Pregabalin - Waiting For Lift Off

[hanshan]

Hi Robin,

How's where you are with your dose and how you are feeling?

Hanshan

[robinbrum]

Hi everyone, just wanted to post a quick update.
I have been on pregabalin for seven weeks now and feel I have reached a crossroads now. Last Wednesday the GP upped my dose to 300mg ( 2 x 150 mg). I expected to feel enhanced benefits such as other members have reported here. However I don't really feel any greater sense of calmness which was the main benefit I have noticed and helps me particularly with my social anxiety. However I have been going through a difficult time and have been quite depressed for the last few days. I know pregabalin is not an anti-depressant but many people seem to report improved mood as one of the positive effects of this medication. Maybe it's just a phase I am going through, I don't know.
On the negative side, I do feel a bit spaced out at times and it's difficult to speak sometimes because of the "cotton wool" mouth which makes me sound like I've been drinking! Also my libido has taken a hit - sex drive heavily decreased. Just as well I'm sad and single!
I recently weighed myself for the first time since I started pregabalin and was alarmed to discover that I had gained 6 pounds. I have been eating slightly more and I don't know if this is consequence of the pregabalin but it means I have to be very careful because I am overweight bordering on the obese right now - this depresses me.
When I'm driving my reaction times are definitely a fraction slower but on the whole I drive better because I feel generally more relaxed.
Iain, is it difficult to know how the sertraline affects you in conjunction with the pregabalin? On the whole seems like you're doing well though and I'm pleased to hear that.
Extremx, glad you have had such a positive and immediate benefit when I know you were a bit apprehensive about taking pregabalin at first. Keep us posted on your progress.
I have the option of increasing the dose to 450mg after 2 weeks on 300mg.
Plenty for me to ponder.

[robinbrum]

I must admit I am beginning to feel anxious about taking pregabalin now and unsure whether I want to increase the dose next week or stop taking it altogether. I have woken this morning feeling dizzy, light headed and slightly sick. And I have to work all day as a carer, have meetings and have to drive later. I can barely function myself and yet I have to look after someone else (which I always manage to do to the very best of my ability).
I will be dead by the end of the day.
I should not have googled and read this site : http://www.askapatient.com/viewrating.asp?drug=21723

[xtremx]

I must admit I am beginning to feel anxious about taking pregabalin now and unsure whether I want to increase the dose next week or stop taking it altogether. I have woken this morning feeling dizzy, light headed and slightly sick. And I have to work all day as a carer, have meetings and have to drive later. I can barely function myself and yet I have to look after someone else (which I always manage to do to the very best of my ability).
I will be dead by the end of the day.
I should not have googled and read this site : http://www.askapatient.com/viewrating.asp?drug=21723

Oh my GOD. Not alot of positives mainly just negatives. But did notice one thing most of the people had been on it for 1+ years and don't think i noticed any being treated for anxiety (must admit only had a quick look).

I would make a guess and say that most of the people who posted on that site are on more that one medacation for treating fibro. And that may have something to do with all the negatives also notice a few taking about hair loss (well that happens anyway).

Hopefully your will not be on it for to long as most doctors i have spoken to talk about a 6 month-1 year for medication for GAD/anxiety to hopefully help recovery.

[Iain53]

I must admit I am beginning to feel anxious about taking pregabalin now and unsure whether I want to increase the dose next week or stop taking it altogether. I have woken this morning feeling dizzy, light headed and slightly sick. And I have to work all day as a carer, have meetings and have to drive later. I can barely function myself and yet I have to look after someone else (which I always manage to do to the very best of my ability).
I will be dead by the end of the day.
I should not have googled and read this site : http://www.askapatient.com/viewrating.asp?drug=21723

Hi Rob,

Sorry to hear you're not feeling great.

How long have you been feeling like this ? I have to say, it sounds rather familiar - i had a week or so of feeling like that once I was on 225mg. Sleep was the only escape for me.. If you are sure that the way you are feeling is down to the drug, and not another anxiety 'blip', I would suggest not increasing it just yet, and see if the effects pass after another week.

