I feel like I am dying. I was taking 900 mg of Lyrica daily because I misunderstood the directions. A terrible fault I am suffering horridly for. I ran out so early that the pharmacists refuse to refill it even to taper off of. I'm on day 6 of detox and i'm in agonizing pain. A terrible smell haunts my nose, my stomach and lower abdomen feel like they're being squished, I'm always cold, but unbearably hot when under cover. I can't eat...I can't sleep. When I do fall asleep for maybe 30 mins I wake up in terrible pain and stay awake for the rest of the night with the smell, nausea, tremors, cold chills, hot flashes, head aches, and diarrhea never ending. NEVER. Someone...please...anyone..help me. I can't live like this. I thought it would be over or at least subsiding. My mom got back from her doctor at the family clinic and he told her that it was insane for them to let me detox like this. "Life threatening" were his words. I called poison control at day 3 and they said that no one has physical withdrawals from lyrica, that my symptoms are most likely coming from the oxycontin...but I was still taking the oxy when I started feeling this way..it's how I know that i'm suffering from quitting the lyrica. What do I do...

The reason for this may be that Lyrica is now a controlled substance, whereas gabapentin is not.

I don't understand this either, as quitting Lyrica cold-turkey can definitely cause withdrawal symptoms, including seizures in some people. This is clearly stated on the Lyrica website, NIH/Medline, and anyplace you Google: Lyrica withdrawal

Typically, the weaning-off process takes about a week, so hopefully you're past the worst of it.

The other thing I don't understand is why you haven't contacted your doctor directly, and why he hasn't advised/prescribed you help for getting through it, especially in light of his comments.

Doc

I am going to throw in my two cents. Twice, my Part D provider refused to pay for my Lyrica and I am on a small dose which is part of a pain cocktail. Both times, it took six weeks to get the dispute settled and I was in full blown withdrawl the entire time. For several years, we had a major problem with kids using Lyrica as a weekend party drug as it can cause some real loopy side effects for many when first start it. Around here, the kids called it the Big L. If only for that reason, I always thought it should be a schedule II.