Oh, the horror...the horror! (My nod to Dr. Smith and Lost in Space)

Thanks Dr. Smith! Of course you are right in that there are plenty of people who have gone off Lyrica with no trace of withdrawal. My husband spent many months in the hospital getting IV Dilaudid every two hours, and was weaned off within a week and seemed to have zero withdrawal symptoms. Lucky him, and lucky you, whoever you are, that stops so easily. This post is not for you. If you read my first post, I was dead sick for two weeks before I even knew I was in withdrawal, so precipitous fear wasn't a problem.

I thought rather than scare everyone to death, I'd tell you a few things that helped me a lot, or a little. I did crazy research online to find some solutions. I am not in any way recommending anything. Do your own research, and try what you will at your own risk. This is information widely available online, that I found with Google searches. I didn't have blurred vision, so I don't know about that.

OVERALL: GABA. GABA is an amino acid available over the counter. I came upon it by accident at GNC, and thought hmmm...gabapentin/GABA. I bought a bottle, brought it home and did some reading before trying it (***-backward, I realize). Web M.D. states that GABA works by inhibiting brain wave signals. Lyrica is believed to work by inhibiting brain signals. GABA is analogous to Lyrica (chemically very similar, also from Web M.D.) While there are many who believe that GABA doesn't cross the blood brain barrier, the consensus is that some of a dosage does cross. I took mine with grapefruit juice, hopefully to potentiate crossing the bbb. GABA is believed to relax you, help you sleep, aid in fat burning, help with PMS, relieve pain and aid in balancing blood pressure. I was concerned about taking another version of Lyrica, even natural, obviously because I was trying to get off it, but could find no evidence that GABA caused any of the problems of Lyrica, especially withdrawal. I took GABA every night (makes you sleepy) and darned if it didn't make everything easier. I wish I had found it at the beginning of withdrawal, because it did help me very much. GABA was the first (and only) thing I tried that made me forget that I didn't feel well, often for hours at a time (and when I'm ill, I have this OCD habit of constantly reevaluating my current state). Everything else helps, but this was the most helpful. It cost around fifteen dollars for 60 at GNC.

Anxiety: Many people suggest a benzo like Valium or Clonopin (sp?). I didn't go that route, because I was afraid of going through withdrawal, which I've heard is brutal. I occasionally used Valerian (tastes terrible) in an oil form. I'm not sure that it really helped. As much as you don't feel like doing it, getting some exercise is good medicine. I tried very hard to walk for 45 minutes every day, and I always felt better after.

Flu-like symptoms: This was pretty obvious with ibuprofen, acetaminophen and aspirin available everywhere. Helped the body aches.

Stabbing stomach pain: I used loperamide occasionally, which is the active ingredient in Immodium, and can be purchased in any drugstore. Opiate users all have this in their cupboards for withdrawal. It's actually an opioid which has a molecular composition too large to pass through the blood brain barrier. That means it doesn't affect your central nervous system (there are many arguments about this, but I'll go with the science). However your body has many opiate receptors, especially in the gut. 4 mg took care of this every time for me. Once again, I took with grapefruit juice. Pepto Bismol also helped.

Sweating: Oh, my most hated symptom! I would break into massive, drenching sweats where water would roll down my face and my clothes would be soaked. I once again found help from those handy opiate users (some of them could be biochemists...and maybe they are!). The biggest help was benedryl, hands down. But it made me so sleepy, I could only take it before bed which kept night sweats away and gave me the added benefit of extra sleep. Afrin nasal spray was helpful during the day. It contains a chemical similar to the blood pressure med Clonidine, commonly prescribed for alcoholic withdrawal. Lots of people get a prescription for Clonidine for withdrawal, but I didn't, so I don't have first hand knowledge. Beware though...Afrin can be highly addictive too. I tried to use it sparingly. There are a number of prescriptions for hyperhidrosis (sweating) which I also did not try. If you have used them, please post and let us know. Finally Sage oil, in tea or capsules, which I got at GNC. I'm not a big natural remedy person, but this did help. I rubbed sage oil on my wrists throughout the day.

