Anyone else had tummy upsets with pregabalin?
Hi everyone
I have been on pregabalin (along with Mirtazapine) for 8 years and it has been a life-saver. After I got over my serious wobble 8 years ago I gradually came down to a low maintenance dose of both, 50mg of pregabalin and 15mg of mirtazapine, which has kept me on a pretty even keel.
However, as we came out of lockdown and were gradually released my anxiety level rocketed - all those things I didn't have to do for all that time came back and the responsibilities grew rapidly. So I doubled my dose of pregabalin (thankfully I had enough to do this without immediately needing my prescription changing) and it did seem to take the edge of the panic. But after doing this for a week or two I got intermittent stomach ache, bloating and wind. I looked at the information leaflet and it does list 'flatulence and swelling abdomen' amongst the fairly common (1 in 10 people) side effects. This didn't happen to me previously when I was taking a higher dose, but I guess it could be due to the increased dose, though I know it's nowhere near as much as some people are being prescribed.
I just wondered if anyone else has anything like this.
Re: Anyone else had tummy upsets with pregabalin?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Coppernob
This didn't happen to me previously when I was taking a higher dose, but I guess it could be due to the increased dose
It probably has more to do with the dose change than the amount taken. The gut is controlled by its own mini brain, the enteric nervous system (ENS) which can be as affected by psychiatric meds as the one between our ears, as can be gut microbes (which have the same binding sites (receptors) targetted by psych meds as brain neurones do) and that seem to have considerable influence on the ENS and through it on the brain itself. They will all adapt soon enough. In the meantime the usual remedies for the symptoms should help.
Re: Anyone else had tummy upsets with pregabalin?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
panic_down_under
It probably has more to do with the dose change than the amount taken. The gut is controlled by its own mini brain, the
enteric nervous system (ENS) which can be as affected by psychiatric meds as the one between our ears, as can be gut microbes (which have the same
binding sites (receptors) targetted by psych meds as brain neurones do) and that seem to have
considerable influence on the ENS and through it on the brain itself. They will all adapt soon enough. In the meantime the usual remedies for the symptoms should help.
Many thanks for the reply. It's fascinating, isn't it, the whole gut/brain thing! I've been trying to feed my gut microbiome recently with different varieties of fruit and more fermented foods, though I have a pretty healthy diet anyway. But I've found I have to be careful with some things, the result can be unfortunate! Anyway, I took a rest from the extra 50mg for a couple of days and my gut settled down, but my anxiety levels rocketed again, so I'm back to my 2x50mg per day, but I've altered the timing so I don't take one last thing at night, which I hadn't used to anyway. I'll see how it goes.
Re: Anyone else had tummy upsets with pregabalin?
Quote:
It's fascinating, isn't it, the whole gut/brain thing!
Indeed, I can mount a pretty good argument that we are only really life-support systems for the bugs in our gut and it is they who will truly end up ruling the world if they aren't already. :scared15:
