Posted by Nickengland on July 1, 2005, at 7:58:49
In reply to Re: Todays Psychiatrist Appointment..... » Nickengland, posted by Jakeman on June 30, 2005, at 19:19:46
Hello Jake :-)
I completely understand the frustrations you have with getting a doctor who can be there for you to give advice and insight. I have never had this ever thoughtout the past 5 years of my experience with psychiatrists. Although it can be highly risky to take matters into your own hands so to speak and "play doctor" to treat yourself..I think postively if done responsibly and seen as a means to an end, you can over-ride the misfortunates of not having the support of a doctor and achieve a great sense of satisfaction knowing that you are persoanlly taking such an active role in getting your health better..I certainly don't advocate this sort of treatment, but when forced into this kind of situation what other choice do you have..
Overall Gabapentin has had a positive effect on my sleep as it tends to be sedating....certainly not activating anyway.
To gain the best results for sleep, I would recommend taking the last 2 doses of the day very close to before you go to bed i.e. Have the actual last dose definately within 3 hours before sleeping and if possible even 2 or 1 hours before sleeping.
I'm still experiementing with the best timing of the 3 doses I have (300mg x 3 = 900mg a day) So far I quite like having the first dose a couple iof hours after waking. This seems to do well for anxiety during the day. Come around 5pm taking the second dose. Then about 2 hours before I go to bed I have the final dose.
I've found that if I take all the doses too early through the day, I'm more drowsy during the day... then my sleep is not so good at night (not that its too bad) but the more evenly there spaced out and the nearer the last 2 doses are to bedtime is better for sleep and this actually avoids any drowsyness thoughout the day so that you can be more "switched on"
I haven't tried Lyrica ~ I am fairly happy with the Neurontin right now and topamax and really I want to take this for as long as possible now to gain as much long-term stableness as I can. That said...Lyrica is always at the back of my mind as a back-up and i'm sure in time to come I will try it, simply out of curosity if anything! Right now though everything seems to work fine, so I'm just going to leave things as they are..
Hope that helps..
Are you planning to try Neurontin or are you taking it at the moment?
Kind regards
Nick
Ps If you're wanting to try Gabapentin and your seeking more information, theres a thread below with some more stuff about dosages of Neurontin and usage etc you may find helpful too...
poster:Nickengland
thread:521041
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050627/msgs/521881.html