I am already on antidepressants and I'm in a good place with those and therapy.
The doctor kept referencing pain for Gaba treatment like you do here. ... success with Gaba not mood not neuropathy but those inflammation points we have? .. very dismissive laughed and told me to "get off the internet." He said that this is the first step of Fibro treatment and he wouldn't consider other meds at this time. ... pain specialist and they were more willing to help explain Fibro and were far more patient with me. However, they are backing the Rheumatologist on this. ,,, There's minimal scientific research on Fibro and Gaba. So, y'all are my last resort. ... I don't want to subject myself to another med, withdrawal and poss side effects without getting some clarification.
Hi again: Since you have seen "there's minimal scientific research", I'm not sure what you already know.
Gabapentin ('Neurontin) is still prescribed for fibro very often, altho the similar pregabalin ('Lyrica') is its 'successor' (praps less side effects), has more evidence and is FDA approved, like duloxetine ('Cymbalta') and milnacipran ('Savella'). For people with depression, the antidepressant fibro-med duloxetine is often the best choice (for some the antidepressant amitriptyline or its rarer 'successor' nortriptyline). Your docs are right in that it
is often used as first step, if you want meds. But do you or don't you? Because you are right that if you subject yourself to another med, the chances of side effects are high, especially with gabapentin. If you don't want that risk and know you don't tolerate meds well, I'd forget your docs completely. So why would you ask them for other meds?: They all have a high risk of side effects.
Someone who wants meds I'd recommend to start with pregabalin or duloxetine (and then reduce the other antidepressants) and to tell them to watch for dizziness and other side effects.
However personally not tolerating meds I('d) steer clear and go for my own personal symptom management and supps, see
sunkacola's advice post.
By the way, since GABA is a neurotransmitter and amino acid and works differently to gabapentin & pregabalin I recommend not abbreviating gabapentin to "Gaba", as it can confuse. GABA is my most effective fibro supp.