Welcome EnfieldGuy 5959.

That depends largely on whether the underlying cause of pain has been addressed. Is that why you're tapering off the Lyrica?

Doc

Neurotalk Mantra: Everyone is Different

Doc

Good Point Doc

But still any opinions - how does 10mg per 2 weeks sound? Putting me on a lovely 9 months.

I don't think it matters what I or anyone else thinks—all that matters is what the person tapering off thinks. Trying to meet someone else's idea/expectations only sets one up for feeling bad about themselves, undue discomfort, and possibly failure. Left to their own devices, I can't imagine anyone dragging (something like) this out any longer than they feel they have to. If it were me, I'd want to get it over & done with as quickly as possible without undue discomfort.

The only goals/measuring sticks we should try to live up to are those we set for ourselves, and even those may need to be flexible/reconsidered if overly ambitious/optimistic.

Doc

I couldn't agree more. But at the moment I think my "cuts" or "drops" are a little big as it sends me into a depro (and anxiety) again, so I'm halving what I'm cutting now. This Lyrica thing aint an easy thing.

Maybe Ill speed up once I reach 75mg/75mg. For now I have to go down from 110 to 75 first.

i have been taking (only) 1 x 150 mg of lyrica for the past 4 years at night - before i went to sleep, but I noticed it stopped helping me sleep, and i woke up with a headache each morning - so I quit taking it.

I am on my 2nd week since I stopped taking the drug.

I go to sleep easily, but wake up within an hour or 2 and then can not go back to sleep ...

i looked into lyrica withdrawal symtoms and see that insomnia is one of them.

But how long will this last? Will I ever be able to sleep through the night again?

thanks for your input.

You lucky you could go off it so quick. I have to go sluggishly slow and boy the depression (and general bad feeling) hits me. Luckily down from 300mg to 150mg per day. Struggling to stabilise on that. I wish I can just drop quicker, taking 3 months+ for 75mg. :'(

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

PS: forgive me for posting this in different threads cuz I'm not sure exactly where I should post it. And I'm desperate for any answer. =(

Hi Nick, I am sure this is the Lyrica. I have found doctors to be rather in the dark re withdrawal side effects from this drug. I spent a year going to specialist physicians, neurologists, hospitals etc before I worked it out myself. You see, while I thought I was literally dying, I slowly got better. Then I linked the Lyrica decrease to my problems. I began to decrease again and within 24 hours was on a downward spiral again. Each time I began to feel a little better after 3-4 weeks of hell, I dropped the dose and fell desperately ill again. I believe there is nothing quite like the agony of withdrawing from this drug. I am sure everyone is slightly different but my withdrawal symptoms were very severe. Some to name a few- extreme nausea, extreme depression, stabbing pain throughout joints, inability to walk and stand for longer than 30mins, felt like my feet were walking with concrete on them, MS symptoms etc etc. I kept a diary and feel like I know a lot about this unfortunate topic, so am happy to talk.
McKenzie