I mentioned in a previous post that I started seeing an acupuncturist for my Lyrica withdrawal symptoms. I've been going once a week for 4 weeks now and it is helping tremendously!! My symptoms have been lessened. I went 5 days with out any serious symptoms, which is great improvement over feeling bad 24/7.
I'll continue to keep everyone posted on my progress.

Hang in there QLL! Hope the surgery helps you!
I understand the feeling of not believing that these withdrawal symptoms could/would happen after discontinuing Lyrica! It seems absurd, until you actually go through it.
I'm back to having good days, just experience migraines off and on.
Neurologist ordered an MRI of my brain and blood work. MRI didn't show anything and the blood work they've gotten back is within normal limits... So, it's not all in my head? These symptoms have to be coming from somewhere though, right?
Until the rest of the blood work comes back I'm just hanging with my migraines and taking a rx for those, not my first choice, but sometimes you gotta find some relief. Glad I don't have to take the migraine meds daily at least.
Keep us updated on your progress QLL! You're not alone!
Take care

I had been taking Lyrica for 4 years. I was up to 150mg 3xday. It truly did help my fibro and nerve pain. Then one day last year on a Thursday evening I went to get it refilled and I had no refills left. Drs office was closed for holiday and wouldn't reopen until Monday morning. I thought Oh well, it's just Lyrica, I'll be ok.

By Sunday evening I literally wanted to die, I was suicidal. Head to toe RLS, sweating and freezing, wide awake but too sleepy to think, lethargic but couldn't sit still, diarreah, depression, headache, bloat, I mean I'd had withdrawal before, but this was hell on earth. It was SO bad that when I finally got it Monday morning I immediately began cutting back just on the off-chance that one day I may have to go through it again.

I tried cutting back more quickly than what I've said below, but I felt sick all the time, so I cut back extremely slowly:

Was taking 150mg 3xday everyday, so I cut back like this:

2 months:

150mg 2xday one day / 150mg 3xday the next day, back and forth

next 2 months:

150mg 2xday two days / 150mg 3xday the third day, back and forth

next 2 months:

150mg 2xday three days / 150mg 3xday the fourth day, back and forth

next 2 months:

150mg 2xday everyday

next 2 months:

150mg 1xday one day / 150mg 2xday the next day, back and forth

Right now it's:

150mg 1xday two days / 150mg 2xday the third day, back and forth

I've seen forums where other people have talked about cutting back and not being able to stop taking the last little bit, so I don't know if I'll have this issue or not, I don't think I will since I'm giving my body 60 days to adjust to each new dosage.

Lyrica isn't addictive in the same sense that narcotics are addictive. I think your central nervous system itself is what gets addicted to it, those miles and miles of nerve endings everywhere all over your body. Then when you don't have it, your entire system goes haywire.

NOBODY told me that could happen. Lyrica was supposedly "safe" because it wasn't an opiate, but listen to the commercials sometime, or visit the website, it says "Lyrica is THOUGHT to work by...." etc, I mean they don't even know how it works and they're trying to claim it isn't addictive??!!

If you're trying to get off of it, the best thing to do is go very slowly and give your body a lot of time to adjust.

It's very sad because it really did help, but my message to anyone thinking of starting it is this:

If you can be SURE that for the REST of your life that you'll never, ever, ever, ever have to go one day without it, then sure, go ahead and take it, but be 100% POSITIVE that you'll never do without it because once you're on it that's it, pray you never run out or can't afford it or that they don't decide to take you off of it.

Not me though, no more.

I hope I've helped someone.

I hope you are doing better, I have a few questions I need answers for and can't get any help. Anybody willing?
Car accident in the middle of January, I have spinal nerve blocks like every 8 8 weeks as not helped yet. Now we are going to try spinal radio frequencies to burn the damaged nerve? Any thoughts please?
Next, PCP gave me Gabapentin 100 mg once a day, spine doctor moves me uo to 900 mg 1 3x a day, but PCP said oh no you will be to sleepy, she gives me 1800 mg a day all at bedtime. Is this like Lyrica? My tongue is swollen, I am a mess, pain clinic lowered me back to 900 mg a day. Since taking the higher dose I only need my glasses for up close work. But I know something is wrong with me. Any serious answers for me please?

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.

Just be patient with the pain, it may take a couple years, but it will run its course, ride it like a wave. the body is more capable of adapting than we think. stay away from any Gaba drugs, like the one you are on and Lyrica and tramadol, drugs with ssri's etc. Please get off them now, it is more suffering than it's worth, for most people. you are playing with fire in my opinion, as someone who's life was turned totally upside down from lyrica withdrawal, I ruined and lost so many opportunities, like a major career opportunity, actually. Quit while you can!!

I went off Lyrica last year. I was on 300 mg. a day for 18 months. I weaned off it over 3 weeks by going down 25 mg. every 3rd day. The withdrawal was horrible. I went off it because I had suspected it was causing an all over itching burning sensation in my skin that no doctor could figure out. When I started to withdrawal the itching/burning skin got much worse. It continued until 2 months after I was off the Lyrica, but then it slowly began to go away. The other withdrawal I had were anxiety, insomnia, anger, depression, and RLS. After 2 months most of those went away. I coped with it by doing yoga, qigong, and meditation everyday. And drank alot of water and decaf green tea. It was hard work but worth it in the end.

Well, ain't life grand.

I've got an impingned nerve at L4-L5 and L5-S1 that acts up.

I've been on Lyrica, 300mg/day for about a year; a couple months ago, we increased my dose to 600mg/day. That completely knocked out the pain, I was loving life, until...

I started having some pretty serious side effects (suicidal ideation, crying, depression) - we cut the dose back down, and the sides stopped. Of course, the nerve pain came back...temporarily.

I'm now trying to eliminate this drug. So, I'm trying to drop to 150mg/day; I did that yesterday, and today have some additional w/d symptoms. I took a full 300mg today, so that hopefully I feel like a normal human tomorrow.

Anyhow, that's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

This thread has been an eye-opener. Thanks to everybody for relating their experiences. I'll try to post about my progress as I get off this evil drug.

5 1/2 months no Lyrica, Two days now not Trazadone. What a journey. I'm almost back.