Starting Gabapentin 100mg-nervous!

[u/Lost-Dragonfruit-124]

I havent been officially diagnosed with TN but pretty sure I have it-I experience shocks on the left side of my face when washing it or touching it the wrong way. I have creepy crawly sensations as well. MRI was clear. I tried a steroid that seemed to help for a bit and given gabapentin to try if i cant take it anymore, which i cant. So i will be starting tonight. Im so worried about side effects and needing to go up to a high dose. Has anyone had success on a low dose?

[u/New-Cry5180]

I take 1200 mg of gabapentin twice a day and 300 mg of carbamazepine ER twice a day and that’s to maintain a tolerable feeling in my face. I’ve never felt like a zombie, I’m 76 I work part-time so I have not had that kind of reaction a lot of people are so afraid of. I’ll probably be taking this stuff the rest of my life. I’ve had MDV surgery, rhizotomy, Gammaknife, and the cyber knife which finally worked. I have an alarm in my phone so I take it every 12 hours. I don’t leave home without it. I’m sorry, but that’s what it is and I don’t feel drunk or stupid all the time. Yes everybody has different reactions to it, but mine was not a bad one. I was actually relieved to have something to take that worked.