Insomnia: I used everything I could find that was available otc. As I mentioned earlier, I took benedryl every night for sweating, great for sleep (but druggy aftereffects in the morning were a price I paid). Variously I tried Unisom, Tylenol PM (especially when my body was aching) and some of the newer preparations like Tylenol PM with no pain reliever, just sleep meds). I can also highly recommend Sleepytime Herbal Tea, which can knock me out if I make it strong (I use 4 tea bags!). There are many other drugs available with a prescription, so go to your Doctor for these. I was scared off Ambien by stories of people driving off of cliffs in their sleep.

Exhaustion: I KNOW that what I used was not good for me. I drank Monster no calorie energy drinks. There is a ton of evidence that energy drinks are terrible for you. But I'm just being honest. However, my Dr helped me by switching me from Prozac (I took for depression) to Wellbutrin, which gave me energy and had the major added benefit for me of curbing my appetite, which helped me lose all that lyrica weight. This is absolutely a conversation to have with your Dr. after doing lots of your own research. Never again make the mistake I made, by not thoroughly investigating what you put in your body.

These things helped me. PLEASE add your own tips. Everyone who reads this, however, must understand that these are things that helped me. I'm NOT a Doctor, and these are related to you not as recommendations, but as my personal experiences. Be your own advocate and research what might help you. Let me know if it does.

Triviafriend,

I'd like to thank you for your wonderful post for the lyrica withdrawal symptoms that you faced. I too was on lyrica for only 4 months, taking 450mg per day. I stopped taking it because of the following side effects:

EXTREME joint pain
blurred vision
nausea
massive weight gain
lack of sex drive
dizziness
depression

I did wean myself off of the medication following my drs instructions and have been off of the med for 3 months now. I did have many of the side effects that you encountered, and thankfully my symptoms have all improved with the exception of the joint pain which is excruciating. The lyrica was prescribed to help with chronic neck pain I was having, being supplemented with 7.5mg of hydrocodone every 4-5 hours. Unfortunately, with the joint pain that was caused by the lyrica, I'm now up to 15mg of hydrocodone every 4 hours. I was suggested to see a rheumatologist who performed massive blood work, all resulting with inconclusive results. So, now I'm faced with taking more hydrocodone than I've ever needed before, which is also being supplemented with 4mg of tizanidine at bedtime to help with sleep, and no solution to my joint pain. I've always been an incredibly active person, who now is feeling crippled with pain if I sit for too long of a period of time (5 minutes is too long), and no solution to my condition. My doctor doesn't want to believe that the lyrica could possibly have caused the joint pain, but I NEVER had any of these pains until I took the lyrica. Depression is major for me and I have been taking 150mg of welbutrin for 3 months which isn't helping.

I suppose what I'm trying to offer to other members is to please just be extremely cautious with lyrica and do your research. Only we, as the patient, truly know our own bodies, and must listen to them carefully when taking medication. Lyrica is an incredibly dangerous one that medical professionals are prescribing far too easily, with limited knowledge of it's side effects.

I also found out the hard way about Lyrica withdrawal. I was put on it by one of the pain pill pushers(M.D). No one ever said ANYTHING about withdrawal. I had a laminectomy on 2011 and just quit cold turkey not knowing any better. 5 days later I had one of the darkest days of my life. I couldn't figure it out. Until I went online. There it was from others like myself. But I went back on it because it worked. Now I have been weaning myself off it for about 3 months. I was on 300 mg/day. 75 mg 4x's a day. So I started with dropping one pill a day for two weeks at a time. It was not really a problem until the last pill. At that time I started to take one pill every other day for 3 weeks. Then I stopped a week ago. I began to realize yesterday that I was beginning to have withdrawal again. The coughing, flu like feeling. The shortness of breath. I could not go to sleep for 3 hours after I laid down last night.I guess I will have to go back to the regimen of every other day or maybe every third day (or night). In the interim as I was going through all this, I had surgery on my right foot. I had to take pain pills which probably masked the withdrawal. I also, on some nights, would take some Xanax. It was an old script my wife had that had expired but it did help me sleep. I may ask my Dr. for some lower doses to help. But I think that many, not all, Dr.'s just push the drug company pills.

