Neurontin, Medrol and Tramadol?

[JTsMom]

Does anyone know anything about these drugs? Side effects, etc? Before I start popping them, I want to make sure I'm not going to be asleep al afternoon.

I've been having a problem with dizziness, and numbness in my arm that seems to be pointing to a bulging disk in my neck, and the Dr. I saw yesterday prescribed all of these pills. He was in and out of the room in like 2 minutes flat, so I didn't really get a chance to ask him very many questions. It's not like I'm in constant pain or anything- I was more concerned that it could be something really serious- so it seems strange to need all of this stuff. I'm having an MRI done tomorrow.

[kramerski]

A little off topic but my dog was on Medrol and Tramadol and she had some issues with liver and kidney function. Once taking off of them all of her issues went away. She had a bulging disk also.

[jren]

I've taken Neurontin, pretty benign - safer than Tylenol. It can cause fatigue though, usually with high doses. Not sure about the other ones - are those for dizzyness? I've also tried Lyrica, but that caused excessive swelling for me, but works great for some with the numbness/tingling issues. I've done best with Trileptal - no issues with fatigue but I get my liver checked 2 x per year.

Good luck with your MRI. I have them 1 x per year - very relaxing. Probably the only time I get to lie down and relax during the day w/out the kids around. LOL!

[pinkmomagain]

I don't know anything about those meds, but if it were me and I was feeling minor discomfort but something I could live with, I'd maybe hold off until after the MRI and a more thorough conversation with the dr. (I hate when they just throw RXs at you and walk out....dr's seem to be in such a rush these days to squeeze in as many patients as they can.) But again, I don't know these meds and if they are just to relieve symptoms, or if they actually do something vital for your health.

[jren]

In addition to what Gina said, I would probably hesitate to start taking anything until after I was diagnosed b/c these meds could mask other symptoms and prevent a proper diagnosis. I didn't start taking anything until after I had the dx and was seeing my neuro, and even then, we tried other things first (steroids) to see if the sx went away.

[BabyMine]

I have been on all three.

- Neurontin: Didn't have any side effects but did have to periodically get levels checked and my liver. I took mine a long time ago for seizures.

-Medrol: HATED IT. It made me so bloatedlooking. I gained 10lbs so quick. Most likely they gave you the medrol dose pack. It starts with a lot of pills then tapers off. Although is does work goos for bringing down inflamation.

-Tramadol (Ultram) The reactions I had were fatigue and sometimes spacy. It rarely helped with my pain.

[JTsMom]

A little off topic but my dog was on Medrol and Tramadol and she had some issues with liver and kidney function. Once taking off of them all of her issues went away. She had a bulging disk also.

That's pretty funny- I swear, I went to a people dr, not a vet. LOL



I don't know anything about those meds, but if it were me and I was feeling minor discomfort but something I could live with, I'd maybe hold off until after the MRI and a more thorough conversation with the dr. (I hate when they just throw RXs at you and walk out....dr's seem to be in such a rush these days to squeeze in as many patients as they can.) But again, I don't know these meds and if they are just to relieve symptoms, or if they actually do something vital for your health.


In addition to what Gina said, I would probably hesitate to start taking anything until after I was diagnosed b/c these meds could mask other symptoms and prevent a proper diagnosis. I didn't start taking anything until after I had the dx and was seeing my neuro, and even then, we tried other things first (steroids) to see if the sx went away.

This makes a lot of sense. He sounded pretty confident in the diagnosis, so I guess that's why he started me on these now.


I have been on all three.

- Neurontin: Didn't have any side effects but did have to periodically get levels checked and my liver. I took mine a long time ago for seizures.

-Medrol: HATED IT. It made me so bloatedlooking. I gained 10lbs so quick. Most likely they gave you the medrol dose pack. It starts with a lot of pills then tapers off. Although is does work goos for bringing down inflamation.

-Tramadol (Ultram) The reactions I had were fatigue and sometimes spacy. It rarely helped with my pain.

