I have misplaced my Gabapentin (pain medicine) -- what now?
I had a 90-day supply bottle for which I was probably about halfway through. It is not unusual for me to misplace things, but this is serious. I take the maximum allowable dosage and am about to experience the full effect of being without medicine.
I am suffering severe neuropathy from a severe gunshot wound (I am a victim of an “Especially Aggravated Robbery”) in 2011 and this is aggravated by being a diabetic. I do not have a “regular” doctor.
I have a portion of a small bottle from a previous doctor / pharmacy / insurance—but I doubt it will last more than a couple of days—if even that long. What do I do now?
Observing members:
0
Composing members:
0
8 Answers
I believe this can be an emergency situation, since you shouldn’t abruptly stop that medication. Go to your instant care facility.
If you don’t have a regular doctor then who’s writing the scripts?
Anyway, contact your pharmacy and see if they can do a partial refill for the amount you’ve lost (you may, however, have to pay for it out of pocket, as you insurance may not be willing to cover any kind of refill before a certain date). They may well be able to, depending on the particular regulations in your state. If they can’t then they’ll at least be able to inform you what what you should do.
You say you have some from an older prescription. How old is it? If it’s more than a year old I wouldn’t recommend using it. It won’t be particularly harmful, it just might not be very effective.
Also @si3tech‘s suggestion is good, especially if you cannot get it filled.
Keep looking! Otherwise, ibuprofen is your friend.
I work in the U.S. in a hospital in the hospitalists office. Because of the huge amount of drug seekers and drug abusers, typically no one will re-write the prescription thinking you have abused it or sold it. If you go to the emergency room, they may give you a few day’s supply but they can and will look up your prescriptions and see the last time you had it filled.
I am in no way calling you a drug seeker or abuser. I’m just letting you know why it is so hard to get prescription pain medicines now.
Use the few days you have and use that few days to try to find a provider who will write you a new prescription. What other options do you have?
One more thought, if ibuprophen is effective but not strong enough for you, you can take 3 or 4 OTC 200 m. to make it up to prescription strength. Just be sure to take it with food as it can hurt your stomach.
@chyna
That is true, however, gabapentin isn’t a narcotic pain killer. It won’t get you high and there’s not really a culture of abuse around it. It’s used to treat epilepsy, restless leg and pain that is neuropathic in nature. I don’t think anyone’s going to be too concerned that the TC is abusing or selling it.
@Yellowdog Did you know that one of the side effects of Gabapentin (aka, Neurontin) is memory issues?
@Yellowdog Were you able to obtain the medication before you had a bad reaction?
Answer this question 
Composing members:
0
