I have tapered off my Lyrica and am still experiencing withdrawal symptoms of feeling lightheadness and nausea, how long will these effects last?

Hang in there just a bit more... Truly you will feel better as time goes on. Any drug we have to wean off or want to wean off is difficult. I do empathize with you. ginnie

Hi SusieQ, Welcome.

That may depend on the dosage you were on, how long you were on it, how long it's been since you've been off of it, and other factors. Most likely, the withdrawal symptoms will reduce gradually over time rather than just stopping suddenly. Generally, the more effective pregabalin was in controlling pain, the more difficult withdrawal may be.

Doc

I was only on Lyrica for 10 days at 150mg then stopped without tapering. I was fine for the first 3 days after I cam e off it but have gradually stopped becoming able to sleep. Its been 10 days now since I stopped and have slept 2 hours a night for the past 4 days. This is the only withdrawal symptom I am experiencing and don't feel all that tired. But I'm worried the damage that is being done and if ill ever actually recover from this.

I surprised at the lasting negative effect from taking it for such a short period of time. Can anybody give ms some advice? Should I start it again and the taper off or should I wait longer? Its just I've seen people on this thread say its taken months to recover. Is the withdrawal time related to the amount of time on the drug?

Hi Mathew, Welcome.

It is, but there are other factors/variables as well, and everyone is different.

There may be exceptions, but most of those folks have been on it for much longer—years in some cases. You were on a minimal dose for a very short time, so I'm surprised you're having this much trouble, and wonder if possibly the insomnia is coincidental or related to something else.

Any other changes lately (medications, diet, job, personal/emotional, etc.)?

If it was me under these same circumstances, I wouldn't even consider starting back on the stuff. I think I might try approaching it as a case of insomnia and go from there.

Have you discussed this with your doctor yet?

Doc

I just moved from one state to another, and I have been fighting to get my prescription of Lyrica filled. The pre-auth has been denied twice so far. I have severe peripheral neuropathy due to fibromyalgia, and I also have irritable bowel syndrome, anxiety disorder, atrial fibrillation with tachycardia. Due to stopping Lyrica cold turkey, I am experiencing a-fib, anxiety, racing heart, dizziness, and nausea. I am very afraid as I do not want to throw a clot. Should I go to the ER?

Hi Sandy, welcome, but I wish it weren't under these circumstances.

That's a serious enough question that I think it warrants a call to your current doctor. Just my personal opinion, but if your symptoms are such that you'd go to the ER if Lyrica weren't a factor (if you'd never taken it or were still taking it), then you should probably go. I wouldn't go just to try to get some Lyrica.

Here are some articles on when to go to the ER in general:

when to go to the er

Perhaps there's something in there that will help you determine the best course of action.

Doc

Thank you for the advice, Dr. Smith. If I would have been thinking clearly, I should have come to that conclusion myself!

Heading out now..

Hi all.
I have fallowed this discussion on Lyrica withdrawal, and I will now join in with my experience on the subject.
I have severe diffuse symptoms of burning pain from Small Fiber Neuropathy. This was becoming worse gradually over months.
Rheumatologist and neurologist worked together to treat this, and I was told that " at this time we call it ideopathic, and our goal is symptomatic treatment"
The Rheumatologist first put me on large dose of Neurontin for a while. This made me very dizzy and spaced out, and I did not like that I could not function as well. I was switched to a combination of Amitripthyline and Lyrica, and was told by the neuropathy specialist neurologist that this should be promising. He later told me that his goal was to increase th Amitripthyline and slowly, very slowly decrease the Lyrica.
I have for months now had some very strange,frightening symptoms during night that wakes me up. It feels like a strong throbbing disturbing feeling inside almost like a rush, (yet when I feel my pulse it is regular and normal)
Accompaning this feeling has been a feeling of deep heat slowly spreading through my body.

I have been reporting this symptoms to my doctors. My 2 neurologists said it sounded like perhaps a simple partial seizure.

