Originally Posted by Hockey

OMG, YES!!!!!!!!!!!

I took a high dose of Lyrica for over a year, must have been four or five years ago, now. My neurologist insisted that Lyrica was not addictive and forced me off COLD TURKEY.

I cannot even begin to describe the horror of my withdrawal. THE PAIN. I had all the symptoms you described and one where my eyes watered and hurt so much, I could barely see.

This happened fairly early after my MVA and I hadn't recovered my wits sufficiently to advocate for myself. I was also litigating and couldn't afford to look "non-compliant." In fact, my neurologist was a notorious insurance industry stooge and I feel that's exactly what he was trying to make me do. My psychologist thought so, too.

Sadly, she was on vacation when all this happened. When she got back, she was so enraged that she wanted to report the neurologist to the relevant professional standards authorities.

For the love of heaven, it states right in the product's own literature that the drug is addictive. It goes on to say that people should be weaned off gradually as there are documented cases of people having DIED from immediate withdrawal. If cold turkey withdrawal is necessary, to prepare a patient for an emergency surgery or something, the withdrawal should take place in a HOSPITAL setting, with constant supervision.

As much as it was clear that my neurologist had done something professionally incompetent and morally reprehensible, I had to let it go, for fear of the damage he could do to my legal action. Talk about feeling helpless.