Multiple Sclerosis - Multiple Sclerosis Message Board

colleen2165 · 11-14-2008, 12:26 AM

Hi all,
Dxn june 2002. Things seemed to go fine until this year. Oh what pain. How it all effects your life. Pain around my torso(ms hug????) for the last 7 months. Nero then thought it could be something other than M.S. What? more tests, mri, spinal tap etc. Now they say yes it is M.S.! now taking 2400mg day gabapentin and 25mg amitriptyline increasing by 100mg gabapentin til i'm up to 3600mg. Is this working. I feel like a zombie and just want to feel good again.@#!%$. so frustrated. And what damage is all these drugs doing? Sorry for venting.!!!

MSJayhawk · 11-14-2008, 07:17 AM

I hear you. MS can be frustrating. I do not know about the meds because I am med free (26 years). I have found that my pain tolerances have increased and, though I am disabled by MS, I laugh off the MS. That is, I choose to lock my MS in the hallway closet. I find that if I take the focus off of my condition and target other things to do or others to help, my MS becomes only a minor inconvenience.

stormonto57 · 11-14-2008, 11:31 AM

Hi I am on 1800 mg of Gabapentin a day and I was told by my MS nurse to increase it by 100 mg a day until the pain went. It went at 1800mg and I feel fine. I don't take Amitryptoline and from what I've heard from a friend of mine who is on it, it makes you tired the next day. She only takes half a tablet at night now. You don't have to feel like a zombie when you're on medication, just adjust it to suit you. I'm in England and we have the MS nurse who supports and prescribes, do you have anyone like that who can help you? Good luck.

colleen2165 · 11-15-2008, 02:23 AM

Thanks for writting me back.
First of all, Good for you for not having to take any meds msjayhawk. It sounds like you have a GREAT attitude.
RE: Stormonto. Thanks for replying to me. Did you start off only taking 100mg a day or did you start at 1800mg. Does this med take time for your body to adjust? I started off at 1600 mg a day for the first week and then jumping right to 2400mg for the 2nd week and then Dr. wanted me to increase it by an extra 100mg a day til I reached 3600mg. I still have a lot of pain it's just not so intense. I have alot of lesions on my spine which is causing me spasms,itching, burning pain on my back and front. Where is your pain? How long have you had MS? Are you on any of the injections? I'm on Copaxone which is a every day injection.
Nice chatting with you both, and again thank you for replying.
Take care

april1848 · 11-15-2008, 01:16 PM

Hi Colleen. I was given gabapentin too, with pretty much the same dosing schdule as you. I was taking 1500 mg to start and it did make me feel like a zombie. I probably didn't give it enough time for me to get used to it, but I couldn't take it and be productive at work at the same time. Plus of course they wanted me to up my dosage, and the fatigue/drunken feeling I got from the low dose scared me away. I'm tired enough without it! I did save the meds though in case I decide to start over. It does take time for Neurontin to start working and for your body to adjust, so if it's decreasing your pain, it may be well worth it in the end. Let me know how it goes, since I'm totally undecided on it now.

I have lesions on my c-spine too, and it seems like we have a lot of the same symptoms--mine are mostly sensory. I get bad spasms too, and last night (shot night, I do Avonex) I couldn't relax my leg muscles at all, and I'm pretty sore today.

I worry too about the damage all the meds I'm on are doing, but I have blood tests to check my liver every three months, and so far so good. Welcome to the site!