I'm so glad I found this forum. It felt like I was losing all control of my life and its direction while going off Lyrica but knowing that there is an end in sight is giving me hope to keep going.

I, like many on this forum, had decided several weeks ago that Lyrica was causing side effects that I no longer felt were worth the amount of relief of the nerve pain I am suffering from a back injury.

I had worked up to a dose of 150 mg in the morning and 150 mg in the evening by the beginning of my third month on this drug but I'm of very small stature. 5 ft 2 in and a little less than 100 lbs. It wasn't long into the third month where I was starting to feel the side effects. Just to name a few, insomnia, depression, changes in mood, diminished functioning in both my body and mind, constantly feeling short of breath even though my O2 would be within an acceptable range, changes in appetite, nausea, diarrhea, changes in vision...it was just going badly...the worst part was that I had no idea why it was happening. I couldn't quantify these conditions and I didn't know it was the Lyrica causing it until I really paid attention to the commercial for it. I am lucky enough to have a very supportive girlfriend who recognized it for what it was as well as a psychologist who suggested Lyrica was the culprit behind these things.

A week ago, I started to bring my doses down to a 150 mg per day and only if I legitimately could not tolerate the withdrawal. I'm on my 4th day of no Lyrica. The first two days of no Lyrica, I was thrown into full fledged withdrawal with the likes of those heroine addicts in movies. Cold sweat, burning up under the covers but freezing without them, delirious dreams if I even fell asleep for a minute, chills, nausea, vomiting, tossing and turning in pain and agony the whole time. I couldn't keep down water and I couldn't even think about food. I spent all of yesterday in the ER hooked up to an IV (had 3 liters total), had some morphine to take the edge off of my desperation, some zofran to take the edge off the nausea and tolerated a little bit of food by the end of it.

I am not nearly as bad a condition today thanks to all the fluids they pumped into me and I went to the pain management doctor who had put me on Lyrica. I was absolutely amazed at the level of his dismissals of my claims. He said that Lyrica barely had a 24 hour half life and that it wasn't a narcotic so there's no way my body could be going through what it's going through due to it. He said that the Lyrica has been long gone out of my system and of the thousands of patients that are successfully on Lyrica, I was the first one who claims these things. He said that it had to be some other underlying condition that is causing these symptoms.
I feel as if I'm tight roping over hell going through this wicked withdrawal and for him to spit on my misery was just unbearable. He was decent enough at the end of it to write a script for zofran so I can continue to keep myself hydrated enough to survive but I'm just at a point where I need to know that the end of this suffering is near. Anyone out here have an idea when the sun will break through the clouds for me?

You can also use the search tool to find other posts on Lyrica and tapering here.
We also have a Medications forum-
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/forum72.html

Welcome Kdj13.

Hello everyone. I sincerely pray that you are all doing well and congratulate those who have made it to the other side.

As I write this, I am so desperate for help. If you can offer a couple of words of support and advice I will be eternally grateful.

Let me introduce myself. I am a 37 year old female, professional, wife, and mother to a 3 year old boy. I have been on Lyrica for over 3 years on and off. This had been prescribed to me for neurogenic pain. I was diagnosed to have fibromyalgia plus had a traumatic back injury due to a faulty epidural during my c-section three years back. And several doctors believed that Lyrica would be the solution for both problems. They started me on 75 mg, increased to 150, then 300....etc.

I must admit that that even though it didn't do too much for the pain, it made me "care less" about the pain. It also helped with my anxiety which wasn't at a morbid level, only part of my slightly anxious personality. By this I mean that I would feel anxious if giving a presentation , going to crowded places, meeting new people for the first time, etc. Otherwise was completely normal. I found that Lyrica would help me feel more at ease and talk easier to others...kinda give me some courage I guess. I also must admit that it gave me a bit of a head-buzz that I enjoyed. I have never smoked, drank alcohol, or ever experimented with any recreational drugs whatsoever. My whole life I have been on the straight and narrow, even during high school and college. So I never knew what it meant to have a head buzz or feel "high". But I enjoyed the feeling that Lyrica made me feel.

I started to up my dose by myself as I grew tolerant to it. Towards the end I would be taking around 10 capsules of 300mg per day!!!!
I know this is a ridiculous amount and I don't know what got into me?! I feel like the Lyrica in my system made my judgment go bad and I would accept things I usually would never accept.....like taking dangerously high doses of Lyrica!!

I did get off Lyrica once in January and the withdrawl lasted for maybe 10 days and wasn't that severe. So I guess I didn't learn enough of a lesson and went back on it when. My back pain became worse.

Now I have made a firm decision to stop Lyrica once and for all. I didn't really taper off properly. My last capsule of 75 mg was on June 29 (58 days ago). And I still feel like I am not myself. You will not believe the roller coaster of a nightmare I was on! I was admitted to the hospital initiall for 2 week with a diagnosis of "Acute Confusional State". I was disoriented to person, place, and time. I had amnesia, dyskinesia, total insomnia, and hallucinations. I couldn't even use the bathroom by myself or bath myself. I was completely dependent on others. Incidentally they discovered that I was extremely low in Vitamin B1 which I believe was depleted by the Lyrica. Apparently I had Beri Beri and Wernicke's Encephalopathy (sever B1 deficiency leading to both physical and mental consequences). This occurs in alcoholics but I have NEVER even had a sip of alcohol. So I my best bet is that this was caused be the Lyrica!