So far I've taken a couple of the Medrol (and let me tell you how thrilled I am with the idea of gaining 10 lbs! :irked:), and 1/2 of a Neurontin. I feel totally spacey. My arm is still kind of numb too. I hope this doesn't turn into one of those "the cure is worse than the disease" situations.

I wish I would have clicked better with the doctor. He kept cutting me off when I was trying to explain what was going on. He was talking about meds, and PT and possible surgery, and I just wanted to scream at him, "It's not that bad! Just tell me that it's not a brain tumor, and send me for the MRI!" Seriously, it's mostly just annoying, and I have a feeling that a good chiropractor would have it fixed in a couple of weeks- I just want to rule out anything big, kwim?

When he got up to leave I called him back in to tell him something else- I really want to have another baby. Like now. The clock is ticking big time. So putting me on 100 different meds to deal with something relatively minor is not the treatment I had in mind. His comment? "I doubt you'll be infertile in the next 6 months." :angry-smiley-005: Oh yes, let's just gamble with something like that! Hopefully the MRI will show it's nothing serious, we can get it taken care of, and I can move on. It just seems like it's always something.

Sorry to ramble- I told you the drugs were making me loopy!

[Alice523]

I was on Neurontin for migraines and hated it. It made me so dizzy that I fell down the stairs one afternoon, so that was the end of that. I have heard a lot of horror stories since and it's not something I would take unless I absolutely needed it. (It didn't do a thing for my migraines, so I didn't have to weigh that out.)

Good luck! I hope your MRI gives you some answers.

[tylersmama]

Ugh, Lori. I'd probably be looking for another doctor. There's no excuse for not listening to you and your concerns even if he feels that you don't need to be concerned about it. That's pretty crappy bedside manner.

I would definitely consider PT, fwiw. It may not be as "quick" as a chiropractor adjustment, but it's much more likely to fix the underlying issues so they don't flare up again.

[JTsMom]

I was on Neurontin for migraines and hated it. It made me so dizzy that I fell down the stairs one afternoon, so that was the end of that. I have heard a lot of horror stories since and it's not something I would take unless I absolutely needed it. (It didn't do a thing for my migraines, so I didn't have to weigh that out.)

Good luck! I hope your MRI gives you some answers.:47: He said that I could cut them in half, so I did do that, but wow, that's scary stuff! Maybe I'll give them a call and find out if I really need to be on that one. I'm supposed to go back in 2 weeks. So far today, it didn't seem to affect my symptoms a whole lot, but I didn't seem to care- not the effect I want.



Ugh, Lori. I'd probably be looking for another doctor. There's no excuse for not listening to you and your concerns even if he feels that you don't need to be concerned about it. That's pretty crappy bedside manner.

Yeah, it was pretty crappy. He was actually nice, just full of himself. LOL You know the type I'm sure.

I think I'll give him one more chance and see what he says after the MRI, just b/c I'm hoping it's not a doc I'll need to deal with long term, kwim? Plus it took quite a while to get in there, so I don't want to have to wait another month plus to get in somewhere else- I just want to get this done and move on. Next time I'll put on my tough momma act though. ;)

I would definitely consider PT, fwiw. It may not be as "quick" as a chiropractor adjustment, but it's much more likely to fix the underlying issues so they don't flare up again.

I definitely will- I have a feeling he'll rec that next after the MRI. He said that neck issues are tricky, and that he doesn't rec chiropractic or PT until he knows what he's dealing with exactly, but assuming it is what he thinks, that either would be good options. Chiropractic worked amazingly well when I did it right after the accident, but now that a year has passed, and I haven't been back, the crazy arm numbness/dizzy thing started. I honestly thought the dizziness was thyroid related, but the arm stuff freaked me out.

[tylersmama]

I had a bulging disc in my back several years ago, so I've been there. I've heard necks are worse though, so :hug:. I'm a HUGE fan of PT (well, full disclosure, I work in the field :p) but it actually didn't work for me. I ended up needing a series of epidural injections to clear it up. Eight years later, I still get an occasional flare-up, but not very often. The arm stuff is actually pretty common...I had the same thing, only it was in my leg. That's my first clue these days when I'm having a flare-up, weird leg pain that usually takes me a day or two to figure out where it's coming from!

