PDA

View Full Version : Started today low dose



WolfieKate
07-09-12, 14:03
Just seen GP and see her again in a week. I take 40 mg prozac a day and I have for many years.

She has given me a prescription for 150 mg Pregabalin a day. But told me to start with 50 mg and build up. So I just took 50 mg. It doesn't sound like that is much but I am a small build, only weigh 8 stone so prob better to start off that way. GP said some people love it some hate it so I'll give it go and see her next friday.

Because I have history of pill abuse and overdose I am only allowed small amounts of prozac from now on too. But I guess now I am not working it doesn't really matter as plenty of time to go to chemists. :blush:

For those who built up dose over time did you spread out over day or take all in one go?

Cheers

Kate :blush:

---------- Post added at 14:03 ---------- Previous post was at 10:22 ----------

Felt fine, just a wee bit spacey in tescos so took 50 mg more at 2pm as felt anxiety rushing back in. So that's 100 mg so far today. Feel OK.

6.50 pm Still only taken 100 mg today and feel amazing! Calm enough to play with kids for 2 hours! I hardly ever do that. Fingers crossed this is the start of something good.

hanshan
08-09-12, 05:11
Hi Kate,

Good luck with pregabalin - it's a good sign that has worked on the first day at a low dose.

Pregabalin has a short half life, so taking it twice a day is recommended to even out the dose. However, some people take a higher dose to correspond to times of the day when they are more likely to feel anxiety.

Keep trying, and things will be on the up and up.

WolfieKate
08-09-12, 07:45
Firstly thank you hanshan for the support and encouragement. Yesterday afternoon/evening was amazing. I put kids to bed for first time in months instead of hiding in bed which is what I usually do.

Day 2.

I was intending to take 50mg 3 times today but think I will stick to 50 mg x 2 as I feel very drowsy and confused this morning. Though NB. took some 30/500 cocodamol for hip pain last night at 11pm and I don't think it mixes at all. So for now brain is going to have to come before pain and I will stop taking codeine painkillers. I have bad hip pain (tendonitis and fibro) but I'd rather live with it and work on my head for now.

Only major side effects so far - very dry mouth but given that prozac dehydrates anyway I am used to this! And slight spacey feeling 1-2 hours after taking pregabalin but which soon passed.

Will take first dose later on this morning. Have prozac with my early coffee! Lol

loreen
08-09-12, 20:15
Hi Kate

Good luck with the pregabalin.

I also take fluoxetine(20mg) and pregabalin and am finding it a good combination.

I am a Mum of 4 and have a part time job. I find both of these very hard sometimes,so I understand completely .

Keep strong

Loreen x

WolfieKate
09-09-12, 08:19
Thanks Loreen

Have had to give up work for now. :weep: But bizarrely I think that's a good thing. The thing I actually find hard and was running away from is being a parent. :blush: I need to be more of a Mum and so far the pregabalin is a strange sort of OK for me. I lost my own Mum 4 years ago in oct and I still struggle with those emotions as we were so close.

Day 3.

Review of Day 2 - Took 150mg - 3 x 50 mg doses across day. Managed trip to zoo with kids and stayed fairly calm. Very tired but I am withdrawing from valium addiction so I honestly expect some kind of insomnia. And I have PMT which in your mid forties can be an utter nightmare. I get nightsweats and all sorts of hormonal nonsense.

I think that toughest thing is working out when best to take Pregabalin? So today I have taken 100 mg first thing. I am trying this as yesterday I felt calmest in the evening as if it took all day to achieve that level of "normalcy". I read a book to my son which I would normally never do as would be way too mentally fried. Feel good to be helping more at bedtime.

Plan today is to take 100 mg first thing which I have done. Then try my last 50mg at bedtime. Not sure worth taking at bedtime if it has a short life. But if anxiety worsens will take remaining 50mg earlier.

Side effects so far - dry mouth, slightly spaced out of body feeling but so much calmer. My own view point right now is that it will take at least a month to work out whether this has long term potential for me. :)

Kate :flowers:

WolfieKate
10-09-12, 07:45
Day 4.

Review of Day 3. Took 100 mg between 7 and 8am and then another 50mg at 4pm. Didn't feel like it worked that well today. Just managed shopping trip for school shoes then went to bed to escape about 3.30 and didn't get up again. :weep:

Today - took 50 mg at 7am and intend to take other 2 doses over course of day. Very very anxious this morning, hands shaking/body twitching kind of anxiety. But first day back at school for the kids and it's an anxious one for me as big crowds upset me and I find the whole school gate thing loathsome.