A month after I was a bit better but as of today I still have the following symptoms: insomnia, anxiety, PANIC ATTACKS, a sense of depersonalizations and derealization, depression, and a general sense of uneasiness and tension, and memory problems. I always feel Iike I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop, absence of impending doom. I'm too frightened to go out of the house where there are crowds for fear that it will be obvious that I am "abnormal". My close family who knows about what happened to me say I appear completely normal on the outside, but God knows that's NOT how I feel on the inside. On the inside I'm SCREAMING and my heart is racing and find it difficult two breath. But on the outside you wouldn't have a clue.

In desperation I started Cipralex (an antidepressant of the SSRI group) and am on day 8. Unfortunately things get worse on it before they get better ( it takes anywhere from 2-8 wks for a positive effect). My panic attacks are worse at night when I try to sleep and they keep me up FRIGHTENED TO DEATH with palpitations. I also would wake up repeatedly drenched in sweat and having panic attacks throughout the night. Again in desperation I added on Seroquel (an atypical antipsychotic/antidepressant which helps with anxiety and insomnia and actually augments the effect of Cipralex). This helps only at night when I'm unable to sleep from the panic attacks. It gives me only 4 hours of sleep (both when I tried 100mg and 200mg). And I know I NEED TO SLEEP because I noticed my panic attacks get worse when I'm sleep deprived.

I apologize for the lengthy message but I feel an obligation to let others know what Lyrica has done for me. I'm not a psychiatric patient, but had so many mental symptoms due to severe B1 (Thiamin) Deficiency brought upon by the Lyrica. So if ur having mental symptoms PLEASE INSIST THAT YOUR DOCTOR CHECKS YOUR VITAMIN LEVELS, ESP B COMPLEX!

In addition I was hoping, really praying, that someone...anyone...could chime in and say that they felt the way that I did and came out the other side. I'm desperate to feel "normal" again. Can anyone tell me how much longer it will take? I never expected to feel this way 8 weeks out!!

PLEASE PLEASE HELP ME IF YOU CAN. IM DESPERATE!

God Bless You All,
Laura

I am 66 years old and have been on 300mg Lyrica twice a day for approximafely two years to treat pain from degenerative arthritis of spine plus scoliosis. I am concerned about the amount of this medication I am on and, after reading about the severe withdrawal symptoms, am very frightened. If I had known I would never have started. I also am on Ciprelax for depression and slow release morphine for pain. Any advise for me.

Welcome Dinnie.

Someone will be along to help.

Hi Dinnie, welcome.

Regarding your dosage...
...so your dosage doesn't sound that far out of line.

I think the important questions are:

1. Is it helping/working?
2. Are you experiencing any intolerable side effects or adverse reactions?
3. Do you have any renal impairment, and is your doctor monitoring your renal functions? (Lyrica is metabolized in the kidneys)

It's important to consider that while some people do have a difficult time discontinuing Lyrica, most do not. People having difficulty/trouble have reason to post & seek support, while people who have no issues don't need support, so they don't post. This can give a false/skewed impression of things.

Are there any other reasons besides dosage that concern you or cause you to want to discontinue the medication?

Doc

Hi Had exactly the same reaction from my Doc who made feel as if I was an idiot. It's 4 weeks on since I stopped and stuff is still going on. Worst of all is my neuropathic pain suddenly returning worse than ever, but I understand it's all par for the course.

Nick

I am thinking of all of you who have had to go through withdraw of a medication. I so understand that, and I have great empathy for you. Someday, and in not too long of a time you will feel better. These drugs can do us much good, but when you get off them, OMG all hell breaks loose. I remember standing in the hall way and screaming. Actually I had no idea at all why I was screaming at all! Mood was just over the top and I was out of control.
I will keep all of you in my thoughts. There will be an end, and that medication will no longer have that power over you. ginnie

I am so sorry for what you have endured. So many of us have had horrible withdrawal experiences.

My pain doc acknowledged there was withdrawal but when I explained to him, what I considered bizarre and unexpected withdrawals symptoms he listened but seemed skeptical. He is an open minded guy and I brought him in copies of the same complaints over and over again on this forum and others and showed him the huge numbers of responses. He at least said he would read them.

I am now firmly convinced that Lyrica radically changes our brain chemistry and I don't know what has to be done to change it back, this is my own personal theory, my own belief from what I experienced while getting off Lyrica and for many weeks afterward. I had to go back on because seizures kicked back in (but I had them before from a brain infection. ) I am in the process of writing to Pfizer with copies of all these withdrawal nightmares and asking for their advice on how to get our brains functioning normally again. I am not expecting much of a response but I want to ask before I go the next step of contacting attorney general or FDA.

I know with opiates we have to get our endorphins to kick in again and sometimes that can seem agonizingly long, but it does get better. Lyrica is doing something to our brain that needs replacing, just don't know what that is. I was actually thinking of maybe trying Neurontin to see if it will help with the Lyrica's horrific withdrawal symptoms.

I pray for all of us that experience terrible withdrawal symptoms we are able to get off this drug and feel ourselves again.
Bless you all, Diandra