I'm sorry that I scared you. My anger about withdrawal from Lyrica comes not only from my own experience, but also from the thousands of posts I've read from people suffering these terrible withdrawal symptoms with little or no support from their Doctors, who will often plead ignorance or deny outright that this drug causes these complications (self protection from possible malpractice suits). The drug giant responsible Pfizer, is dealing with lawsuits as well, but mostly relating to suicide and suicidal thoughts.

I did not get much pain relief from Lyrica. I was on the drug for about a year and a half. My worst experiences came during withdrawal. Yes, I'm now off Lyrica, but it took me seven months, and I basically took as little of the drug as I could take and still get through the day without sitting and shaking in misery in my room. My taper was about 25 mg at a time, tapering down every two to three weeks. I wish that there was some over the counter meds or vitamins that I could suggest, but as my pharmacist said, It's like using an umbrella in a tornado.

The only thing to do is try to get as much support as possible, and if possible take some time off if you have to taper down faster than I did. To answer your question, I'm on the fentanyl patch, which works great for me, with few side effects and no druggy feeling. I change patches every 3 days. I researched it well before I took it, and I was willing to risk the side effects listed, none of which I have. I'll have to taper off, but at least that taper is well known.

I want to encourage every person who has been hurt by this drug to write down their experience, save it somewhere where you can copy and paste it in every forum possible. Pfizer thinks that they can hide behind the mountain of small print that they publish about Lyrica, stuff that one needs a degree in molecular biology to understand. Information is power, and getting information out is our best tool at this point in stopping the big drug companies from pushing dangerous medication on us, all to bring in more money.

I'm sorry to rant on at you, when you're scared and just wondering how the heck to get off Lyrica. As another poster said, "Slower feels better than faster", and that's good advise. You may get lucky and be one of the people who go off with little or no withdrawal symptoms. Good luck, and PLEASE keep us posted!