Hi, I am new to this site but will make my problem quick, I was on tranadol 400mg and pregablin max dose for 7 months due to back problems. I had an operation in may this year on my back and my doctors just took me off both the drugs named above cold turkey. Since then my problems started the first two weeks were sickness, poops, flu, aliens in head etc etc, now 2 months later I still suffer depression, anxiety, my body feels in pain through sadness all the time, night sweats, trouble sleeping, nervousness, fear of being alone ( none of this happened before I took those drugs ) is this normal or am I going mad?

I too have experienced every single thing you guys are dealing with. The absolute worst thing was (for me) that lyrica withdrawal did not seem to get better with time. I would be horribly sick, be it days or weeks, until I got a dose of Lyrica back into my body. I started a slow taper back in January, and I am beyond thrilled to finally report that I'm off lyrica for good!

I was on 450 mg per day, and I started decreasing by roughly 25 mg every couple of weeks. At times, it was very difficult to jump down, but I coped with this by pushing myself into severe withdrawal by stopping altogether for two or three days, then starting back up on the new, decreased dose. That trick really turned things around for me as I was getting into very low doses.

Once I hit 25 mg, I stopped altogether, with no more withdrawal symptoms. My Dr. Recently put me on the drug Wellbutrin, which has helped me ENORMOUSLY! I have to tell you guys that are in the trenches of severe withdrawal to give some thought to tapering off, on as slow a schedule as you can manage. I was dividing one 150 mg pill into six little piles of powder at the end, which I diluted in water and swallowed. It was a mistake for me to think that I could white knuckle it and get past lyrica withdrawals with time, because the symptoms did not lesson with time. I was sick for weeks with no relief. I know it's hard to be patient, but you can do it! Treat yourself with kindness. You deserve it!

I have been in lyrica for about 5 years. I take the maximum dose of 450mg. 150mg in am & 300mg at bedtime. I'm really tired if the side effects of the drug and want to be off it. I have tried tapering down but find even missing one dose I'm sick. I can't stand the effects of the drug nor can I stand the effects of going off the drug.
But, I have decided that I really want to be off it so I will have to endure the withdrawal symptoms as they will pass eventually. I feel sick like a flu, headaches, shakiness, crying despite being on antidepressants. I am an RN, and have seen ppl go thru terrible drug & alcohol withdrawal and come out of it fine. So, when I'm off work for vacation, I will have 2 weeks to get off lyrica and get over the withdrawal symptoms. Trying to do it, work & take care if my family is just too hard.
Here's hoping that it all works out.
I'm sorry for anyone that is feeling this same way. But in my opinion, I'd much rather do this, get over it & move on then deal with the side effects of staying in the drug. I have fibromyalgia but I think I can deal with that pain better some other way. Exercise , changing my diet and so on

I have been dealing with severe sciatica pain since January of this year. I have tried 3 different physical therapists, 3 pain injections, even going to a chiropractor to avoid having surgery for 2 bulging discs, and a pinched nerve. I was given a variety of different pain meds to try without any success along the way, my family doctor had me try Lyrica. It first started off with just taking 75 mgs a day without any success of helping relieve my pain he changed it to 150mgs a day. It did help me with dealing with the pain better and was on it for about a month when I finally decided I needed to get the surgery that was inevitable. 2 weeks ago I had the surgery and have been recovering quite well. I still was taking the Lyrica along with Vicodine for my pain. I decided I would take myself off the Lyrica since I didnt think I really needed it after having surgery. I woke up at 3:00 in the morning feeling like I had flu symptoms. I had severe chills, no energy, diareaha, and headache. I thought for sure I had possibly the flu. My leg pain came back fairly strong later in the day and thought I should go ahead and continue taking the Lyrica because maybe it was still needed. I realized after taking it again I slept all night, all my other symptoms went away as well. Came to this website and seen that so many other people suffered from this when trying to get off this medication??? Well I thought I would see for myself if it was really that after all and went another day without and YES I had the same sypmtoms again!! Insomnia,Diareaha, chills....I want off this medication!!! I feel like I was only on it for a month and a half, can I really go through all this? Its not like I was on it for years or anything. I am scared that I am going to suffer what some have and have depression, anxiety and all the other things? I dont know what to do. I have 2 more weeks off work to recover from my surgery and thought this would be a good time to do this now so maybe I can be rid of all the horrible side effects. What should I do or take to help me sleep since that is my most major issue on the now day two of my weening process. Help someone!! Please??

