Gabapentin was originally developed as an anti-seizure medication for epilepsy, but was also found to help with neuropathy (nerve pain) and dysesthesia (altered sensations, pins-and-needles feeling, tingling). Thank goodness for that! There’s no way I’d be able to get through the day without it.
See, normally our bodies can screen out unimportant sensations of things like clothes or blankets or the brush of a purse against your side as you walk. I mean, it would be pretty weird if you put your clothes on and then felt them against your skin all day, like having to wear a shirt over a badly-sunburned back, wouldn’t it?
Yes; yes, it would.
I really have a problem with dysesthesia on my left side. I don’t feel pointy, sharp pain well enough, and I feel soft, glancing touch way too well. Without gabapentin, I wouldn’t be able to leave the house, because I wouldn’t be able to wear clothes without feeling like I was being slowly irritated to death. I wouldn’t be able to sleep in the same bed as my husband for fear of him accidentally brushing up against me. Walking would be particularly difficult, as my foot would freak out every time it hit the ground. Gabapentin has helped tremendously; it’s not perfect, but it turns the neuropathic pain from a 10 down to about a 4.
I just have to remember to take it on time; missing doses really does a number on me. I have a sectioned pill box and I’ve set alarm reminders on my phone, but still I mess up the timing, and I usually don’t know I’ve done it until I feel the nerve pain start to creep back in.