Pregabalin (Lyrica) anyone tried it?

[BubbleBonce]

Hi All,

I have the most awful adrenaline 24/7 atm but strangely seem to be able to sleep find, in fact have trouble waking up sometimes. I saw a Rheummy for some physicsl effects I was having + a raised ESR and he's suggested to my GP that I try Pregabalin. I've rrad up on it and it does seem to be effective for many with GAD (not exatly sure what kinda anxiety I have as it's linked to my thyroid condition.

So has anyone tried it? BTW Amytriptaline made my nerves 100X worse! :wacko:

Bubble X

[nikk_dolittle]

Hi,

Im on pregablin 75mg and I would say its helping.

I was supposed to be on 600mg twice a day but it was too much for me. A few side effects which was dizzyness. But I'm stable on this amount.

Also on Amitypline and sertarline and together I would say they are helping.

Nx

[BubbleBonce]

Hi Pickle,

Good to hear it's helping you. I seem to get all the side effects and none of the benefots with most of these treatments :blush:

They say it's non addictive, although other places I read it is not easy to come off. Never know who to believe do you?

Did the dizziness last long or do you still have it?

I'm guessing they don't offer this med too easilt as it's a lot more expensive that Amytripteline.

Bubble :)

[nikk_dolittle]

Hey.

I dont have it anymore. it lasted for a few days and its fine now.

i have it for Nerve damage but it helps with my anx/dep.

it is hard to come off, but I know when you do it you will have support for it.
Nx

[lostsoul]

Bubble

I've just started on pregabalin 75mg twice a day as of last thursday and I have to say I think its helping quite a bit.

It does make me dizzy. I've had that 'jelly leg' anxiety feeling since I was first diagnosed with GAD and it seems to have gone after taking the pregabalin. instead I now have the drunken dizziness which is nowhere near as bad as jelly legs so must be doing something lol.

I would'nt worry about coming off off it either, the horror stories people post on the internet are not really a fair representation of peoples experiences. As human nature seems to dictate that we only like to talk about the bad things that happen to us.

I've just stopped taking mirtazapine with no problems at all. I was expecting terrible withdrawal symptoms (there are plenty of stories here on the forum) but the good news is I experienced none. I've also moved down from 15mg of Diazepam a day which I was taking for a year to my present dose of 4mg with no ill effect.

No offense to our friends across the pond but it seems to me that lots more americans have stories about withdrawal problems than us brits. I'm just wondering if thats because they go 'cold turkey' off of things more because of problems with health insurance? thank god for the NHS! and long liveo Obama and his health reforms!

Pregabalin does seem to be hard to get on the NHS its very expensive for them to buy and its only generally considered for those patients who have tried several other meds with no success. I had to complain to my Primary Care Trust because my Pychiatrist would not prescribe it do to 'red tape' after a month battle I got it and I'm pleased to report so far its working. My mood is better no nasty side effects at all.

Sorry for the long post:)

[BubbleBonce]

Hi Dave :)

:) Thanks fo the response. It's a shame that noone has come forward who has beeen on this med for a while. as I saw my GP Monday and she prescibed it no problems. Thats likely though as I've tried everything else including , propranalol, dothiepin (big yuk) , and amytripteline with no success. Neither do the SSRI's really work except for Effexor but would have to go to a Psychiatrist these days to get ahold of it.

I havent noticed the dizziness yet but only been 2 days so hardly a fair judgement yet! I have been more sleepy and my muscle tightmess not quite so bad though. Let's hope the side effects wear off in a week or so and all the benefits kick in then!

I have tapered from a huge dose of Diazepam before with mainly sleepiness as a symptom. I think if you go carefully then withdrawal should be minimised.

Cheers

Bubble:flowers:

[JaneC]

Dave,

Can I just say that maybe you have just been one of the lucky ones in not experiencing withdrawal symptoms when coming off an AD. I'm a bit upset because I feel your post diminishes the experience of myself and others who have suffered. I'm taking the thread off topic but please forgive.

I've stopped fluoxetine and reboxetine with no probs in the past but am now having a pretty awful time getting off clomipramine. I tried to stop over the course of 3 or 4 days - as advised by my doctor (and I'm a Scot btw) - and spent a week in hell. Now doing it more slowly and again reached a point where the withdrawal symptoms were intolerable. So now doing it even more slowly, while worrying about how my mood and panic attacks are going to be while on such a low dose.

I'm genuinely pleased for you that you didn't have to go through any of this :hugs: but would like to thank nmp and the members whose posts have helped me work out a way to do this (I'd never have thought about trying the alternate day thing for example). Without nmp, I would not have known what was happening to me when I initially tried to stop, which would have been even more scary, and believe me, it was scary enough as it was.

I think it is really important that people know what might lie ahead. I was certainly never warned about discontinuation syndrome and had I been reading nmp seven years ago I might have thought twice about taking the damn stuff (although I was prob too desperate at the time not too).

Apologies for the long rant everyone :flowers:

[KK77]

I'm on pregabalin and haven't really found it to be much more helpful than the gabapentin - just a stronger version really. It does help with the pain and I too suffered horrendous dizziness for the 1st couple of weeks.

My GP was also a bit reluctant to prescribe it as gabapentin is so cheap in comparison. It's a branded name so the drug companies are making their money!

I disagree with people that say it's easy to come off though. For some it might be but for others it can be difficult because these drugs work on gaba receptors in a similar way to benzos. There seems to be conflicting views on whether or not its addictive but I'm sure its not worse than coming off some antidepressants like venlafaxine.

Good luck with it! :shades:

[lostsoul]

JaneC

Sorry I didnt mean to diminsih the experiences that some people have coming off of meds everyone is different. I just wanted to present a more positive way of looking at things.

Bubble-how are you doing on the pregabalin. Its been two weeks for me now at 75mg twice a day and I'm feeling very dizzy and spaced out I can hardly stand up. Fingers crossed this passes becasue I'm definately less agitated!:winks: Cant really say that it works in a week really as I cant notice many positives yet although in trials it seems to work fantastic. Still we are all different!

C'mon someone who has been on this stuff for a long time less us know how your getting on!!! you never know perhaps all those people have recovered so well that they dont need to go on the internet to talk about it anymore!

[lostsoul]

Looks like I spoke to soon about this medication. I now feel terrible taking it. Very spaced out and dizzy I can hardly walk. Its like no dizziness that I have experienced before so I'm sure its not the normal anxiety. Has anyoner else found this after taking pregabalin for some time. I would have thought the side effects would have come at the start?

I was hoping that this would be the medication for me but I'm begging to think that may not be the case. Not being able to get around has made my anxiety even worse:weep: I dont really know where I go from here. I excercise, dont smoke or drink at all. I even drink de-caf tea. Still the anxiety is constantly there. No medication seems to be able to touch it. (just makes it worse in the long run). Lots of people on the net seem to be doing really well on pregabalin so just because I dont seem to be at the moment doesnt mean it wont work for somebody else.

All I can say is when the manufacturer says that up to 10% of people may experience dizziness they sure meant it!! and I suspect in the real world the number is substancially higher than that!

Any thoughts from anyone would be greatly appreciated:wacko:

[Alicat]

Sorry you've had a bad experience with Lyrica. I've been taking it for 3 years for nerve damage. It works wonders for that. I ran out once and couldn't get any for 3 days. I was really, really anxious and it was horrible so I wouldn't suggest going cold turkey to anyone!