Gabapentin, Pregabalin, Carbamazepine — Which Is Most Successful for Nerve Pain?

I'm still experiencing nerve pain on the top/back of my head and either burning or stabbing pain in my ears and cannot get in to see a neurologist for at least 18 to 24 months. The nurse practitioner at my family doctor's office knows nothing about pain hyperacusis.

She finally put me on Gabapentin (2 x 100 mg @ 3 times a day) after I told her I did research and requested it.

However, 600 mg is not doing anything. When I told her she basically threw up her hands and said she knows nothing about this and does not know what else to do.

I'm wondering if the dose she put me on is too low to do anything.

Has anyone had success with Gabapentin and if so, at what dose?

Has anyone had success with Pregabalin or Carbamazepine, and if so, what dose?

What I am looking for are success stories and dosages to pass on to the nurse practitioner when I have a telephone with her next Friday.

Really appreciate help on this.

 

Gabapentin for nerve pain has a therapeutic dose of 1800-3600 mg per day. Your dosage is too low for most pain problems.

 

It’s different for everyone but I’ve definitely seen people say around 300 mg gave them relief. Carbamazepine apparently is better for severe shock-like pain conditions like trigeminal neuralgia where Gabapentin more often seems to work better for more mild but consistent pain, and it has been said that the Carbamazepine is a bit “stronger” of an option. It’s also not uncommon for one drug to do nothing and another start helping almost immediately. Some people actually take both.

I think it’d wanna try Carbamazepine at lower levels and see if that works before going up to mg’s in the thousands on the Gabapentin (assuming it’s safe to do so because I know tapering off is involved).

I’ve also seen people have relief from Xanax but that obviously has to be taken sparingly and very carefully.

 

Alcohol partially relieves my H symptoms when nothing else does. It affects a ton of different neurotransmitters. Yeah it’s bad for you but hey, so is going insane from pain and isolation.

 

How does it take 18 to 24 months to see a neurologist?

 

Neuros tend to see very few patients per year and have a waiting list. 2 years does seem a little extreme though.

 

More than a bit. The longest waiting list I had for a neuro was 6 months and my current referral for an Interventional Neuroradiologist resulted in a 2-month waiting period. Still sucks but as least I got in to see one, and seeing that my tinnitus ENT wants specific brain scans it should tie together nicely.

 

You are in Canada I see. Now it makes sense.

 

Yes. I am in Canada and the wait times for specialists are obscene. I called around a number of offices, and one neurologist had a wait time of three years!!!! 18-24 months was average for the others.