Other than OTC sleeping aids or antihistamines, I'd call your doctor and have a discussion.

However, if your leg pain came back, and continues to come back, will you be able to cope with that pain, and if not, what? All prescription medications used for pain (whether narcotic or otherwise) have the potential for side effects and physical dependence (which means withdrawal when discontinued).

Just something to consider in your discussion with your doctor.

Doc

I began taking Lyrica about 6 weeks ago due to an IV nerve tear in my arm for breast cancer surgery. I was put on 50mg twice a day. It seemed to help a bit with the pain, so two weeks later, my dosage was increased to 100mg twice a day. At this time I began to feel a type of depression creeping in, but I didn't link it to anything.

After another 3 weeks, the Lyrica was increased to 150mg twice a day. I was on this dosage (along with Methadone 10mg once a day) for about a week when my world caved in. About a week ago I woke up in a complete panic attack, cold sweats, uncontrolled shaking and thoughts of suicide. I was so distraught. I begged my husband to help me. I had to go to get my radiation treatment every day and so we went.
My nurse asked me what was wrong. I burst into tears and told her that I was going out of my mind. After talking with my radiology oncologist, we suspected that it was possibly from the Lyrica. I called my neurologist and we got in right away. He took me off of it cold turkey and sent me home with a prescription for Gabapentin. He said I could take it or not take it. He said if I just wanted to try to manage the pain with the Methadone, then it was up to me. There was no discussion of tapering off the Lyrica.
I went home and researched Gabapentin and saw that the side effects could be the same.
That was last Tuesday. It has been 7 days of hell. I have gone through withdrawal symptoms like in the movies. I just lay in bed and sweat and freeze and convulse. I have no logic of peace at all. It feels like the greatest, darkest doom. I walk in circles and can't form sentences at times. I have violent nightmares. I have dry mouth and racing heart. My husband was so distraught that he called the neurologist 4 days into the withdrawals and they gave me .05 Xanax. It has helped. I have slept through two nights for about 8 hours (the hot and cold sweats are still happening though) and then when I wake up, the panic starts again. The only thing holding me together is the Xanax, but I don't want to be on ANY drugs! The fact that I am able to type this message is a miracle.
I am a hairstylist and have had to cancel my clients day by day as I cannot deal with life. ( I was supposed to go back to work the end of July, but the nerve pain became a problem. Now I have this too!

I am so scared these withdrawal symptoms are not going to get better. I keep praying that since I was only on Lyrica for 5 weeks, that the withdrawal can't last too much longer right?????? I am going to try Reiki and also acupuncture. I am juicing and trying to go for walks when the panic starts. I am getting all of my doctors involved, so they know what I am going through. I hope any of this helps someone else. Thank you for listening and God bless all of us.

Have you been able to get completely off Lyrica yet??

Hi donquijote, welcome to NeuroTalk.

This thread is quite active, and has almost 150 posts attached, so without any kind of reference, it's impossible to tell which poster you're addressing. If it's a general question to everyone, that's fine, but also unclear.

You can reference which post you're responding to by using the REPLY button in the lower RIGHThand corner of the post. That wil quote the post you're responding to with space below for your response (as I've done here).

You can find more information on using the forums here.
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/fa...b3_board_usage

Thanks, and again, welcome.

