@Robinevalon - I’m also sorry you’re still in significant pain. It sounds like it may be your trigeminal nerve causing your pain. It’s one of the nerves often irritated by ES & can also be further irritated by ES surgery. I hope as more time passes your nerve will heal & eventually your pain will go away entirely or at least reduce. I had some nerve symptoms that took a year before they fully disappeared & a few more that took more than a year.
Nerve pain medications can take several weeks to begin helping regardless of the dose. It’s probably best for you to take it as prescribed, but erring on the side of caution & working up to the full dose is also acceptable. Once you’re at the full dose, take it for at least a month (unless side effects are terrible) before deciding whether or not it’s helping you. There are many different types of nerve pain meds so if one doesn’t work, another one might.
Thank you so much. I am currently taking gabapentin, it is prescribed four times daily/300 mg per dosage. I only take it twice per day, but I have decided to take the prescription as prescribed and see if it helps. I have tried other medications that were prescribed and had effect, I do not have Halifax from gabapentin as yet. Thank you so much and it has been Almost 9 months since my surgery so I will give it more time. That makes me feel much better knowing that there is potential for additional healing. Thank you so much. It means a great deal to get feedback. I hope you are doing well and I know you were quite active on this site and itis admirable.
@Robinevalon - Please post again once you’ve tried the full Gabapentin dose for a few weeks to let us know if it’s helping & how you’re tolerating it. One side effect of gabapentin is it can make you sleepy so you may need to be more careful about driving & other activities that require your mind to be alert. Some members have said the side effects became less after they’d taken their meds for a while but others found they needed to try a different one.
I have been on this forum for 11 years this year. I’m doing well & am thankful that my ES surgeries have really helped my symptoms to go away over time. I’m glad what you’ve learned here has been helpful for you!
Thank you for hanging in there with helping other people,even after you are experiencing some success over time. That gives me hope and I’m sure many other people. I cannot drive right now because I have extreme dizziness and migraine headaches. Hoping those eventually subside as well. I am taking iron supplements due to anemia, which only occurred after surgery, and vitamin D, as well as B12. Hoping those will help and especially the iron with dizziness. I have not had side effects of sleepiness with the gabapentin and I have been taking it four times daily and it really has helped a bit. I’m sort of hyperactive so probably the gabapentin makes me normal! Lol!
I will heed your advice and I thank you so much. I definitely will let everyone know I have an appointment on July 10 with the neurosurgeon for a follow up and results of my MRIs. I will post after that appointment. Again, thank you so much.
I’m glad the gabapentin is helping & isn’t making you sleepy. Hopefully the vit. B & iron make a big difference, too. I’m really sorry you’re having so much ongoing pain & dizziness and hope the MRI results show something that will provide answers to your symptoms.
