Coming off pregabalin

[Breathless]

I am currently on 300mg a day, 150mg twice a day. It has turned me into a drunken zombified basket case. I've never suffered from panic attacks before I began taking this drug, now I get one every morning! I am going to see my gp this Wednesday but I'd prefer the advice came from someone that has actually experienced the withdrawal effects. How can I come off them while minimizing the withdrawal symptoms?

[hanshan]

I'd give it a while to settle. You were also getting panic attacks with sertraline a couple of weeks back, so your brain chemistry is probably still a bit disordered from that and needs to recover.

[SarahH]

It takes a few weeks for SE's to settle. But if you really want to come off I would suggest 50mgs drop every two weeks.

Sarah

[Breathless]

Thank you for the replies. I broke up my evening dose and made an oral suspension, so I'm on 250mg as of today. I just can't function on them at all and need it out of my system. I was doing really well on 225mg of venlafaxine but it crapped out on me hence the switchover to sertraline. I'm a completely different person on sertraline, no energy or enthusiasm for anything. They've upped that to 150mg a week ago, maybe that's what has really messed me up right now?

[KK77]

Are you on any other meds apart from Sertraline and Pregabalin? I've not had the experience you describe and think it's more likely that the combo doesn't agree with you. Pregabalin does have some side effects like dizziness and feeling spacey, but as others have said, it can take a while to settle in your system. If you do want to come off it I agree that reducing by 50mg every couple of weeks sounds about right, but I would speak to your doctor about this first.

[Breathless]

Other than a really low dose of diazepam I'm not on anything else. I'm on 2mg of that and waiting to come off pregabalin before discontinuing diazepam. Pregabalin makes me really spacey and unable to do anything, a little like being paralysed within your body. I talked to my gp this morning and his words were: "we need to simplify your drug routine..... it's not a particularly difficult drug to come off and we can have you off them in a week". This has calmed my fears around withdrawing from them a little. His plan is 75mg for four days, 50 mg for three and 25mg for three before stopping altogether. He said I will feel jittery during this time! Then I will be able to assess whether sertraline is actually working as my mood has hit rock bottom and I'm really confused about what's going on.

[KK77]

That sounds like the best way forward - then you can identify whether it was the Pregabalin and whether Sertraline is actually doing anything to help mood. Keep us posted.

[Breathless]

I took 150mg yesterday and started 75mg today. I feel like I can finally think clearer and have a little more energy. On the downside I have the shivers, flu like aches and pains, rock bottom mood, tingles, dizziness, confusion, the works!