Review of pregabalin - Juries out, seems to work intermittently which may be a sign that it is right for me. But my anxiety is BIG! And I am recovering from over a year of being reliant on/addicted to valium. So I guess it kind of doubles up my perception of just how anxious I feel.

And of course pregabalin is for anxiety not depression and I have both. So last night I was incredibly depressed. My life has been a mess for so many years and I am depressed about it all. I will probably seek counselling. Then again my last few years of counselling has pros and cons - made me see what the matter was and where it came from but I ended up burnt out after 6 months fulltime work. Not sure my last counselling really hit the button on life direction.

loreen
10-09-12, 13:47
Hello Kate

Hope you are feeling a bit calmer now?

I also hate the school gate as I feel like I am an outsider most of the time. Everyone else seems to have the perfect life and perfect kids.I also dont cope well with assemblies and childrens parties-all the things "normal"Mums seem to do without a second thought!!

Pregabalin hasn't cured me,but it does help me to cope,and for that I feel very grateful.

Take care

Loreen x

beautifulfreak77
10-09-12, 17:06
hi i was wondering if you could give me some advice??
im agoraphobic i do go out but not to far from home,iv tried a few ssri's but they make me feel worse,do you think pregabalin could maybe work for me?? i dont really want to be on a antidepressant as my down days are only down to me not being able to go out and do the stuff i wanna do im not depressed as such if you know what i mean...
Kerry :)

loreen
10-09-12, 17:44
Hi Kerry

Pregabalin is definitly worth a try.I know it doesnt work for everybody,but you don't know unless you try.

It is quite difficult to get prescribed as it is an expensive treatment,but if you have tried SSRIs and they don't work for you,then your doctor should let you give them a try..

Good luck :)

Loreen x

WolfieKate
10-09-12, 18:22
Hmmm Day 4

Hasn't really worked for me today. Took 150 mg over course of morning and it just made me sleep. I have been in bed all day, depressed and zonked and couldn't get kids so hubby got them. No effect on anxiety. Might take less tomorrow and see how I feel. Maybe just 50 mg. To be honest I am getting a bit tired of my GP trying me with medications and no input from mental health team. I just get given leaflets on alcohol abuse and yet isn't that just a symptom not the inner issue? My issues feel so complex :shrug: But i imagine everyone feels that way. :flowers:

beautifulfreak77
10-09-12, 22:50
Hi Kerry

Pregabalin is definitly worth a try.I know it doesnt work for everybody,but you don't know unless you try.

It is quite difficult to get prescribed as it is an expensive treatment,but if you have tried SSRIs and they don't work for you,then your doctor should let you give them a try..

Good luck :)

Loreen x

hiya,thanks for answering..my dr had a letter from psychiatrist saying if ssri's didnt work i could try pregabalin so i reckon he would prescribe it..i have read good n bad about it but i cant carry on like this...i want my life back..
kerry :)

WolfieKate
11-09-12, 07:46
Day 5

Ewww. Constipation! Luckily I was prepared and ate apple and some cucumber yesterday. I failed to persevere with Mirt because of the awful bloating but I want to give this drug a fair trial.

Yesterday taking 150mg across the morning made me feel chilled at bedtime! There's something key about timing and dose. I get these intermittent patches of intense calm.

Today is going to be tough. I have to go shopping... Not sure I fancy driving but I will try. Have a guy coming round to measure up for some plans for a small extension on side of house. All planned before my current meltdown but got to put brave face on. Still hiding harm scars under long tops..

Took 50 mg at 7am.

hanshan
11-09-12, 12:30
Hi Kate,

I read your story in another thread. Oh dear, what a shocker - I'm so sorry to read it. It's wonderful that people keep going and that you in particular keep going. You are a very intelligent and honest woman. These two qualities alone make you a valuable person to have around.

You mention that you have developed various habits/dependencies at various times over the years - food, alcohol, benzodiazepines and (maybe) codeine. The good news is that (as much as I am aware) pregabalin is less likely to create the same kind of dependency. The reverse is that it doesn't have the same kind of reward mechanism that the others have. It helps a bit, but not all the time. If you are mixing it with any of the above, you are bound to get ups and downs.

