what kind of foods do you eat? does spacing out your meds help?
Asmera you didnt say which meds so this answer is specific to my meds:
My tegretol upsets my stomach everytime i take it but i decided right from the first day i was diagnosed and medicated that i would rather have an upset stomach than feel like someone was stabbing me in the face for hours out of my day (this is the first time i have made that choice in my life)..... after several weeks on my meds the stomach ache has lessened, but i am very inactive. I used to be lactose intolerant (for 20 years) now i need to have dairy everyday or my stomach gets more upset... weird right. I try to take it with food always and this seems to help some. If the stomach ache is worse then the face pain then re-evaluate.
There are meds, though i dont know how compatible with the meds you are talking about, to help with stomach pain.
I wish I had a magic answer for that. I haven't been able to take anything without stomach upset, nausea, burning, diarrhea. So I don't take my meds. I've been using capcasian, pain meds (which up set the stomach too). I keep hoping if and when my stomach ever calms down, i can try the Neurontin again. It's been a haul. I try not to eat anything hard. It's put such anxiety in my life, I can't even stand it. This is a horrible journey. I'm anxious to hear what other people say.
I eat crackers and dry toast in the morning when I take the pills. To me, the worst pains in my stomach come when I do NOT eat first. If I eat something bland and take the pills, then I get nauseas, but not stabbing stomach pains. And I would rather have upset stomach than the face pain.
Hello, Friend :-)
The new medication, Gralise, that is a time released neurontin really upsets my stomach, so I don't eat much. Maybe a meal or 1.5 meals p/day. I start the day with a protein shake usually, drink 1/2 for breakfast, and 1/2 for snack. This helps to coat the stomach a bit, but the nagging nausea is there—even if there is some kind of nutrition ingested every 2-3 hours. The medication works so much better than gabapentin (generic for neurontin), that I'd rather have nausea than facial pain. The side effect of nausea weighing against swollen joints (from gaba) is a no-brainer! :-)
My great-grandma taught us that if we have nausea the BRAT diet is helpful. If I have any one of these items throughout the day it really helps. Here it is: B=banana; R=rice; A=apple; T=toast. (If this didn't help, her pure Italian-made spaghetti would do the trick for lunch or dinner!! With ingredients from the Italian store in downtown LA…just thinking about it makes my mouth water and nausea disappear!! :-)
Being new to the forum....reading this makes me realize the stomach effects most have. I feel lucky that I have not had any major issues with tummy aches. I eat before I take my meds and all seems fine...so far!
typqueen hits the nail right on the head. "This is a horrible journey"
You are fortunate Bob. I find myself sensitive to a lot of other medications, so I figured these meds would not work too well for me, but I try every now and then to see what happens. I'm glad your meds are ok for you. There needs to be much research done for TN and new meds come up with just for TN without the horrific side effects. And meds that really work for the specific disease. Not meds for seizures that might work for TN.
I take my meds four times a day and I make sure that I eat before I take them.
Something a little substantial, crackers just don't quite get it for me.
I try to have something with some protein in it and bread or crackers.
Hate having to eat when I am not even hungry,
hard to maintain or lose some weight as these meds cause you to put on pounds anyway.
I have tried to cut back on what I eat with my pills but didn't like the way my stomach felt.
spacing out dood and smaller portions is better general.
most of these meds are fattening.
I just had to do this last night.....I tried drinking milk but that only helped for a few minutes. So then I made some toast..and felt better almost immediately!
I eat a piece of toast or crackers too which helps but I still have nausea most of the day from trileptal. Previously I took Tegretol but couldn't stand the fogginess - that didn't make me nauseated at all. I take Zofran when the nausea gets really bad. That works wonders! It takes about 10 or 15 minutes to work and lasts about 4-6 hours. I seem to go in streaks where I am really nauseated every day for a week or so and thenI have just minor nausea for another week.
Does the Zofran cause drowsiness?
Deej said:
I eat a piece of toast or crackers too which helps but I still have nausea most of the day from trileptal. Previously I took Tegretol but couldn't stand the fogginess - that didn't make me nauseated at all. I take Zofran when the nausea gets really bad. That works wonders! It takes about 10 or 15 minutes to work and lasts about 4-6 hours. I seem to go in streaks where I am really nauseated every day for a week or so and thenI have just minor nausea for another week.