View Full Version : Back Pain/Stiffness
I have chronic back pain in my lower back near, I am T11. At first the pain was confused with UTI's. I have had temporary blocks which helped some. Currently I am taking 9600+ or (12+x800) Neurotin pills daily, this helps some along with 8mg (2x4) of Dilaudid daily. My pain has increased lately, its to the point that I don't know how long I can stand it. I have seen countless "pain specialist" from different hospitals, what should i do?
krajaxa
12-14-2002, 09:47 PM
I have never heard of anybody taking more than 5400mg/neurontin/day. The drug description suggests that if this dose doesn't work anything higher wouldn't either.
I don't want to bring your hopes up, but since hubby has been taking 4ap his pain has really decreased. You can search the message board, there is plenty of info to find out if you are a good candidate. It's not FDA approved, so not insurance covered, but you can buy it from compounding pharmacy.
Good luck!
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What is it? And where do you get it and how much is it? Thanks!
krajaxa
12-15-2002, 08:21 PM
-aminopyridine (sp?). Quoting: Early laboratory studies found that 4-AP restored electrical activity to nerves whose axons had damaged myelin sheath. Under the influence of this drug, these nerves increased their activity to a level that had noticeable effect.
So if your problem (w/pain) is in damaged myeling sheath, this drug might be able to help you. You need a prescription from your doctor. There are compounding pharmacy that will mix the drug for you. Cost us about $170 for a 4 month supply. Deffinitely, put 4-AP in search engine here, there is much more information that would be helpful to you.
They advise against use of this drug to people who had seizures in the past.
Please, do research and talk to your spinal cord doctor before you make decision.
Good luck !
krajaxa
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David Berg
12-16-2002, 06:01 AM
IKU,
Please talk to your doctor right away about your increased pain. Neurontin usually helps neuropathic pain, but one of the listed possible adverse effects is increased pain. Specifically, Pfizer's own drug info lists dysesthesia (burning pain) and one or two other similar problems as uncommon effects. They could be all the more likely to turn up considering that you're on nearly twice the dosage of anyone else I've come across. 9600 is a huge dose!!!
If your doctor doesn't think much of the possibility of a problem with that much Neurontin, then I would definitely recommend getting a second opinion!
David Berg
First i've heard of neurontin causing pain. I've been to just about every "pain Specialist" in 200 miles and they've all said take as much as you want, it can't hurt.
David Berg
12-17-2002, 06:19 PM
IKU,
I suggest you read the Neurontin drug info from Pfizer. It's available at http://www.pfizer.com/hml/pi%27s/neurontinpi.pdf
It's a long document, but it has some good information. The info on warnings and adverse effects start about page 10.
It's quite rare for Neurontin to cause pain, but I do know of one case where there's pretty good evidence that Neurontin was the initial cause of long-term (and perhaps permanent) dysethesia (burning pain).
Fortunately, Neurontin helps vastly more people than it hurts. Usually the worst that can happen is that a person has relatively minor side effects and has to stop taking the drug. I would not discourage anyone from trying Neurontin as a treatment for pain. Just be an knowledgeable consumer. And if your doctor doesn't appear to be well-informed, then take them the information you have available.
David Berg