I have had regular EEG -- normal. I have had Video recprded/observed 72 hour continous EEG monitoring twice now at the hospital.
It has been negative for seizures.

The doctors have not been able to diagnose what these symptoms are ( and I do not like that)

AND, I WILL EMPHASIZE, that the symptoms I have had, is physical. Could be in the way of distroyed sensory nerves givng me the experience of bounding, trmbling, vibrating symptoms. But this is still physical.
I had one neurologist saying to me that it sounds like a panick attack. I said :"NO, I do not have a history of mental instability or anxiety"

I have come up with my own theory: When I think of it, theese symptoms seem to have started since I have been started on all these meds.

I had a nurse who specializes in monitoring this, and who is knowlegable in meds. She said that Lyrica has to be on a steady level in your blood stream at all times. This is why I tried to even the med times out to every 8 hours. This is because at first, I thought that during the night, perhaps the level became low, and I was getting withdrrawal symptoms. I started to mark down the times of the episodes. It seems to come around 1 00 am and at 5 0r 6 am. So I figured out that perhaps I had symptoms when the med was peaking and when it was too low.

I think this whole thing is very disturbing. The med helps with my pain, but I think the dosing was wrong. 100 mg in am 100 mg at 2 pm and 150 mg at bed time.
The reason being that the pain of my neuropathy pain, is worse in afternoon an at night.

I have decided to try to come off this medication. ( I think it is very strong, and it works on your brain of course to interfer with the sensory nerve's misinterprted signals.)
I will try to fallow the special neurologist's suggestion.
Doctor told me to decrease the am dose by 50 mg, which I have done for a few weeks now. And I have been able to increase the pm Amitripthyline dose to 35 mg. ( I had to decrease it before due to side effects)
I have also been able to decrease the bed time dose of Lyrica by 50 mg.

My pain symptoms are now worse, and it starts as early as 11 am, sometimes continously 24 hour.And lately, since I decreased the bed time dose, I feel that I have had more severity in those "night episodes"

So, I have definitly been able to figure out that it is important to have a "steady, same dose level of the medisine in the bloodstream at all times.

I am hoping to come to an even dose. I will ask my doctor to order it in 75 mg times 3. That will bring me to a daily dose of only 250 mg, down from 350 mg. Then to 50 mg times 3 to total 150 mg.

My neuro said Lyrica has to be tapered very very slowly.

I do not know how this will go. But I do know that I have to come off this Lyrica med.
I have ofcourse found out what I did not realize at first, this med is very powerful!! And it works directly on your BRAIN!!
I also know that as far as what is known a combination of antiseizure med and antidepression med is what works best to treat neuropathy.
I hope something different can be found.

To all of you trying this and going through this terrible things: I know you are feeling bad and frustrated.

To Mathew 92: What you are expeiencing regarding difficult to sleep, also has been some of my experience. That is because it has been so frightening when I got those physical symptoms.


All the best to all of you

Synnove

Hi Synnove,

Sorry if you know all this; maybe it can help others figure this out.

I think it's good that you're listening to your body, particularly your pain cycle(s). (Mine is worse early morning until I get going/moving, and late afternoon/early evening when I wind down and change gears.)

Pregabalin has a half-life averaging ~6.3 hrs. which doesn't quite fit your 1am/5:30am cycle (~4.5 hrs), but you may be metabolizing a bit faster, or those episodes could be related to your personal circadian rhythm (guessing here) or some other/unrelated factor.

Amitriptyline's half-life is much longer—~22 hrs. (26 hrs for active metabolite, nortriptyline), which is good, because that allows for once/day dosing and maintaining a more even level.

I suspect your doctor's intention in boosting your bedtime dose was to allow you to sleep through the night without having to get up and take another dose. That works with some meds/people; maybe not this time.

Wishing everyone here the best. DW is going through a difficult taper (different med) so I think of all of you often.

Doc