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Medical Forum / Diseases and Disorders / Lupus / April 2004Update and Nuerontin question
Hello All! I would like to apologize for being MIA. I have never been great at being a consistent poster but I am usually at least a consistent lurker so I can check in on you all and keep you in my prayers. Unfortunately, I have been so overwhelmed lately even my lurking has fallen by the wayside! I have a late night ahead of me -- I am writing the final paper for my graduate program for this school year (except my thesis which is due next month). So, I am taking a break. Life has been nuts with one thing after another -- classes, clinical hours, hospital rounds, youth group (my husband and I are stand in youth pastor/leaders), and family stuff. My poor husband has had quite the medical scare recently -- he went in for some bloodwork (due to a rash that wouldn't go away) and it came back with elevated liver enzymes, elevated WBC, hyperthyroid and cholestorol that was through the roof (and he is not obese or anything). So they have been doing tests to figure out what in the world is going on! Our PCP is being very alarmist talking about insulin-secreting tumors and all sorts of crazy stuff. We are trying to stays calm until we get the test results back. So far things are coming back good (MRI's clear) -- we'll know a lot more in the next few days. Our friends and family think we are medical freaks -- we get weird stuff. A match made in heaven, right? I have actually been feeling a little better -- the cocktail of meds is working and they have just added Nuerontin in hopes of getting me off some of my other pain meds -- so far so good. I even forgot to take my Tramadol today -- this is a good sign because I am usually aching so bad I CAN'T forget! Anyone have any experience with this drug? Well, I will stop rambling -- thanks for "listening" -- you all have been such an encouragement. I know I have said it before -- but thank you!!! Stephanie > Hello All! > [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > > Stephanie I have no experience with those meds (others here do take Tramadol according to the Google archives) but just dropped by to say, good to hear you're feeling better Stephanie! Hugs J > Life has been nuts with one thing after another -- classes, clinical hours, > hospital rounds, youth group (my husband and I are stand in youth [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > think we are medical freaks -- we get weird stuff. A match made in heaven, > right? That is weird ! It's hypothyroidism that's associated with elevated cholesterol. http://health.discovery.com/diseasesandcond/encyclopedia/1129.html Those MRI"s aren't the "beall-endall" of tests, sometimes it takes some detective work to figure things out. Hope they get it cleared up soon so things calm down soon. Hugs J Hi Stephanie, Gosh. You and your husband are quite a pair! I will keep both of you in my thoughts. I hope hubby gets his problems straightened out in short order. I take neurontin, and have had good results without any side effects. I don't take any other drugs for pain, except the occasional tylenol. BJ-Sk. Canada > Hello All! > [quoted text clipped - 29 lines] > > Stephanie I take lots of neurontin with no side effects. It does help with pain, and helps you relax a bit. > Hello All! > [quoted text clipped - 29 lines] > > Stephanie My poor husband has had quite the medical > scare recently -- he went in for some bloodwork (due to a rash that wouldn't > go away) and it came back with elevated liver enzymes, elevated WBC, [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > tumors and all sorts of crazy stuff. We are trying to stays calm until we > get the test results back. Stephanie -my husband was diagnosed with an insulin secreting tumor 3.5 years ago. It's called an insulinoma. They are pretty rare, but the hallmark of diagnosis is a consistantly low blood glucose when fasting. My husband's was always below 50. They even put him in the hospital for 2 days, didn't feed him, and watched his blood sugar go lower and lower until I stopped the test because he was so confused he couldn't even find the bathroom. His glucose level was 25, which would kill most people. However, the insulinoma did not affect his liver enzymes, WBC, thyroid or cholesterol. In all the research I did (and it was a lot), I never found any mention of insulin secreting tumors causing any of the above mentioned bloodwork to be abnormal. I am very surprised that your primary care would even mention it as it is so rare and shows up in consistantly low glucose levels - not as a rash or the aforementioned blood work. Not to scare you, but the hospital here in Denver (supposed to be one of the best in the area) totally missed seeing my husband's tumor on the CT scan - even though it was plainly visible because it was outlined in calcium and right where they would expect to find it. We took the films to Mayo Clinic and they spotted it right away. He had his surgery there, too, and is cured. I highly recommend going there if this medical mystery can't be solved where you are at. I hope you find answers soon. The waiting is hell. Gretchen Thank you very much for your input. The reason she was mentioning that was because he was having problems with dizziness, blurred vision and blacking out (only for a few seconds) around meal times -- before and after he would eat or if he waited too long before he ate. However, she even admitted that it was unlikely that he had one. She likes to be very alarmist and tell us every possible things that could be wrong. I think I would rather not know until a diagnosis. The liver I guess is what concerned her the most. I am not sure how everything is connected -- it is all just strange. The waiting is hell -- you are right. But each consult we go to and they tell us he is doing okay, I feel better. We are just waiting on the latest labs. I am glad your husband is doing well! I will keep everyone updated. Thanks! Stephanie > My poor husband has had quite the medical > > scare recently -- he went in for some bloodwork (due to a rash that wouldn't [quoted text clipped - 32 lines] > > Gretchen >I have actually been feeling a little