Pregabalin - Waiting For Lift Off

[robinbrum]

I have been a week now on pregabalin at 450mg per day and it is difficult to truly assess what kind of impact it is having. I have had some bad news which has made me depressed and it feels like the depression is winning out over the anxiety. I don't think there is such a thing as depression without anxiety so the pregabalin is just not as effective when my mood is very low.

Normally my depression passes within 24-48 hours and oddly it always is worse on a Tuesday, for no obvious reason I can think of. At the moment I am just very tired but I don't know if that is due to the increase in the dose or the fact that I have a lot going on at the moment and sleeping is not great.

I don't know whether I will have my dose increased next time I see my doctor. I could try 600mg a day because I know there are people who take this much. However, I do worry about the long-term implications of taking pregabalin and I am not sure if I should be considering another anti-depressant to take in conjuction with it.

Other people seem to report an improvement in mood while on pregabalin but it hasn't really done that for me. However most of the time it has definitely controlled my anxiety and I am very thankful for that.

I am expecting too much?

I hope everybody else is getting on well.

[xtremx]

Sorry to hear you are having problams that are adding to your anxiety.

I am having a bad day at the moment, been to the doctor to see if they will prescribe the pregabalin to me instead of my traveling to the hospital dental team to get it as it is working well for my anxiety and the Bas=-[/d said no. 1, the cost .2 its not licenced for us in anxiety/gad 3. Its addictive.
Man i wanted to kill that guy have to pay £40 odd to travel to get it again but i am thinking i am fed up with doctors letting me down so i am thinking of leaving my doctor and not getting another again and stopping all medication i am on and going it alone.

I explained to him how i used to be not leaving the house for weeks on end not bothering about my personal up keep and my painic attacks and trips to A&E because of major attacks and he said i understand Bo=-=cks does he.

Buy the time i got home from the doctors i a man aged 40 cried, fed up with thinking i am going forward but really i end up further back (1 step forward 40 backwards).

I am at a loss

sry to all tried to blank out the swear words

[loreen]

Hi

Your doctor is wrong!!!

It is licenced for anxiety in the uk, and I was told by my doctor that it is no more addictive than an anti depressent.The only thing that is right is the cost issue-it is very expensive to prescribe so is not usually used until other options have been tried.

Hope this helps


Loreen x

[robinbrum]

Hi Extremx, it shocks me to hear what I have just read but I'm not entirely surprised because I know that cost is a big issue with this drug. However I would take big issue with your GP over it not being licensed for GAD, it is a bit of grey area but he knows full well that its use as an anti-anxiety drug is becoming more and more widespread... just print off this thread and website to show him.

It is ludicrous that you have to visit a dentist to get a prescription...presumably they won't prescribe it on a long-term basis anyway?

I would go back to your GP and demand to see a psychiatrist. I think you will find they will be a lot more receptive and more likely to give you a prescription. They don't seem to have the same restrictions as GPs and are much more open-minded...I don't think they have to worry so much about budgets because they are independent of the practice (could be wrong there, mind).

Sometimes you have to put your foot down with these people, I had the same problem when I first asked for pregabalin.

Keep fighting and don't let the you-know-whats grind you down mate.

[xtremx]

Hi

Your doctor is wrong!!!

It is licenced for anxiety in the uk, and I was told by my doctor that it is no more addictive than an anti depressent.The only thing that is right is the cost issue-it is very expensive to prescribe so is not usually used until other options have been tried.

Hope this helps


Loreen x

Hi thanks loreen. Have tried citalopram made me ill and sertraline after afew day was contemplating suicide. So in my discharge notes from my local mental health team notes it says will not try standerd antidepressants.

This has just set me back as was really happy with the progress i have made after only 4 weeks on pregabalin and after the promises i was made.

A friend of mine has offered to help me out with some prozac as they have a stock pile of it but i dont think it is worth the risk.

So looks like it is go it alone, has made me think about drinking again to help forget and numb the anxiety (my wife before she left for work asked me if anything i want from shops I said a bottle of vodka) But have not touched a drop in just over a year. That would really kill my marriage and me

Have to man up and just take the knocks as i should be used to it.

Just waitting on the mental health team to contact me see if they will live upto the promise to help me

Thanks Robinbrum, I will fight on but at the end of the day i feel it is a lost cause. Chasing the pot of gold at the end of the raindow may as well chase the dragon.

[robinbrum]

Don't touch the prozac, it doesn't work short term and besides it hasn't been prescribed to you - never a good idea.

When you contact the mental health team stress the urgency of the situation and demand to see a psychiatrist who can prescribe you the drug that you so clearly need.

