finding that sweet spot

My open deck and floating aquarium on Mo Creatures.

Copy of the latest note I wrote to my neurologist. #transparency

Re instructions on 2/1 to reduce gabapentin 300mg 3Xday to twice a day.

The pain reduction is wonderful, but still too many other problems with this dose amount.

Upon consistently getting dizzy I started checking blood pressure, and finding that my pulse is in the 50s now and I'm having blood pressure spikes. I'm not used to my pulse being this slow.

I recently started CPAP which was bringing BP down better, but the higher gabapentin dose seems to be wrecking that. It is making my brain so wired that I feel like I'm on both heavy narcotics and prednisone and not sleeping again, making the CPAP a waste. I've had two intensely weepy meltdowns over the last 2 weeks that are concerning my husband and psychologist. I've also put on 6 pounds in the last 2 weeks and my legs are puffing up with fluid, which I think is a bit scary since my weight has been pretty steady for a long time.

As much as I'm loving the pain reduction, I cannot live with uncontrollable blood pressure fluctuations and severe insomnia again. I'm semi-fasting (intelligent calorie restriction) to slow the weight gain, and feeling dizzy between the med dose and slower pulse.

I would very much like to go back to a lower dose at a time. I was comfortable on 100mg 3Xday. I'd like to go back to that slowly. Reducing 300mg 3Xday to twice a day is giving me nasty headaches, so I'm dreading reducing too quickly. I was so used to 3X a day, and I'm getting the nasty headaches on cue about 2 hours before next dose on twice a day.

I did not do well on lyrica around 2008 or 2009. This higher gabapentin dose is reminding me of the lyrica problems, so I'm wondering if I just can't do this kind of medication. I have mild bipolar, manic, and autism on top of the fibromyalgia nerves, and for some reason I have never medicated easily. I've decided I'd prefer the pain level I was in if it means better CPAP and blood pressure med response.

Thank you for your time, and I appreciate advice and directions/instructions. Please let me know if I should make an appointment.

The short at-home version resulted in this poll for @bonenado to answer- Do you prefer your wife weepy or stabby? And of course, the immediate answer from both of us was *stabby*.

At any rate, got a note back, I can start dosing down as soon as I pick up the new prescription tomorrow.

My cluster lizard loves me and insists on riding around on me while I'm working.
She's really a cobra, in case you get on Mo Creatures and wonder where the cluster lizards are....

And that's all I can do today. I am quietly functioning at a very basic level. Well, harvesting several stacks of sea lanterns with silk touch isn't exactly basic, but there you go. Laundry is getting done on the side. Not sure how, because my brain feels like cotton candy. I may be like this for awhile as I dose back down. Life on the hard stuff.

All I care about right now is getting filthy rich on Mo Creatures and building the coolest stuff ever, like the big kids.