Take a couple of days off sick if you can, and try (!) to relax. If it doesn't pass after a week go back to your docs. If you get worse, go back earlier....

I think the best way to deal with those sites is to search for something you know is used by millions, if not billions of people. For instance, Motrin has some interesting responses :

http://www.askapatient.com/viewratin...63&name=MOTRIN

Motrin is a trade name for..... Ibuprofen.

HTH

Iain

[robinbrum]

Now 9 weeks on pregabalin, 12 days since the GP increased the dose to 300mg...it is making a difference, I am noticeably calmer and the physical symptoms associated with anxiety and panic attacks are greatly diminished. I find myself asking, why don't I feel like I normally would in this situation...because I'm taking pregabalin, evidently. It has greatly helped my social anxiety, no doubt about it.
I've always found anxiety and depression hard to separate as emotions and was not sure whether or not the depression was the cause of anxiety or vice versa. Pregabalin has not changed my general happiness, not directly although I don't feel as low because I know I don't feel so anxious anymore...if that makes sense. However I still have experienced some very black moods lately which leads me wondering how I can tackle this as well as the anxiety.
I will be increasing the dose to 450mg this coming week, as approved by my GP. I just want to see if it improves things further. I will reduce the dose if I feel an increase in tiredness and if it continues to cause weight gain.
Hope everyone else is doing well.

[Iain53]

Hi Rob,

(BTW is it Rob - in - brum, or Robin - brum !?)

Its encouraging to hear that it has finally started to kick in, given the disappointment you've had so far.

I think some people who start off on a higher dose experience a bit of euphoria for the first couple of days (I certainly did), which seems to give one a huge dollop of optimism. Maybe this is why people say that it lifts mood.... Perhaps it does, if only at the beginning. By starting off slowly, maybe you missed out?

In my case, the optimism subsided and I was left with was a reduced background anxiety. Things are definitely better, but there is still some way to go. Things don't feel quite as stable as they did - before, I was either anxious, or I wasn't, there wasn't one situation or event that made things worse.

Since I started on the pregab, I can be relaxed and happy for a bit, but certain subjects (some of which aren't really that stressful) bring about a big wave of apprehension and then the anx is back. To put a positive spin on it, at least now I can identify potential triggers, because before I couldn't.

So I've got some things to work on.

Hope you mood starts to improve too now that the anxiety is starting to lift.

Cheers,

Iain

[robinbrum]

Hi Hanshan,
It's over a week now I've been on the 200mg dose. On some days I have definitely noticed a slight feeling of calmness when my anxiety was not as great as it normally is (during social interaction, shopping trips etc) so maybe that indicates it is having some effect. I am due to see the doctor this week and will discuss the matter with him. I am hoping he will further increase the dose to maybe 300 mg and then I may be able to get a more realistic idea of whether it is working for me or not.
"..being anxious on its own is incredibly tiring. Even if our neurochemicals were perfectly sorted, I'd imagine that it would take quite some time to recover." Think you might be right Iain, especially as I have just worked 14 straight days away from home averaging 14 hours a day...yep, come to think of it I am quite tired!!

[robinbrum]

Update. Now on 300mg daily with the option to increase to 450mg after 2 weeks.
I feel the pregabalin has definitely taken some of the rough edges off my anxiety but I can't say I have noticed a significant improvement in my mood. Still not sure how much my anxiety is triggered by depression and how much the depression is the result of my anxiety. I don't really want to take any other kind of medication on top of the pregabalin but the GP did mention duloxetine as a posible alternative, although I know some people take anti-depressants in combination with the pregabalin.
Anyway, hope this higher dose will improve things for me.

[hanshan]

Hi Robin,

If you feel the pregabalin is having some positive effects at 300 mg per day, the benefits may increase at a higher dose. If you do, it should work quickly.

Pregabalin can also be combined with an antidepressant. I take mine with mirtazapine, and the combination seems to work well.

Good luck with your treatment. Are you also getting any CBT or other face to face therapy?

Hanshan