[Maria]

I've 2 discectomies. One on L5S1 that rendered me better and then L4 bulged so I had a percutaneous discectomy on this level which failed badly leaving me with much more pain esp. burning pain from my waist area down my buttocks and thru out my legs and in the soles of my feet.

I took elavil for 5 years before Neurontin was prescribed which greatly alleviated the pain and then started a low dose opioid pain medication and lumbar ESIs which further really helped keep the pain quieted.

The neurontin worked well for me as I took it 12 years however the last year or two I was on it I felt like I could hardly think, never read, and just felt "stupid."

Since it's antiseizure medication with off label use for neuropathies I think my CNS (central nervous system) probably no longer needed it to quiet the neuropathies and so it was overwhelming my cognitive abilities and snowing me so to speak at this point as I felt nothing like this mentally when I first started to take it.

Not sure how the drug accumulates and is stored either as I was on 1800mg/day for 12 years. The thing is when I needed relief the drug worked well for me.

If I were going to start something for neuropathies now I think I'd prefer to try Lyrica first. It's more specifically designed for neuropathies (diabetic) and I've heard it creates less mental sluggishness than Neurontin (but can't say from experience since I've not used it).

Good luck and hope if you are going to try Neurontin or Lyrica or even Topamax that whatever you try will help to alleviate some or much of this pain.