Keep posting. The fact that you have survived and are here to talk about it is a source of strength for other people.

Take care.

Hanshan

WolfieKate
12-09-12, 07:21
Thanks Hanshan,

Your description of addiction as having a reward mechanism had me thinking. :winks: I have never seen it as a reward. To me it has always been annihilation of the self and self loathing/punishment. But for that was probably the reward - not being me. :shades:

It's useful. I have spent years talking about my family, my parents, my problems and ultimately I think the time for talking therapies is over for me. The addiction counselling leaflets I have been given in past 2 weeks seem pointless to me, done that, been there got the blooming t shirt three times! The best dvd I have seen on addiction is Pleasure Unwoven which unlocks the dopamine process and showed me why I drank and why ones addiction of choice ends up higher in the brains hierachy than even survival.

All my life I have never been "me". Trying to be someone else for my father, for my mother, for everyone else. I know why because I have stripped it all back with my last counsellor.... but I do not know how to find me? Who am I at 43. What do I like? What are my values/beliefs? I wonder if hypnotherapy might be the next step. I want to find myself from under layers of parental criticism/values hijack. Without the comfort of valium I feel like a worm pinned to a board, squirming to find out who I am. Because I keep hiding from that question. I have stopped all addictive substances in past 2 weeks but I admit that there are bound to be some codeine/valium withdrawals going on. Extra shakey hands?!

Anyway... Pregabalin... Day 5.

Took some at bedtime yesterday. No tangible affect other than this constant feeling of being chemically hungover. Took 50 mg at 6.45am today.

Not sure what I think. I have had flashes of calm but few. See GP on friday. May ask to trial this drug for one more week. Any pregabalin users - How long do I keep trying it for to decide if it has a positive effect long term? :flowers:

Kate. :flowers:

xtremx
12-09-12, 17:40
Hi WolfieKate,

I found that after only a few days Pregabalin was having a positive effect on me but it was not until around my 4 week that I found it was really acting as a life saver.

It allowed me to leave my house with out having someone walking with me and allowed me to go into public places with out panicking to much. I have now been on it for maybe 9 months and have the odd relapse but that has been put down to one stupid doctor telling me they wanted to take me of pregabalin (but my shrink sorted that out).

I am now on 450mg aday and the odd few diazepam now and again.

Keep trying it for atleast a months or so to let the full effects work.

WolfieKate
13-09-12, 07:24
Thanks xtremx

I was going to stop taking it today. :blush: I think it must be early days as the last few days I have noticed no positive effects and yesterday was very down about everything. I see my GP tomorrow to review where I am at. I think I will say the pregabalin doesn't seem to be having any good effects yet so what is her view on how long to take it. I feel very medicated and zonked. And the ball of anxiety/agitation has been there all week, it's not gone. I was very down yesterday and thinking about death alot but I have complex grief due to my Mum dying so death is never far away! :shrug:

Day 6. Took 50 mg first thing but think I am going to call it a day. I am agitated and have morbid thoughts. I haven't felt any help with anxiety or agitation since first day. Yesterday was a write off and I felt incredibly depressed at bedtime. Today I feel depressed because I am scared there is no help and no medication that works. I do not want to go through addiction counselling for a third time. Today I feel quite unstable and yet there seems to be little help the NHS can give. So I am stuck in bed today just hoping to get through the hours till I pick kids up from school. I am very lonely and I miss my job. I have printed out my life story in hopes GP might think of something else that might help. All I have been offered is leaflets and one drug which so far isn't helping.

Kate :flowers:

hanshan
13-09-12, 12:28
Hi Kate,

If you are coming off benzodiazepines and codeine after years of taking them, then you'll probably feel awful for weeks. Pregabalin might help some people make the transition, but I have doubts that it's strong enough for those who have several decades of dependence behind them.

You might want to stop the pregabalin for the time being, and concentrate on coming off benzodiazepines and codeine.

Take care,

Hanshan

hanshan
15-09-12, 11:57
Hi Kate,

I'm sorry if my previous post was too harsh. I didn't mean it to be.

I am absolutely no expert in this matter, but from my limited reading of what's out there, if I was wanting to stop dependence on benzodiazepines and codeine, I'd ask for a naltrexone and bupropion combination.

I'm no expert, I assure you.

Take care.

Hanshan