[campfireveteran]

Define "works." My mother had an intracerebral hemorrhagic stroke about 5 years ago, leaving her with severe trigeminal neuropathic pain and hemiplegia. If she doesn't have 900 mg (3x 300 mg) of gabapentin 3x a day, she experiences unbearable pain. If she inadvertently skips a dose, about 4-6 hours later it becomes apparent because her pain level goes up considerably, so it doesn't seem to be just a placebo effect alone. I can't say it helps her post-stroke syndrome improve, but it is the only medication that seems to be able to manage the pain. She's also tried Lyrica (Pregabalin) and Ambien (Zolpidem), but they weren't helpful. At the moment, she's in consultations about having a gamma knife procedure that would decompress the trigeminal nerve in the cheekbone/ear area to ease what might be a large trigeminal demyelinated nerve bundle causing excruciating pain.