Pregabalin to cope with Ven withdrawal

[Ricardo31]

Hello!

Today I visited my doctor and, as I've been going thru some cranky times with withdrawal from Venlafaxine, he suggested Pregabalin (Lyrica) 75mg.

It’s been a month since I quit Venlafaxine, had all those hellish symptoms everyone talks about and to this day I’m stuck with insomnia, mild depression, weakness and hot flashes at night.

Doc wanted to put me back on Venlafaxine (or its counterpart Desvenlafaxine) but I gently refused. :lac:

Now, has anyone taken Pregabalin for that kind of purpose?

I heard it’s not a SSRI, then what is it then? I’m afraid to get hooked to it as I got hooked to Venlafaxine (missing a dose was falling down an abyss).

I was curious to see what was inside one of the capsules and it's some kinda powder, not granules like Venlafaxine. Not that I have any ideia of what that means :D

[nicola1980]

Hi well done for getting off venlafaxine :yesyes: I only lowered my dose my dose by 37.5mg and the withdrawal was horrendous, too be honest I don't know how I stuck it out! Pregabalin isn't an AD, from what I know it's an anti convulsion med which is licenced for use for anxiety, alot of people have had excellent results from using it, good luck X

[hanshan]

Hi Ricardo (and welcome to NMP),

Pregabalin binds to part of calcium channels in central nervous system nerve cells. This slows down the release of excitatory neurotransmitters that can cause convulsions, pain or anxiety. Unless you greatly exceed the maximum dose, it's regarded as having low abuse/dependence potential. Nevertheless, you should taper any withdrawal as slowly as you feel comfortable with.

Good luck with it - I hope you find it helpful.

[Ricardo31]

Thanks for the replies.

So this would be an off-label prescription. Doctor suggested I took 75 mg of Lyrica at night, before bedtime.

As I've searched the forum, that is a very low dose.

I'm really scared of how to wean off of it later since Venlafaxine was the worst withdrawal ever.

Is it sold in doses smaller than 75mg?

[SarahH]

Hi Ricardo,
Its completely different to SSRI's and 75mgs is a very low dose. Give it go. You will be fine.

sarah

[nicola1980]

Ricardo, what dose of venlafaxine was you on? And how did you decrease? I'm just interested as I had an awful time decreasing from 187.5mg to 150mg X

[Ricardo31]

Ricardo, what dose of venlafaxine was you on? And how did you decrease? I'm just interested as I had an awful time decreasing from 187.5mg to 150mg X

I was on 150mg of Venlafaxine for 2 and a half years. My doctor suggested that I tapered off to 75mg for a month and then to 37,5mg the next month.

I had a huge crisis the first week I lowered to 37,5mg, so I got back to 75mg, then 112,5mg and finally 150mg.

As I was feeling fuzzy all the time, so as getting back to it never helped, I decided to quit cold turkey. So I did a month ago.

I hope it doesn't last forever, all the messy symptoms. Oddly, I'm feeling ok today. Can't sleep though, due to hot flashes. :mellow: