Quote:
Originally Posted by what a ride
It will be two years next week since I went off lyrica. I am still having all the symptoms I started with. Most are a bit less but not all. Life has changed and not for the better at least for now. I am still, with my doctors help, working on reducing my symptoms. I am very careful of all meds RX or OTC since almost all give me severe side effects While I am mentally more alert, aware and happier then last year, my body is not much better. My RLS is day and night as well as involving my whole body sometimes, sleeping is hard I no longer try at night and wait until morning, less stress that way. The mental problems I got AFTER going off lyrica still come and go, but not every day a different problem. The first year off this drug my mind did funny things. Not to the point of needing to fix anything because within 3 days it would be gone and replaced by something else. I have come to the conclusion that for some of us the damage is permanent.
From your list these are the ones I had and/or still have:
Exhaustion, coupled with insomnia
Depression
Crying jags (Tears can help detox the brain I've heard. It did reduce other stmptons)
Rage (among a host of other emotional problems much better now)
Extreme episodes of sweating (had now just "Hot Flashes" no hormone problem)
Chills
Inability to regulate temperature
Headache (had)
Nausea (Thank God this one has been gone for a year)
Stomach pain (often described as stabbing pain) (had. forgot about this one)
Severe Anxiety (had)
Restless Leg Syndrome (extreme)
Body aches
Muscle contractions
Vision problems (No to this one)
Suicidal ideation (still but understanding why helps. I ran into a lady on Lyrica 1 month 9 months latter she still had this)
Difficulty breathing (hard to take deep breath) (hard to take a breath sometimes body kinda locks up)
Lack of desire to socialize in any way (may be part of depression but I know what you are talking about.)
Mood swings
Babbling (nonsense sounds without any meaning This happens as my symptoms start to escalate.)
Temporary mental illness . (like going to crazy town and visiting every address for a few hours to 3 days) This did give me a lot of understanding that sometimes behavior is in the brain and not under the control of a person. Once i stopped freaking out, about 2 weeks into it, I found it interesting
servere loss of appetite. (had)
Rebound pain (for 9 months)
Mental Fog
Good luck
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I wish I never took this substance. At 21 years old, I have everything to live for and yet every day for me is incredibly painful. I used to be really sharp, was doing great last year and I had a rough point (I lost over $100K in the crypto crash). I wanted to be on top of my game for University and seeked the help of a psychiatrist. I wish I never took that advice.
I tried Pregabalin for just over 1 month. It would've been shorter, had I not started tapering from 4 pills (300mg daily) per day for 2 weeks +.
It's been nearly 2 months since I've not taken any Pregabalin pills. I still have tinnitus and hearing problems, visual snow & disturbances, I'm sensitive to light now, extreme anxiety, suicidal ideation (where I DON'T WANT TO DIE, I just can't stop thinking about it whereas before I didn't have this, OCD morbid thoughts.. again, didn't have this before. I feel like I'm going crazy every day. I can't focus on my dreams and goals, and the main reason I keep going is that I'm hoping I'll heal eventually and I want to make my girlfriend as happy as I can.
I'm now thinking I might have to resort to SSRIs as the anxiety prevents me from work or studying. I've lost so much in such a short span. Life is not enjoyable when all the good moments are filled with a big dose of fear.
At least the physical symptoms stopped a while back. I couldn't sleep at all for the first few nights. I was prescribed a benzodiazapene, but even that didn't really help so I stopped after 5 nights. I feel depersonalized/derealized quite often, like all of this is just a bad dream.
I have trouble regulating temperature, but it was way worse. I'd get full body chills. I had near psychosis, and was so scared to go outside. I feared public transport and other people. I was experiencing some weird electric shock type feeling in my left upper leg.