Originally Posted by waiting4Rzeznik

I was just recently taken off Lyrica after 3 years because of the side effects I was having. Yes, it helped the chronic nerve pain i'm suffering from after a double fusion thanks to a drunk driver, however the side effects changed my whole personality. I went from being functional, happy and physically fit to non functional, severely depressed, suicidal thoughts, major weight gain, rages, and blurry vision. I was taking 300mg a day, started in Dec 2009 and barely left my bedroom after that. I kept it dark and slept almost every day. I was dying inside. So now, since my doctor did not taper me off the drug, I am having major withdrawals. Panic attacks, vomiting, severe pain, crying over nothing, legs feel like I am walking with concrete boots, insomnia and burning. The good news is the depression seems to be lifting (no suicidal thoughts), my eye sight is back, and I've dropped 6lbs in a week. I feel like i've lost 3 years of my life because I did not know what was wrong with me. I will definitely be more resourceful next time before I just trust a dr and let them put me on a medication. I told all of my drs about the depression and suicidal thoughts and not one of them attributed it to the lyrica. I felt great for awhile, I think it took 6 mo to start the downward descend. My new dr thinks it could take up to 3 mo for the withdrawals to stop because it is such a powerful drug. My prayers go out to you if you are struggling with this.