Lyrica Has Seriously Impaired My Mind And Damaged My Parotid Gland.

After only 2 and 1/2 weeks on it (for neurogenic pain from spine injuries lumbar spine and cervical spine):



First day after taking it, "buzzing electrical nerve symptoms" some better, but pain was still there.

Dizzy, stumbling... Dizziness decreased after a few days (never stopped, always present when first arising from sleep). During those 2 and 1/2 weeks that I took Lyrica, I gained 10 lbs, had extreme dry mouth, got tangled up/"lost" in my clothes when dressing, tangled in my seat belt when getting in and out of car and tangled in my purse straps ... all the time...

Was (still am) constantly reversing words (I say "up" instead of "down," "high" instead of "low," etc.), couldn't hold train of thought (still can't), difficulty completing simple tasks in logical way (still difficult), was way too "mellow" for my own good, swollen face, fluid retention (pitting edema), blurry vision, mouth burned inside.

Last Straw: Add lips buzzing and tongue turned white and swelled to size of a giant bar of soap... Doc put me on massive Benadryl, and if swelling didn't go down in 2 hours, I was to get myself to an ER. Swelling went down... 



The extreme, prolonged dry mouth from Lyrica caused my right side parotid gland (saliva gland) to clog up/stop functioning, now causing excruciating pain every time I take my first sip of liquid or bite of food. (Dry mouth resulting still persists.) Doc's film/contrast fluid injection study showed it had lost most of it's "branches." They were "gone." It is now essentially "dead" as far as producing saliva goes, but not dead enough to keep me from wincing in pain with every first sip/bite.

Lyrica works for some (so they think? So I've heard??) but the few people I know who take it either: A - Are retired and don't do much but stay at home. B - They are former "stay at home moms" whose children have grown up and left home and now they don't do much. C - They don't have (or have never had) jobs. D - Their lifestyles are not demanding (do not demand that they function to a high degree, mentally). E. Live lives of leisure wherein "mellow" and "going to lunch" is fine. etc.

Perhaps there are fully-functioning folks out there whose lives are not impacted adversely by taking Lyrica, and I am happy for you. 

I wish Lyrica had been a "magic bullet" for me, because I need one or two, but, it was hellish. It still is. 



I took it for 2 and 1/2 weeks in March 2011. It is November, 2011 - 8 months later and mentally a wreck. The physiatrist who had prescribed it to said these effects would soon pass. They have not. have extreme short-term memory problems. Hard to do my job at work and hard to live my life at home. "Snow Globe Brain," or, "Etch-A-Sketch Brain." I start to do something, turn around, and instantly forget what I was about to do... Constantly. (I kept up with it yesterday morning, and during 1 hour, I had forgotten what I was doing over 20 times {I forgot to write it down a few times}. Frightening.



It all started with Lyrica. 



It is difficult to type this. I keep reversing letters in words and am having to edit constantly. 

It is hellish to be half the person, mentally, that I was prior to taking Lyrica!

What can I do????? 

Has anyone recovered from any Lyrica side effects???

Meanwhile, I am declining in function from the spine injuries.

So, not only neurogenic pain/body function decreasing in upper and lower body. Add to those problems, thanks to Lyrica - I now have also lost some of my mental functions.