Dear Mel,
currently, according to the Lyrica monograph at
http://www.rxlist.com/, Lyrica is indeed still only approved by the FDA for use as an adjunctive medication.
However, remember that approved indications for meds are based on
statistics emerging from the studies carried out... i.e. if a
sufficiently large proportion of people respond to a drug as monotherapy then it will be approved for that. but
you, as a single individual, may in fact respond to the drug... if Lyrica alone does stop your seizures, then
for you, monotherapy with it is possible.
I did find a note on the Lyrica page at
www.epilepsy.com regarding possible monotherapy:
http://www.epilepsy.com/medications/b_lyrica_use
Quote:
Lyrica is usually used as an additional seizure medicine ...
...
Lyrica may also be effective for some people when used alone (called monotherapy), although the FDA has not approved it to be used in this way.
Reviewed October 2005 by Steven C. Schachter, MD, epilepsy.com Editorial Board.
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When a drug is prescribed alone but is only approved as an adjunctive, that is called "off-label" prescription. Do not worry as long as the med works. Off-label scripting is done quite often because approvals are sometimes not sought, or come much later than scientific knowledge... and again, they are statistic-based anyway.
This may interest you also - I read that Pfizer was trying to establish a monotherapy indication for Lyrica, and found this study (by Pfizer, started 2008... looks like it is ongoing):
http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00596466
Quote:
Study Type: Interventional
Study Design: Treatment, Non-Randomized, Open Label, Single Group Assignment, Safety/Efficacy Study
Official Title: An Open-Label Multicenter Extension Study To Determine Long Term Safety And Efficacy Of Pregabalin (Lyrica) As Monotherapy In Patients With Partial Seizures
Resource links provided by NLM:
Genetics Home Reference related topics:
pyridoxal 5'-phosphate-dependent epilepsy and
pyridoxine-dependent epilepsy
[...more details and contact info follow...]
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It looks like the study targets patients with 2 particular types of genetic Epilepsy, specifically
pyridoxal 5'-phosphate-dependent epilepsy and
pyridoxine-dependent epilepsy.
There could possibly be other types of epilepsy that respond to Lyrica monotherapy as well... i didn't delve beyond this... mostly wanted to give you some feedback.
i hope this is reassuring to you, and, above all,
that you remain seizure free on Lyrica!!!
~ waves ~