Hi everyone, I'm new here, this is my first post. I'm currently on Lyrica, 300mg twice daily. I've been taking it for over eight years. Once or twice I couldn't get my refill in a timely manner and did I ever suffer. Here's the best way I can describe the feeling of being without it for just a few days. When taking it, it's as if a blanket covers your nerves, calming them almost like an anesthetic. Without it, my nerves suddenly awakened to a hyper sensitivity. Just the slightest breeze against my skin was very irritating. My nerves felt raw. Then there's the hot and cold flashes. Literally, one minute I'd be burning up then the next minute, I'd be freezing. Sometimes I was hot and cold at the same time, which was odd and frustrating. I would be extremely lethargic and could only eat one small meal a day. When feeling that bad, food was the least of my concerns. Lyrica withdrawal is hellish and obviously the drug reps failed to disclose this information to Doctors. Did they even mention the weight gain and swelling? Probably not. I wish I could go off of this medication but I don't know if that's possible. It really does help my fibromyalgia and nerve pain in my feet from failed surgeries. But I hate being Lyrica's slave. I've ordered some Kratom and am very hopeful that this will help my pain. If it's the miracle people say it is, I'm going to try reducing the Lyrica ever do slowly. It gives me hope that others here were able to stop eventually without too much agony. Glad to be here to share with you all.

Hey! I am no expert at all but maybe i have some ideas that can help you.
First of all, you are NOT crazy! It may seem so and it can feel so real, but it is not.

Lyrica is said to stop new synapses from forming. Maybe that is why it takes so long to recover from.
Both ashwagandha and bacopa stimulates dendrites and axons to grow in the brain. So this could be of some help.

Ashwagandha
Bacopa monnieri

Check out **

There are many reliabel sources. And remember that there is always HOPE!

If it doesn't work we must ask Elon Musk for help

Take care and hang in there.

And sorry for my english, it is not my first language.

Thank you so much for doing this....I’ve not intentionally gotten off Lyrica but have missed just one dose at times and felt like HELL...extreme nausea, headache unlike anything I’ve ever had, and that’s only the beginning but those two were by far the worse! I have neuropathy in my toes but I’ve decided that is not enough to warrant putting up with the weight gain. I’m terrified about getting off the drug but I’ve read some really good things about both titration and things to do/take to help with the symptoms like Benedryl and sugary drinks. I’m a recovering alcoholic and hated the couple of times I had to withdraw off the alcohol but at least it only lasted a couple of days and I don’t remember it being near as bad as the ONLY ONE DOSE I would miss and want to DIE! Ugh. If you have any other tips since your post in 2015, I’d so appreciate hearing about it. I take 150 mg at night and tonight will be my first night weaning and I guess I’ll go down to 100 mg since the capsules I take are 50 mg a piece. If anyone has any other suggestions, PLEASE respond! I’m really scared and dreading this.

Thank you all,
Momoftwobeauties

[QUOTE=Gail59tx;1251475]Hi everyone, I'm new here, this is my first post. I'm currently on Lyrica, 300mg twice daily. I've been taking it for over eight years. Once or twice I couldn't get my refill in a timely manner and did I ever suffer. Here's the best way I can describe the feeling of being without it for just a few days. When taking it, it's as if a blanket covers your nerves, calming them almost like an anesthetic. Without it, my nerves suddenly awakened to a hyper sensitivity. Just the slightest breeze against my skin was very irritating. My nerves felt raw. Then there's the hot and cold flashes. Literally, one minute I'd be burning up then the next minute, I'd be freezing. Sometimes I was hot and cold at the same time, which was odd and frustrating. I would be extremely lethargic and could only eat one small meal a day. When feeling that bad, food was the least of my concerns. Lyrica withdrawal is hellish and obviously the drug reps failed to disclose this information to Doctors. Did they even mention the weight gain and swelling? Probably not. I wish I could go off of this medication but I don't know if that's possible. It really does help my fibromyalgia and nerve pain in my feet from failed surgeries. But I hate being Lyrica's slave. I've ordered some Kratom and am very hopeful that this will help my pain. If it's the miracle people say it is, I'm going to try reducing the Lyrica ever do slowly. It gives me hope that others here were able to stop eventually without too much agony. Glad to be here to share with you all.

Hello! Thank you for your post. Could you tell me if you’re having any success with the Kratom? I’m not familiar with it at all.

