Hi Everyone, On the way off Lyrica after awful reactions. Cut by half now but suffering from shortness of breath, pounding chest and head not to mention muscle spasms. Was getting SEVERE headaches ( ended up at Accident and EMERG ) . Have had massage on head , neck and shoulders which massage therapist found to be the toughest she's done and made headaches less severe. Any anxiety I feel is not me as I feel quite calm but body reacting independently ( I know that sounds crazy ) I was born with thickening of pulmonary artery and wonder if I should have been on this at all , but medics deny any link . I think they are covering themselves . Does this situation ring a bell with anyone ?


Regards



Nick

OMG, YES!!!!!!!!!!!

I took a high dose of Lyrica for over a year, must have been four or five years ago, now. My neurologist insisted that Lyrica was not addictive and forced me off COLD TURKEY.

I cannot even begin to describe the horror of my withdrawal. THE PAIN. I had all the symptoms you described and one where my eyes watered and hurt so much, I could barely see.

This happened fairly early after my MVA and I hadn't recovered my wits sufficiently to advocate for myself. I was also litigating and couldn't afford to look "non-compliant." In fact, my neurologist was a notorious insurance industry stooge and I feel that's exactly what he was trying to make me do. My psychologist thought so, too.

Sadly, she was on vacation when all this happened. When she got back, she was so enraged that she wanted to report the neurologist to the relevant professional standards authorities.

For the love of heaven, it states right in the product's own literature that the drug is addictive. It goes on to say that people should be weaned off gradually as there are documented cases of people having DIED from immediate withdrawal. If cold turkey withdrawal is necessary, to prepare a patient for an emergency surgery or something, the withdrawal should take place in a HOSPITAL setting, with constant supervision.

As much as it was clear that my neurologist had done something professionally incompetent and morally reprehensible, I had to let it go, for fear of the damage he could do to my legal action. Talk about feeling helpless.

I cannot believe how sick I am! At least I found this forum and know I am not insane. Withdrawing from an AD was easier I think. I have a call out to my doctor and the pharmacy. I have been on for only four months but at 600 mg. on top of being sick, not sleeping and soaking my pj's, I had an attack of paranoia! I really did not realize Lyrica was this kind of medication, though it does say so in the literature, I thought that clause was just to cover them.

I stopped cold turkey (stupid stupid stupid I know) because my feet were swollen.

It's good you've called your doctor. This is NOT a drug to quit Cold Turkey.
I know you're suffering - hang in there.

Thanks for contributing to the thread. Withdrawal its getting really tough. Woke up today after restless night aching and pain ALL over . Muscle spasms everywhere . Those around head neck face very bad. Headaches , Head presurised. flu like symptoms . Old back pain / pelvic pain acute , walking difficult, TMJ worse.Gastric problems. Did not feel like this before Lyrica. Felt like going to die.

Hanging in , must be way through.

Appreciate comment.

Thanks

Nick

Are you under medical supervision, Nick? Please don't go it alone.

Yes, that drug can and does cause all those side effects. A more gradual reduction in med. can help. Eventually you do get off the drug and feel much better. ginnie

I have started to wean off Lyrica as well and the nightmares have been bad, the depression as well and the pain is intense. Does the pain settle down once your body re-calibrates? I am on 300mg a day for cutaneous nerve pain and have been for almost 18 months. I used to take 150mg 2x a day (morning and night) and just started cutting out my nighttime dose. Doesn't help I just had massage therapy yesterday as well which always hurts. Afraid to be reliant on this drug anymore.

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

Doc

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. =(