Doctors look at all medications and consider whether the benefits outweigh the risks. Everything you put in your body has a risk. If I looked up Gabapentine Im sure it has a long risk and side effects list. I have been on/off it over the years myself. For example, if chemo kills the cancer but is also severely damaging to your body, what would you do? The cancer will kill you, but chemo is also damaging to your body. Many people choose to take the chemo . That is a prime example of do the benifits out weight the the risk. If the benefits of the gabapentin are worth the risk of taking such a high dose, then I assume not having it is bad and will considerably make your life less tolerable. Ultimately, you and your doctor have to make that decision. Advocate for yourself and ask questions. Don't let the doctors tell you to do something without letting you ask quesions and if you don't understand, make them explain it again so you do. You and your doctor are a team; don't let them get away with not working with you because it makes it easier for them, and they can move on to the next patient.

I've been on gabapentin for about thirty years. I've tried baclofen along with and it did nothing. Also tried duloxetine along with and no help. I get three months at a time for prescriptions and they just did not work for me. Was taking 800 mg three times daily. Currently on 400 mg three times daily and it's still helpful, but peripheral neuropathy is worse. Neurologist left for another practice and I'm in between. I'm trying to decide if I want to go higher to help neuropathy, but don't really want to feel tired or drowsy all the time. Have been fighting the MonSter for 60 years, so I'm fairly good at just putting up with the pain. If the cramping or trigeminal neuralgia come back to haunt, the decision will be made for me. Stay well, warm and loving.

It works for certain things. It's not a cure all.
It helps with my MS hug and if you suffer with it and it helps then glory be because that monster is REAL

It affects everyone differently so good luck. For me gabapentin works good. You have to do what’s best for you. There are so many different ways it affects people.

I have had MS for 36 years and moved to SPMS over the past 5 years; however, I have never had to take gabapentin for leg spasms. The only thing I have taken for nerve pain is duloxetine twice a day, which is actually for anxiety, but my neurologist suggested it to help with MS pain. He also has me on medical marijuana gummies to help sleep at night. I usually only take half a gummy for sleep otherwise I tend to have dream=like hallucinations. Every person is different so you have to keep trying. Good luck.