I have been on Gabapentin for just over six weeks now and today have switched to Carbamazepine. I'm still taking Amitriptyline at night. My lovely GP has made me switch due to the "fairground effect" I was experiencing on Gabapentin. I had avoiding starting on Carbamazepine due to it's high rate of side effects but even I agree that I need the switch.
He has also written me a letter for my personnel file at work, stating that sometime my pain can be so bad that it would be benefical for me to work from home. No one at work has asked me for proof etc, but it's something that my guilt has made me get, purely so that those in the know here at work are happy that I am not a hypochondriac. Stupid I know. As you can probably tell, I'm not great at self suffering....
Hi Nicky, I think it’s a great idea and peace of mind to have a letter from the doc as back up. I feel the same as you do. With this type of illness, it’s not outwardly apparent that we are even having difficulties. I think it’s great that you get to work from home. I hope that Tegretol works well for you! Min
Hi Nicky, I am currently on Tegretol and Amytriptline and the only side effects I have from the tegretol is trouble in verbalizing the words I want to say. Jackie has an actual term for this but I cannot recall the name just now. Anyhoo, Doc is wanting to add Gabapentin to my cocktail so I wondered what you meant by the “fairground” effect? Just to let you know it was the tegretol that first took my pain from a completely unbearable level to a level that I can live with. And I agree with Min that it’s a great idea to have the letter as backup! I remember when I was still working someone told me about a law that states a person cannot be fired for taking time off work if their condition is chronic. Good luck dear and keep us posted.
Thanks to both of you for your comments. Gabapentin was a very weird drug for me Ali, on a previous blog of mine on here, James wrote something similar and described the side effects of Gabapentin as “brain fog(concentration), dizziness, balance issues & blurry vision”. I concur with this whole heartedly and tbh it didn’t really help me with the pain either.
See Jackie, I could not even retrive the words “Word Retrival”, it’s sorta funny now, LOL!!! And I already have this fairground effect that you speak of. I cannot look up either with or without holding on to anything. I get dizzy just from turning my head over in the bed. And yesterday I had a full day of dizziness, I mean all day long, has anyone else experienced this from either Tegretol or Amytriptline?
Min