I so appreciate it!

Sincerely,

Momoftwobeauties

[QUOTE=Momoftwobeauties;1252050]I'm so sorry you are dealing with all the problems caused by Lyrica. Why a class action lawsuit hasn't been brought against the maker is beyond me. There is hope. Water titration was the answer for me, because I would become horribly sick when I was going through withdrawal. I literally ended my taper taking a tiny bit in water...it took quite a long time, but if I did it, you can too. Sending you positive vibes!

Thank you so much for posting about Lyrica! I'm going through withdrawals and omg, I can tell you, it's more than awful! Nuclear hot flashes, mental fogginess, irritability, and then, there's the itching! I am so itchy all over that I'm debating whether or not to buy sandpaper just to get some relief lol

All kidding aside though, this poison should be taken off the market. Immediately. The withdrawals and what it does to a person remind me of all those videos you see on Youtube with regards to those on street drugs. This drug wasn't even tested, it was packaged and then boom! Doctors saw how much money they could make. I have NO respect for doctors at all. I can't begin to tell you how many people I've seen suffer because their idiot and ignorant doctors never told them about the side effects and the withdrawal symptoms.

I was on 650mg a day last year, then this year, I had run out and it was the long weekend, so I was out of luck. Let me tell ya, it was horrific. When I did get my prescription and took one pill, every single symptom went away. That's when I knew I had to taper off. I slowly tapered off down to about 5mg and then last Friday was my last dose. I might be suffering right now, but it's going to be worth it just to have my body the way it used to be. I also gained over 35+ pounds in the space of about 6 months. I look like a balloon and walking became unbearable due to the extra weight on my knees.

I am so hoping that in another few weeks, all the side effects, or most of them, will be gone.

Again, thank you so much for your post! I just joined today and yours is the first I read and you are bang on! Good job!

~Esme

Esme,
Keep up the good work your tapering off the Lyrica. Early in my days of spinal pain after my fusion; a Pain Management doctor put me on Lyrica and Cymbalta. After only a couple of weeks on the Lyrica, I felt like bugs were biting my legs; I stopped the Lyrica even tho the doctor kept after me to keep on taking it. Stopped Cymbalta as well, I felt like a "zombi".

Wish you all the best on completing your withdrawal.


Gerry

Hello all... I am new on here and am wondering if anyone has any experience on long-lasting or lingering effects of Lyrica after successfully weaning from it? I am not even sure I am posting this question in the correct area!

A little background info...I was in an MVA in 2007 with multiple fractures including C1, C3, C5 and burst fractures of T6&T8 including many of the spiny processes from T4-L1. (This is a short list of my injuries, but the most significant ones that cause my lingering chronic pain.) After various narcotics for almost a year, I successfully weaned from Fentanyl 75mcg/patch every three days, oxycotin, and oxycodone with minor withdrawal symptoms due to a very slow weaning process.

After continued nerve pain from the burst T6&T8 (compressed vertebrae), I was started on neurotin and had severe brain fog, so I was switched to Lyrica 75 mg three times a day for a total daily dose of 225mg a day. Little did I know that my brain fog lifted only for a short time and has now over five years progressively gotten worse on the Lyrica. I've also had problems with word finding, sentence pauses, memory issues, extreme weight gain even with exercise, name recall, extreme tiredness to the point of failing a multiple latency sleep study. I am in the process of weaning off the Lyrica very slowly to hopefully prevent any of the known and unknown withdrawal symptoms.

My question is this... Can anyone give me any insight into how long it takes for the brain fog to lift after successfully withdrawing and stopping the Lyrica? Will my memory return to normal when I am off the Lyrica? If so, how long have others taken to normalize? I just need to know or be reassured that my brain will start working again! If I would have known how bad my brain fog was going to get I doubt I would have given Lyrica a trial run which ended up lasting five-plus years.

Thanks to anyone that has any insight to add!
Kindly....
Karen

Hi Karen

Welcome to NeuroTalk .

I can't directly help you but if you describe your experiences in the TBI/PCS forum (https://www.neurotalk.org/forum92/) as well members who contribute to it may also be able to help you.

All the best,

Hi Kiwi33
Thanks for the information. I did look through most of the discussions in that group before I posted in the medication group. Is it best to start a new thread? Thanks! Karen