Gabapentin - Neuropathy - Chemotherapy -

I pinched a butt-load of nerves from my left shoulder and neck down to my left hand - knuckles to finger-tips. And I hurt. I've had more than a month of nerve pain, and it has worn me down. I took Gabapentin for about 3 weeks, and I quit about a week ago. But here's what I learned while taking this medication often used for nerve pain, anxiety and depression, and sleep.

I realized I still had neuropathy, from chemo and injuries. The first few days on the medication were amazing - I didn't hurt, anywhere. My feet didn't hurt, my toes were not in fire, the tip of my tongue was not tingly, and my left hip was not shooting deep pains into my back.

I learned how sensitive I am to medication. While this helped with my nerve pain and gave me some rest, I was dizzy all the time; I felt like my head was filled with fog; I couldn't think clearly; anxiety was making me jittery, scared, and angry, and interestingly, what I thought was allergies or the beginning of a cold, because of non-stop sneezing, was a side-effect of the drug!

And so I got off, even taking a minute dose (200mg), I knew I needed to stop, immediately. Weaning off, even after only a few weeks of use, took me nearly a week - medication can have long-term side-effects. Yet since being off, those aches that I took the drug for are back, and the aches that I didn't know were aches, have not returned. Hallelujah!

My head is clear, I've calmed down, and I'm back to seeing a kind young earnest chiropractor - who is caring for my left side, one joint at a time. He's reset a dislocated shoulder (has been this way for 5.5 years, go figure), a dislocated wrist (same accident - crashing on my bike), and is trying to teach my body to not contract when there's nerve pain, but to just breathe through it and let it go. Some day that pain will be gone as well!