Doc

I've been on Lyrica for 5 years, my does is 400mg per day. I took more or less depending on how bad or good I felt or if I needed superhuman powers to sit in a car a few hours or do some gardening. I gained 50 pounds in 2 years! As of last week I was still up 30 pounds and decided to get off of it, mainly because it's going to cost me $217 to refill it! Lyrica has given me a serious sweating problem, even mores so since I started tapering off. Night is so bad that my husband changes beds if I don't wake up and do it first! I read that Benadryl helps with that and didn't believe it much but wow! I'm dry! I'm down to less than 100mgs a day and I've lost 8 pounds this last week. That amazes me. The withdrawals have been bad, anxiety and agitation get to the point where I could scream and I have a very short temper. I told my husband it's withdrawals but he thinks I'm in control of this rage inside me. I'm a low key person and this is not me! Everything ****** me off! Getting out of the shower, drying off and becoming soaked with sweat instantly was driving me mad enough, now the anxiety, depression, and shakiness inside are there too.
I'm scheduled to start suboxone in a week for the oxy and morphine. My doctor won't be around till then and he wants to monitor me closely. I didn't have enough lyrica to wait for that day and don't know if it'd help with that anyway. Lyrica worked well for me. I didn't hurt as bad and my anxiety attacks stopped the day I went on it. I have fibromyalgia which they say was caused by trauma following an accident. I've had back surgery and many procedures and I have arthritis. I didn't realize that arthritis was as painful as it is. My joints are getting damaged as well. I don't know how I'll live off of pain medicine, but I don't know how I can live on it. I'm in my 40s, I could have 30 more years and how many times can they raise my dose? It will kill me eventually. My body spits it out as fast as I put it in. My life revolves around doctor appointments and trips to the pharmacy. I'm an hour away from the closest doctor and pharmacy so it's a pain! I take too much on the bad days then break them all in half so I don't run out...I have a lot of bad days! I have dreams of hiking, camping, traveling, spontaneous things. I doubt that I'll ever feel I'm up to all that lol! I get into big denial over my health issues...
So, just how long will this last??? Withdrawal while still on meds seems so, so wrong! I think my symptoms are better than day 3 of tapering though. I'm on about day 7 or 8.
BENADRYL YEAH!

Hi,
I have newly joined this site and have the information very informative, especially those who continued to post through this withdrawal period.

I had a car accident in 2003 with spinal injuries and was put on Lyrica which seemed to really help. I was never told of the seriousness of withdrawal and as I always do, I checked on line on several medication sites, including Lyrica's and found no information about these withdrawal symptoms.

Then in 2008 I contracted a virus from helping a sick woman on a flight and became very ill, very quickly requiring an urgent liver transplant. I was taken off all medications for the 3 weeks leading up to my transplant. I don't remember any withdrawal symptoms, but I was so ill and confused from a liver which was barely working.

I actually did very well through that huge surgery. I had been off the Lyrica for 3 weeks by the time I had my surgery, but once I had my surgery I was not experiencing any withdrawal symptoms. But a year or so later I continued to suffer from pain from the car accident, so was put on back on Lyrica.

But the medication is no longer covered by my plan and I could not afford to continue it. I started tapering the drug Aug 22nd of this year and finally went off of it Sept 18th. I had been taking 300mg once a day.
since Sept 8th, which was about 17 days after I started tapering the drug I began to experience"
no appetite (have lost 9 pounds so far)
freezing cold
tremors and shaking
feel like I may fall
utter exhaustion
severe constipation
insomnia
blurry vision
I am not experiencing the anxiety which some people are reporting, and have been struggling with depression for some time, probably due to all of the things that have happened to me in the last few years.
I just feel really sick.

I too will NEVER go back on this drug, and I am quite angry that people (including myself) have never been told of the powerful side effects, and withdrawal symptoms. So far I have not found any references to say what the incidence of withdrawal symptoms are.

Today I forced myself to get out and do some errands. I am going to follow along with those people who tried to be as active as possible during their withdrawal period.

I will try and keep you posted how this journey goes for me, so that it may be helpful for others coming along.

Thanks so much to all of you who have posted here.

D.