My spine is kinda jacked. Dunno how. A few car accidents in my lifetime. Lots of PT in the military. Working in a brewery for most of a decade toting full kegs and beer cases and 50 pound grain sacks all over a wet cement floor. Fell out of the attic once. Could just be lucky, genetically.
Anyhow, the neck one impact my right hand. My thumb and forefinger are numb. Which sucks because that is the thump I use to test and edge for sharpness. None of the other digits could so that.
My lumbar problems are on the left side, mostly. Sciatica. And now numbness and burning sensation in my feet, mostly the left.
Well, there is an anti-seizure medicine that helps with that. Gabapentin. Only been on it for a few days, but it appears to work. If baseline is 10, it improved to a solid 8 in only a day or so. Might be a 7 now. I'd be pleased as punch if it gets down to 1 or 2, but with my luck I should only be hoping to hit 5. 0 is how everything felt at age 25.
But, gun content, my trigger finger is the unaffected left forefinger. So, lucky me, no neuropathy there yet. Got physical therapy scheduled.
Gabapentin.
I don't know the legalities in your area, but, consider, if you will, CBD oil. I had the sciatica pretty bad. At work, I was using my swivel chair for a walker. I was gimpin. Stopped at a storefront after work Friday, took a dropper of the oil in the parking lot. By the time I drove home, the pain was much less. When I walked into work Monday, people looked around and exclaimed, "You're walking!" I have no financial interest in any of this, I just want people to stop hurting.
ReplyDeleteI take gabapentin. Original script was for 6 mg twice a day. I was a zombie and could fall asleep anywhere I sat down. Worked it out with my primary care to 300 to 400 evenings and nights which gets me some sleep . I has a two level fusion ten years ago. The gabapentin mostly works for nerve damage from thet. It doesn’t cut it when the s1 domino effect pain cuts in. Mostly stretching helps take the pressure off that. Steroid injections in the spine helped but currently are a no no because I’m on six weeks of four times a day IV antibiotics for an infected foot. Tried topical CBD oil but quickly became allergic and had a bad rash.
ReplyDeleteI know several people who've had good luck with gabapentin.
ReplyDeleteI envy them.
My neuropathy responded well to the initial dosing, but I'm one of the small group who gets the suicidal ideation side effect.
Back to NSAIDs...
The good news about the side effect I'm talking about is it shows up very early at fairly low dosages. If you're week in, you're clear of it.
3 200 mg . Gabapentin for a total of 600 mg. TID. Works to control!
ReplyDeleteMy roomie was on gabapentin for back pain. It may have helped, a bit, but it made her feel as though her brain was fogged. She's not the first person I've known who said that.
ReplyDeleteIf it works for you, that's terrific.
Yes, glad the gaba works for you. It made my wife forget her words.
ReplyDelete