Have you got enough meds to tide you over?

[loreen]

Get in touch with the mental health team and tell them what has happened.You are entitled to have the medication,and your well being is the most important thing.

Please dont take the prozac-you have already been told not to have ssris, and I know they wont help you.

Phone them now-please!!!

Loreen x

[xtremx]

Yeah have just under 3 weeks left and i will make my appointment with the dental team but like you said they will not prescribe it long term.

The annoying thing is pregabalin will save my doctor money in the long run as it is helping with my anxiety and also my nerve pain (in my jaw) and also i have a neuro problem called benign fasciculation syndrome (muscle twitching) and pregabalin is used for that (the doc was going to give me gabapentin for it awhile ago).

So it is helping me on 3 things tried to explain it to him but he brushed me aside and waste of time asking for a second opinion as he is the head man.

---------- Post added at 14:59 ---------- Previous post was at 14:22 ----------

Will just got of the phone with the mental health team (I had to chase them as they did not phone me back).

They are going to look into it as they have said pregabalin is as robinbrum said licenced for anxiety (so my doctors was wrong).

The only problam they could find is the strange way i came to be on it via a dentist but if it works for me its a good thing will try to contact my dentist to see if they are going to prescribe it to me again as to save me a 40 mile trip for nothing if they say no and that will be braking a promise from them as i told them about being worried about taking it and if it worked for my anxiety having the doctor tell me they will not give it to me and the dentist said if that is you main worry just start taking them (I from my understanding means we will continue prescribing it).

I will update and try not to lose faith.

I should live by what i say.
“Each morning when I open my eyes I say to myself: I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn’t arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I’m going to be happy in it.”

[dan1234]

Yeah have just under 3 weeks left and i will make my appointment with the dental team but like you said they will not prescribe it long term.

The annoying thing is pregabalin will save my doctor money in the long run as it is helping with my anxiety and also my nerve pain (in my jaw) and also i have a neuro problem called benign fasciculation syndrome (muscle twitching) and pregabalin is used for that (the doc was going to give me gabapentin for it awhile ago).

So it is helping me on 3 things tried to explain it to him but he brushed me aside and waste of time asking for a second opinion as he is the head man.

---------- Post added at 14:59 ---------- Previous post was at 14:22 ----------

Will just got of the phone with the mental health team (I had to chase them as they did not phone me back).

They are going to look into it as they have said pregabalin is as robinbrum said licenced for anxiety (so my doctors was wrong).

The only problam they could find is the strange way i came to be on it via a dentist but if it works for me its a good thing will try to contact my dentist to see if they are going to prescribe it to me again as to save me a 40 mile trip for nothing if they say no and that will be braking a promise from them as i told them about being worried about taking it and if it worked for my anxiety having the doctor tell me they will not give it to me and the dentist said if that is you main worry just start taking them (I from my understanding means we will continue prescribing it).

I will update and try not to lose faith.

I should live by what i say.
“Each morning when I open my eyes I say to myself: I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn’t arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I’m going to be happy in it.”

This thread has shocked me and made me very worried. I went to a private psychiatrist because the NHS one was ********. He prescribed pregabalin... Wonder if i'm going to have a fight on my hands to get my GP to prescribe this.

If there is a clinical need, and the drug is approved by NICE. Which it is, it should be provided. If SSRI's SNRIs cannot be tolerated then pregabalin is what should be prescribed.

---------- Post added at 22:36 ---------- Previous post was at 22:36 ----------

This thread has shocked me and made me very worried. I went to a private psychiatrist because the NHS one was ********. He prescribed pregabalin... Wonder if i'm going to have a fight on my hands to get my GP to prescribe this.

If there is a clinical need, and the drug is approved by NICE. Which it is, it should be provided. If SSRI's SNRIs cannot be tolerated then pregabalin is what should be prescribed.

Pregabalin is licenced for GAD. Do you want a printout from the BNF?

[dan1234]

Just to add my experience in - this may help others.

I started on the 24/2 on 50mg X3. Straight away I felt that it helped with the anxiety. This was until yesterday. I took a single amitriptyline 10mg tablet at 10pm to help me sleep, and the next day the anxiety was worse. Not sure if the amitriptyline is relevant in this at all?? I have increased my dose to 200mg/d and on Thursday am seeing my GP with the intention of increasing up to 300mg if my shrink gives the all clear. It's not the wonder drug I have hoped for yet, but it is early days and the dose is very low. I think once I get into the 300-450mg daily dose things will significantly improve. No side effects which is a plus. There was some discussion about weight having an effect on dose, I am 14.1 stone if that is of any relevance.