I hope you get it figured out and get a good treatment plan in action soon!

[jren]

You don't HAVE to take the Neurontin, it's just for releiving symptoms and doesn't work right away anyway. I would take the Medrol, though. Is that a corticosteroid? I've taken Solumedrol (IV form). I don't have disc issues, but I do get the arm stuff. It's more than annoying. Hope you get some answers (good, fixable ones) soon.

[bubbaray]

The arm stuff would be the disc compressing against the nerve root at a particular level. If the disc was a lumbar disc, you would have leg symptoms instead.

Is the arm stuff annoying or painful??? If it is annoying and not interfering with your "life", I wouldn't worry about it. Radicular symptoms in and of themselves aren't a problem unless they are interfering with your life (ie., for leg symptoms, preventing you from being able to walk at all vs. being able to run a marathon).

Statistically, disc herniations are most likely between ages 40-50. People who wait 5 years have the same outcome as people who are 5 years post-surgery -- that is because as we age, the discs dessicate or the water content shrinks. That is also why we shrink as we age -- the discs that give us our height in our spinal column shrink.

Not a dr, but I don't know how a nerve root that is affecting your arm could be giving you dizziness. You could google nerve root dermatomes -- there are lots of charts that show you symptoms for each specific nerve root. They are VERY specific and apply to the whole human species. For example, a compressed nerve root in your lumbar spine cannot anatomicalloy give you symptoms in your arms. Its not possible -- the nerve roots for your arm come from higher up in your spine (IIRC, around C6 or 7).

I'd have the MRI, but I would have to be in a wheelchair paralyzed before I had spine surgery. I'd get a second opinion from a non-surgeon. ie., not an orthopedic surgeon or neurosurgeon-- surgeon's like to cut, so their options are always going to havae surgery at the top of the list.

JMHO.

[rlu]

A little off topic but my dog was on Medrol and Tramadol and she had some issues with liver and kidney function. Once taking off of them all of her issues went away. She had a bulging disk also.

Big Boy Dog (BBD) was on tramadol for bone cancer pain. After he passed we gave the left overs to the vet who then passes them on free-of-charge to her patients who can't afford them. (That's how we'd gotten our trial dosage for him). It wasn't until after that we learned SIL is also on tramadol for her back pain. Her dosage made her loopy, BBD seemed a little sleepy, but it could be he was pain-free enough to truly relax and rest. I do recall the vet mentioning liver damage but in our case the short-term effects were more important. IIRC, the vet said tramadol was better regarding liver effects than other drug options, but frankly I was still in shock from the diagnosis and don't recall exactly what she said.

[JTsMom]

See, you guys have already told me more than the doctor has!

I think I'll skip the Neurontin then until I speak with them again. It's sometimes slightly painful, but not anything that I can't deal with. It has started moving down into my fingers, and that's a bit more annoying, but again, not that bad. It seems to get a lot worse if my arm is at an upward angle- usually when I use the computer for too long b/c the chair is too low, or when I drive for a long time, and have my hand up high on the steering wheel. I'll go for days without it bothering me, then I'll have a day or 2 when it happens again, then it's gone for another week.

The diziness is more of a light-headed, swimmy type of feeling that comes on in a wave, then goes away. I posted about this a few weeks back, and randomkid posted a link about cervicogenic vertigo, and it really sounds like what I've been experiencing, right down to the occipital headaches and the dizziness coming on with turning of the neck. I like that option much more than anything else, so I'm sticking with it! ;)

ETA: link to that post just in case anyone else wanted to see it:
http://www.windsorpeak.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=320148&highlight=dizzy

I will definitely NOT be having surgery unless it gets to a point where I can not use my arm- and hopefully that's not going to happen. There's no way I would even consider it- that's way too major an intervention to fix a minor problem.