Pregabalin Updates Please

[nutteetart]

Hi everyone,

I know a lot of us are on Pregabalin and i wondered how you were all doing?

I have been on 150mg for 2 weeks and i havent noticed any real difference. I am still a wreck but i think the doc may increase them when i see him tomorrow.

I know its early days for a lot of us but i would like to know how you are getting on and if you have any side effects when the doses change?

Take care XX

[nutteetart]

No takers on this subject?

[loulabella]

Been on them 3 days hun so I can't update you really. Melancholia77 has been on them 6 months and thinks they are great so perhaps PM him? What are you taking them for? x x

[nutteetart]

Thanks Loula, Im on them for gad, depression and agoraphobia. Going to psych tomorrow. Scared. Scared of journey, waiting, seeing and dose change. Wish i wasnt so scared all the time. Done nothing today, feel awful. Should have done something.

Hoping these meds do what we have been made to believe they do. Need hope. Will pm meloncholia. Thanks

[sarah jayne]

ive been on them for 2 weeks and am close to giving up on them. Anxious mum is on them for headaches, why dont you pm her ? x

[anx mum]

Hi been on them for just over a week for constant headaches and anxiety. Was on 150mg a day now my doc has increased it too 300mg a day getting chest ache dont know if this is aside effect also been feeling dizzy on them x

[KK77]

Been on them 3 days hun so I can't update you really. Melancholia77 has been on them 6 months and thinks they are great so perhaps PM him? What are you taking them for? x x

Never thought I'd become an Ad for pregabalin - thanks Lou!:yahoo: We've even got our own section now...

I wouldn't have said they're "great" but they've certainly helped me. I never took it for GAD but I've noticed that it's helped with anxiety. It seems that they don't suit a lot of people though. I don't really know why that is cos they don't - or shouldn't anyway - increase anxiety initially like SSRIs and related ADs do. However, they can cause dizziness (extreme in some people it seems) and can make you feel "drunk" and out of it, perhaps disorientated for a while. It acts in a similar way to benzos (on GABA receptors in the brain) and is a more powerful version of the parent drug gabapentin. Also I'd be very careful if you choose to come off it and taper slowly cos you could get rebound anxiety or pain (if you're taking it for that). I haven't come across many people taking it for seizures (which is its purported main use).

At the present time it's a very new drug and GPs seem to be reluctant to prescribe it because of cost. So I'm afraid we may be the guinea pigs rights now ...

[nutteetart]

Thank you. Just pm'd you!

I asked for reassurance from my psych cos i felt a bit odd, but to be fair i felt like that before too. Think i just panicked about the meds. His reply was: You have to expect to feel worse before you feel better - in fact it is a necessary part of recovery that you have to face the fears and by taking new medication, you are in fact experiencing a fear of perceived symptoms.

We all do it dont we? We all check side effects and then conjour them all up for ourselves. I know he is right but when you are in the thick of it its hard to tolerate when you know you cant take any more.

I think we are guinea pigs too, so i think it would be beneficial to have many updates on this subject. My psych said that by dealing with the anxiety through Pregab, my agoraphobia and depression would be helped because he believes they are secondary to the anxiety. I personally thought i had Panic disorder with agoraphobia, but i must stop analysing, they are treated the same anyway.
Thanks guys
X

[KK77]

[QUOTE=nutteetart;569587]Thank you. Just pm'd you!

You're welcome - I sent you reply!

I agree with you: treating the core problems will get rid of the secondary ones. It seems like ages ago that I started pregabalin and I started at a very high dose (2x300 - I'm not kidding!). I remember nearly falling off my chair I was so dizzy... I thought **** that, I'm not taking these anymore! but something just made me continue and after a week or so I felt fine... So as with any new med, I suppose, we need to give our bodies a chance to adjust - after all these are powerful drugs.

I wasn't aware that pregabalin could treat depression but if the depression is secondary to GAD then that makes sense.

Will keep you updated and feel free to PM me. X

[sarah jayne]

Have any of you experienced chest pain whilst taking them ? x

[KK77]

Have any of you experienced chest pain whilst taking them ? x

Never had that symptom. U been to your GP about it? Maybe it's just anxiety?

[nutteetart]

no, sounds like the anxiety.

[sarah jayne]

I mentioned it to my doctor the other week when i started them but he didnt seem concerned. I hope it is just anxiety, i wish there wasnt such a thing as anxiety !!! x

[loulabella]

Chest pain is def anxiety. Do you take anything else? x

[moggy]

im on pregabalin... 25mg twice daily, been on then for 6 weeks and feel the same , still anxious , still think i have every illness under the sun

[sarah jayne]

Im going back to the doctors later, thay have definately helped with my headaches but they have made me more anxious and ive got awful chest pain. Im going to see if i can stop taking them...
Sarah x

[loulabella]

How long did it take till they helped the HA? How long? It could be the initial change to your system causing increased anxiety? Could you combine with a TCA to help? That's my doc has done today - added back the Dosolupin to help with sleep and anxiety. x