About 2 months ago was when I got my blood patch after my lumbar puncture a week and a half prior.
For a week after my BP I had bad nerve pain in my legs. I was on prednisone for a week after and it helped it subside until now.
So about 2 months after the blood patch my nerve pain in my legs has come back. It took a month and a half after my blood patch for my csf leak symptoms to finally go away.
It’s like I just can’t win. The nerve pain in my legs has come back with a vengeance. It’s the worst when I’m laying down. It’s like someone is trying to rip off my legs from my the soles of my feet to my low back. It’s like a bad stinging pain that you just want to stop because it’s so uncomfortable. Not only that, but it’ll feel like bugs are crawling all over my legs.
It started off small but then has got worse every single day to where I can’t even sit comfortably anymore without nerve pain. Only been a week since it came back and it’s hit hard. My lower back where I got my blood patch has also gotten sensitive and hurts.
Not only that, but just a few days ago I started to get headaches again while standing up. I was like ahh this has to just be a coincidence no way I’m leaking again. Well, it hasn’t stopped. I am also getting nauseas.
Nerve pain is the absolute worst because you know it can grow to absolutely ruin your life and there’s no stopping point for it. I don’t know what to do anymore. I’m obviously going to talk to my doctors but like Jesus Christ. I can’t deal with damage from my lumbar puncture and blood patch.
What I don’t understand is that gabapentin doesn’t help this nerve pain at all, but my Hydrocodone does. Gabapentin helps my other nerve pain but does zip for this. I don’t know why Hydrocodone would help this situation. Ahhhhhhh I just want to scream it’s never ending
I am dealing with chronic pain for the first time in my life. And it’s a similar pathology. Fuck it’s such a higher threshold of pain then I ever knew even existed…
I’ve got a herniated disc ( right sided sacrolumbar radiculitis) it turns out. X-rays show nothing, I need an MRI. insurance company says no MRI until at LEAST 6-8 weeks of PT. PT cant see me until middle of next month, and likely won’t do any good for me. Doctor have me gabapentin 'script he said is useless as “most people notice nothing but drowsiness” (thanks doc, really getting them kickbacks?). So I guess I get to experience the absolute worst pain of my entire existence, for the next 10-12 weeks minimum, deteriorate my already dwindling mental health, and risk calcification of the herniation (happened to family member)… this system is so fucked, how is this not fucking criminally negligent?
I’m assuming you’re in the US due to insurance forcing you to do PT? I’m so sorry. The health care system is incredibly fucked up.
Gabapentin does help me a bit. I have nerve pain down my neck through my collar bone and into my arms on both sides and down through the back of my shoulders and into my arms. The back of the shoulder nerve pain is due to the CSF leak from the spinal tap. The gabapentin helps with that.
Other than that, gabapentin doesn’t do anything. I’m taking 1800 mg a day. Instead of giving pain meds that help people they are throwing gabapentin at everybody now a days. It’s sad
Can’t have you abusing opiods, but we gotta sell ya something!!
What they don’t tell you about gabapentin is that the withdrawals are gnarly. Also, there is quite a bit of side effects. The only reason gabapentin isn’t controlled and Lyrica is, gabapentin take 3-4 hours to reach peak plasma levels while Lyrica is much faster
I am on day 3 of a single pill at night and I’ve not noticed anything so far, other than I’m having trouble waking up to alarms. Supposed to increase dose tomorrow, to an additional lu chime pill, but tbh why would I take a medicine that seems to be doing nothing, Nas withdrawal effects, and is said to worsen. Depression and compulsive behaviors? I’m thinking it’s not a smart idea for me.
From what I’ve read online, gabapentin needs to be regulated better because people are stacking it with opiods to get faster and stronger effects from opiods.
Gabapentin can take a couple weeks to take affect. It isn’t a couple day thing. So give it some time at first. What dose are you taking now and increasing it to?
300mg capsules, 1x/ day last 3 days, 2x/day for next 3 days, then 3x/day after until gone.
Doctor was very clear that “most people see no benefit so if the drowsiness is an issue don’t take them”.
Tldr; ramping up to 900mg/day
Ah okay I see. Yeah if you don’t have nerve pain don’t expect it to do anything. It doesn’t do anything for my leg nerve pain. Don’t touch it
Pretty sure the pain I’m experiencing is definitely nerve pain.
Pathology: unrelenting deep hollow pain sensation within my right hip and exterior side of right calf. Numbness of right foot plantar facea. And of course lower back pain/soreness. Said to be a result of a herniated disc somewhere above the area where this would technically qualify as “sciatica” (surgeon was pretty spicy about what a “blanket term sciatica has become” lol.