better -- the cocktail of meds is >working and they have just added Nuerontin in hopes of getting me off some >of my other pain meds -- so far so good. I even forgot to take my Tramadol >today -- this is a good sign because I am usually aching so bad I CAN'T >forget! Anyone have any experience with this drug? I took Neurontin for about a year. It worked okay to extend my painkillers. It was also supposed to help my migraines, which it did for a while. However, it also made me really dopey. And then I had to start taking Baclofen for muscle spasms from hell, and the two did not play well together. I've since ditched the Neurontin for Topamax, which is a stronger anticonvulsant in the same class. And yes, it's not obivous how much of the brain fog and fatigue were from the Neurontin. As soon as I completely tapered off the Neurontin and onto the Topamax, people noticed that I seemed more alert and awake. And I can actually remember things like my social security number and people's names now. So just keep an eye on how impaired it makes you once the dose gets higher. Topamax is considered a more dangerous drug with potentially more side effects than Neurontin, which is why the neurologist wouldn't put me on it first. However, when I started having migraines more and more, and more of them the three-day variety again, she agreed that we needed to change my preventative medication. I've found it has better pain-reducing qualities than Neurontin, as well. That's not all that suprising, since it's a longer-acting drug as well as being more powerful. But we really had to weigh out the risks and benefits before she'd let me switch drugs.  SignatureLee M.Thompson-Herbert lee@retro.com KoX 1995, SP4 Head Muso, White Rats Morris, Faultline Morris Member, Knights of Xenu (1995). Chaos Monger and Jill of All Trades. "A head-on collision between Morticia Adams and Martha Stewart" > >I have actually been feeling a little better -- the cocktail of meds is > >working and they have just added Nuerontin in hopes of getting me off some [quoted text clipped - 22 lines] > it's a longer-acting drug as well as being more powerful. But we really > had to weigh out the risks and benefits before she'd let me switch drugs. I was hoping to get a chance to try Topomax (maybe). My sister in law is taking a pediatric dosage for 2 weeks with a slow progression during 2 months until she reaches a normal dose . No real change in evidence yet (as to migraines) after a few weels, but she's reporting a weight loss.. I think I've seen mention of that on this or the fibro newsgroup. J I have taken Topomax after I had my dural tear and was having horrendous headaches. I think it did help the headaches, but it did a number on my mood and cognitive functioning. I was barely able to concentrate, had memory problems and was not able to retain new information. I was in grad school at the time and had to skip a trimester because I just could not sit down and do the work. Those drugs work in funny ways. So far the Neurontin has had a calming effect on me, but no real cognitive or fatigue problems. I actually have a little more energy that usual. However, I take it at night -- and I will say it is knocking me out then. The mystery of modern medicine! God bless, Stephanie > > >I have actually been feeling a little better -- the cocktail of meds is > > >working and they have just added Nuerontin in hopes of getting me off some [quoted text clipped - 30 lines] > I think I've seen mention of that on this or the fibro newsgroup. > J >I have taken Topomax after I had my dural tear and was having horrendous >headaches. I think it did help the headaches, but it did a number on my mood [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] >have a little more energy that usual. However, I take it at night -- and I >will say it is knocking me out then. The mystery of modern medicine! See, I'm seeing the opposite effect. Neurontin turned my brain into mush. It's a great mood stabilizer, it worked well for the chronic pain, it even worked pretty well for the migraines, but I had to keep a steady blood level which meant taking it every 8 hours. And that meant that it made me really, really sleepy all the time. If anything, the Topamax makes me wired. I found out really quick that it does not mix with Sudafed. Not unless I want to be crawling on the ceiling. However, being able to get along with less than 12 hours of sleep is such an incredible novelty, that the drug would be worth it right there, even if it did nothing for the pain... Goodness, I've been getting by with less than _eight_ hours of sleep many nights lately. And feeling better than I was when I was sleeping more hours. I will note that I am also on Baclofen for really really bad muscle spasms. While Neurontin, Baclofen, and Topamax all work on the GABA neurotransmitter system, they seem to hit different sections of it. The Neurontin and Baclofen combined...badly...in my case. The Topamax doesn't seem to cause the same sort of cumulative side effects with Baclofen that the Neurontin did. In fact, because the Topamax is a stronger drug I was able to reduce the Baclofen dosage along with my painkiller dosage. While all three of the drugs are GABAnergic, no one in their right mind would claim they have the same effects. I'm not suprised that some people find that one works better than another. SignatureLee M.Thompson-Herbert lee@retro.com KoX 1995, SP4 Head Muso, White Rats Morris, Faultline Morris Member, Knights of Xenu (1995). Chaos Monger and Jill of All Trades. "A head-on collision between Morticia Adams and Martha Stewart" Stephanie, I have taken Neurontin now for a couple of months - I took it in the past but it did not work with my Prozac and now it seems to help, but as one poster said I have to have a steady stream of it - - - i.e. the doc told me to try one way and or another.... so I have one ine the morning and one in the afternoon and two at night, otherwise I am really woozy on two in daytime.... I also use Flexeril for muscle pain....... none of these take care of all the pain, but some is certainly better than none! Leslie > Hello All! > [quoted text clipped - 29 lines] > > Stephanie |
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