eggbert. When puns are that bad they're funny . The people shooting up in daylight were middle aged, like me! My pain shifted around a lot at the stage you're at, I don't think it's "good" just part of the process. Nerve pain tends to do that, (think phantom limb pain with amputees). The only thing that got me through that stage was eating canna-butter daily, which obviously made me v. stoned during that period, so not possible for everyone.

Bloody, a muscular pain you say? Is it a different pain to what you had pre-surgery?

I will ask my GP about hydrotherapy this week Daisy. I bet the feeling of weightlessness in the water feels wonderful.

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.

@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!

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

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.

@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

Eggbert, they told me to chill out and mind my own business! As if IWBU! As if they were having a nice picnic or something. We have only 4 PCSO's on patrol in my town, (which isn't tiny) and they finish in the evening, so criminals can pretty much do what they like without consequences.

Sorry for off topic grumble, I am fuming about this.

@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

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

Hi Bloody, I'm still here! I've been experiencing sudden crashing misery, a side effect of the gabapentin, I suspect. Looking back, it was making me feel quite euphoric every time the dose was increased, so that was bound to happen . The dose is no longer being increased, as I've reached a plateau pain-wise.

I've just remembered, I did mean to ask you something. Were you offered the injection at all, or did they go straight to recommending surgery?

I have my MRI on Wednesday, my GP has told me she thinks I need a solution other than medication, but she has no say in the decision.