I am on Lyrica and yes withdrawl is a real problem. I was out for four days and boy oh boy the low energy wanting to lay down feeling depressed and the hot and cold sweats. I lost 3 days sleep due to hot and cold sweats. I am back on it and feel alright (for me) there nust be a better way to try to reduce this med. saftly.

I too have been taking Lyrica for the past 3 years. I recently had to go back to the Dr for refills, in the meantime I ran out. It has been 3 days and I feel terrible, can't sleep, going from freezing cold to sweating, and (not to be gross) but upset stomach with diarrhea. I wasn't sure if it was the Lyrica and withdraw or not but after reading some of your posts I think thats what I am experiencing. Buh!

Lil Lamb...

Consider this your opportunity to get off of it permanently. Check out this link for a summary of what's going on with people who have discontinued it.

(this site won't accept links in the post so google Lyrica Withdrawal Can Causes Seizures even if you don't have a seizure disorder You'll find the article by Jillian Barclay)

I had a similar situation when my doctor didn't refill the script. He was just too busy and didn't get to it. I was so sick that even once restarting the Lyrica, was unable to return to work (which I love my work..) for a week.

Think about it... Good luck in your journey.

Hi all,

I just finished reading thru this thread because i have been off lyrica for two months. I started it soon after my c-4 -6 fusion 5 years ago and tried 2 other times to get off. I did it this time after giving myself 2 weeks to be completely off (i was on 150 a day at the time although over the years had been on 450mg a day.)

It wasn't as bad as i thought however, i was extremely motivated and just basically locked myself away from others for 2 weeks. I had headaches, anxiety, and nausea. The best part was that i felt like i was myself again, vision was better and my whole life seemed brighter, but then came the pain.

Right now i have almost unbearable nerve pain and have had to increase my percocet dosage to maintain my sanity. I am trying to keep active, meditate etc... but ..... I am trying to accept that the pain is apart of me and i need to integrate it smoothly into my life style. It is not easy!!!

I do believe that this was an important for me to do, not only to rid my body of this med, but to actually know what kind of pain i really have. Unfortunately, my nerve damage is greater then i realized (lyrica did it's job in that respect) and i do need something to help me live my life. This was a sad realization but i think it was important to do. I was truly hoping that when i stopped i would see that my pain was mild.... i was sadly disappointed. I encourage all who read this to take a "drug holiday" to see if you really need it.

i have done acupuncture, pt, injections, trigger injections , tens, i walk, i do water core exercises, i tried arnica, accuscope, u name it i have tried.

Thanks for listening....

L

Hi all, I've posted a lot on this board the past 5 months, so feel free to track my progress through the thread.


Doing pretty good, weening off Trazadone (what I ended up taking to curb the effects, 3months into severe lyrical withdrawal depression and insomnia, etc.) It has now been 5 months since my last dose of Lyrica. I was at 50mg of Trazadone to start and have gone down to 12.5mg. It's unbelievable that some of the side effects of Lyrica are winding down, I was so accustomed to them and stunned for so long. I still can't sleep like I used to but I'm beginning to feel like myself again. I do not take any other drugs. I exercise one hour everyday. I eat well, do not drink, meditate a few times a week. I decided to table my back surgery for now, for ruptured discs (I've already had one surgery, four years ago) because, though still in pain , I am making progress in my recovery, very slowly. I have been working on this pain issue for about 15 months, and was crawling during the worst of it when I broke down and went on Lyrica. I was on lyrica and Tramadol about 2.5 months--I was taking 150mg of Lyrical 3 times per day. Take care everyone and stay away from drugs. I've done them all and they are all bad news. If you must take painkillers, go for the opiates, the withdrawal is only 3days and then done, no matter how long you've taken the drugs--I speak of this from experience. Lyrica is a different animal, do not take your Doc's word on Lyrica or Tramadol, they don't know what these drugs do to us.

I also want to put in a plug for physical strengthening, as I was the last one to believe I could help myself without surgery or meds, It has taken a huge amount of patience and time but I have recovered to the point I'm at today largely in part to the core and overall physical strengthening I have done. I am also kind of indebted to the vicious effects of Lyrica cessation in a way--the inner turmoil I experienced left me with only one option, to get out of bed and move and since i was so freaked out about people, judgmental about myself and others, and in hiding, the only thing I could do was work out, run, and lift weights. I started very slow.

What a nightmare, I remember telling myself, I'm not going to waste this terrible hardship, I am going to make stuff happen while in the agony and when the dark cloud of physical pain and psychological depression (from the Lyrica) pass I will feel stronger than I ever have.

I think this might actually be true in the end, I'm not there yet, but I just might be one day.

Please love, and vote for Obama.

Hi,
I'm new to this site and not sure how to use it so please forgive me if I make any unintended errors. I think that the withdrawal from Lyrica is individual without a definitive answer that fits everyone's situation. I wonder if the answer for you is not the withdrawal but whether or not remaining on Lyrica along with your new medication is possible. If there are no serious drug interactions between the two then perhaps a small dose of daily Lyrica may bethe answer.

By the way, I forgot to add that you should make this decision in conjunction with your treating health care professional.

Hi guys,
Just wondering how the Lyrica withdrawal is coming along? You know cluster headaches is one of the top ten most painful conditions? Are you being treated with narcotic pain medication? If you don't mind me asking. It seems like Lyrica is not sufficient and if the withdrawal is that bad it seems like you could use narcotic medication. Sorry if you answered these questions already as I did not read the entire thread. Hope you are feeling better.

hey everybody!

I took 150 mg per day of lyrica for about 6 weeks, for anxiety. It wasn't really like an anxiety disorder, more like a rough part of my life. I had psychosomatic pain, and that's why I got prescribed Lyrica, by a psychiatrist.

I had side effects of taking lyrica, and couldn't continue with it, (didn't want to either, because i went to psychotherapy, and broke up with my gf, - it was the relationship that caused my problems)

the first 1 and a half week off lyrica was pretty good, i had like 4-5 days of some insomnia, but nothing severe, and then I started to feel clean, with energy and really happy. And then, after 1,5 weeks, out of nowhere it started.. the lyrica withdrawal.

I feel constant chest pain, and burning sensation in my body. I have low energy, and i am not able to work, or do normal everyday activities. I drink lots of water, about 4 liter per day. (a bit more than a gallon). I do daily walks, but that's about it. I'm not really able to run or anything like that. When I have more daily programs to do, I get exhausted really quick, to the point where i have to lay down, and rest for the rest of the day. I try to force myself to do some daily stuff, but I can't really.

I don't feel anxios, i'm not depressed, I don't feel panic, don't have panic attacks, etc.
I just feel so week, and worn out, that at some points I feel like I'm dying. And I'm not.
Fortunately I can sleep. that's a good thing.

How long will this last?
I heart that in some cases it can lead up to more than 7 months!!! come on I only took it for 6 weeks.. please let me know, that it's not possible right???
Is there any way to speed up the withdrawal? I would try anything literally.

there are days when it seems like it's getting better, but all in all, it's not. for example the last 3 days were horrifying.
I'm 25 years old, I have to go to university classes, I have to work, it's not possible for me to be SICK for 3 months or so.

what should I expect? Any advice would be really really helpful!
thank you so much!

i know it's a silly question, but can anything serious happen during withdrawal? can you faint or die or whatever? because I feel like that currently.. ahh i would love to just read this when I'm feeling great, and have a big laugh on how stupid I was... but currently this is how I feel.