Chiming in to say the sort of standard baseline / average prescribed dosage for Gabapentin is 5 mg per pound up to 3 times daily, so that puts 600 mg for Charlie certainly a safe dosage.  Pofi took 300 mg every 8 hours and weighed just over half of Charlie's weight. But my surgeon did say we had room to safely go up from there - we could have tried 400 mg if needed.  

So definitely, whoever you talk to, see if a SLIGHT increase on any med is possible, but I agree with everyone on staggering to try to cover the wax and wane in efficacy of the different drugs. 

The spasming is more extreme than I have personal experience of.  But I can tell you I think it was a solid 4 days before the full benefit of Gabapentin seemed apparent with Pofi; this was pre-surgical as his cancer was a nerve sheath tumor and the nerve pain was already acute before amputation.  

Sending good vibes to you and Charlie.

Little late to the discussion, but wanted to share my experience with Ace.  I've only ever used it to relax dogs that were insanely terrified of thunderstorms -- IE jump through window to escape and claw/chew through doors.  Each time I found I had to get the meds in the dog before any sign of a storm.  And to keep him from even remotely panicking, I had to give it 30 minutes before the first lightning flash or thunder rumble.  Otherwise, he'd be already so wound up and stressed out that it had zero effect, even when we doubled it.  When it took hold, both dogs that used it for this, were literally stumbling drunk.

This may be something to ask.  It also may be something that makes a vet roll his eyes and say "that's a stupid question from someone on the Internet."  Ace is avoided in horses for any foot or hind-end work as Ace is prone to making them kick and goosey.  You might consider asking your vet to look into whether there's even a small, remote chance that the same side-effect can occur in dogs.  In which case, that might be making him hyper-sensitive to anything going on in the hind.  I expect that the chances of it are extremely small in dogs, but... shrug.  Might be worth being chuckled at 🙂

What a promising update!!  So happy Ollie's story and surgeon may end up being of help to Charlie!!  

And, of course, happy about !

Wish I had seen this sooner, but I am SO HAPPY Dr. Glassman is able to help. I would have told you sooner that they're wonderful and willing to fit anyone in. We were emailing him at all hours when we were dealing with Oliver's pain, and they're just a wonderful hospital. From what I saw/reading, it really does sound like he's having the phantom pains associated with an agitated nerve. It's so difficult to witness, but I hope that the car ride is as calm as can be. I hated ACE when they put Oliver on it, but it was the only way we ever got any sleep (before they found out that his sciatic nerve was severely inflamed). Dr. Glassman will probably call you after the procedure. We had that procedure done and that same day he called me at work saying he wanted to do the second surgery to cut the inflamed nerve out. That did the trick. He did get a small infection from the 2nd surgery (because 2 surgeries in 2 weeks is a lot!) So, I'll be checking in to hear what happened, especially if they have to go back in. I may be able to help a bit with what to look for in terms of post-op after a 2nd surgery.

I really hope they help!!!

Oliver is doing great. After the 2nd surgery and treatment of his infection, things were just night and day. That's why I am hoping this helps. Oliver is jumping over tree boxes, doing great in physical therapy, and his disposition is bright and cheery. He had some nausea with his palladia chemo treatments, but they bumped it down 5 mg. and put him on some anti-nausea medication. His blood work has looked great every month he's been on the treatment & we'll get an internal check after 6 months of chemo.

By far, the hardest part were those 2 weeks when we couldn't get his pain to go away. So, I sympathize with my whole heart & hope that this site + the specialists at Friendship help Charlie!