I am determined to beat this. The forums help and like in the 12 step programs, being aware of what is happening is the first step.

Hi there. Just reading through some of your posts and I think what you are doing for people going through this is wonderful. I am about a month and a half off Lyrica after tapering off 600mg at my highest dose. Your post on GABA and how it helped you to feel better really helped to connect the dots. You see, I was put on benzodiazepines back in 2008 for mild generalized anxiety.
I was feeling ill about 6-8 months later and didn't know it was that little pill making me sick. Long story short it took about another year to realize I wasn't dying from some odd disease (all work ups were 100 percent normal) and no doctor caught it was the clonazepam and Lorazipam causing such ill effects. Little did I know that the real horror would be when I went cold turkey and the nearly 15 months of relentless withdrawal that makes my Lyrica withdrawal feel like a walk in the park!!

What I'm getting at and what we need to spread to these folks out here is that Lyrica is thought to act on the same receptors that Benzodiazepines do. This is why many of the symptoms are similar when withdrawal hits! These receptors take months (and for some years) to "reset" and regain affinity to attract GABA and cause the nervous system to calm down and the odd symptoms people feel to dissipate.

I did a LOT of research while in benzodiazepine withdrawal and have educated myself FAR beyond what your run of the mill physician will tell people. I was told I was crazy, that NO DRUG can cause withdrawal months after cessation. What they don't know is that it's the ADAPTION AND CHANGE in the brain that is causing the problem, not the actual drug which had left the body months ago. Same holds true with Lyrica.

If you have any questions or would like me to help anyone on here (I am new on here) please let me know. Like I said, I am only a month and a half off Lyrica and am experiencing about half of the symptoms you have listed but compared to what I have been through, this is something that can be tolerated and put up with because it does get better it's just that people are quite surprised to find that these class of drugs can create such a long and painful withdrawal syndrome. No other class of drugs, even opiates, cause such a long drawn out withdrawal.

If anyone needs help or questions answered let me know. I'm not a doctor, just someone that has been severely injured by big pharm and a medical community that is completely unaware of what the drugs they so freely dispense can do to people.

[QUOTE=pdk2026;1050044]Hi there. Just reading through some of your posts and I think what you are doing for people going through this is wonderful. I am about a month and a half off Lyrica after tapering off 600mg at my highest dose. Your post on GABA and how it helped you to feel better really helped to connect the dots. You see, I was put on benzodiazepines back in 2008 for mild generalized anxiety.
I was feeling ill about 6-8 months later and didn't know it was that little pill making me sick. Long story short it took about another year to realize I wasn't dying from some odd disease (all work ups were 100 percent normal) and no doctor caught it was the clonazepam and Lorazipam causing such ill effects. Little did I know that the real horror would be when I went cold turkey and the nearly 15 months of relentless withdrawal that makes my Lyrica withdrawal feel like a walk in the park!!

What I'm getting at and what we need to spread to these folks out here is that Lyrica is thought to act on the same receptors that Benzodiazepines do. This is why many of the symptoms are similar when withdrawal hits! These receptors take months (and for some years) to "reset" and regain affinity to attract GABA and cause the nervous system to calm down and the odd symptoms people feel to dissipate.

I did a LOT of research while in benzodiazepine withdrawal and have educated myself FAR beyond what your run of the mill physician will tell people. I was told I was crazy, that NO DRUG can cause withdrawal months after cessation. What they don't know is that it's the ADAPTION AND CHANGE in the brain that is causing the problem, not the actual drug which had left the body months ago. Same holds true with Lyrica.

If you have any questions or would like me to help anyone on here (I am new on here) please let me know. Like I said, I am only a month and a half off Lyrica and am experiencing about half of the symptoms you have listed but compared to what I have been through, this is something that can be tolerated and put up with because it does get better it's just that people are quite surprised to find that these class of drugs can create such a long and painful withdrawal syndrome. No other class of drugs, even opiates, cause such a long drawn out withdrawal.

If anyone needs help or questions answered let me know. I'm not a doctor, just someone that has been severely injured by big pharm and a medical community that is completely unaware of what the drugs they so freely dispense can do to people.

Hi Pdk
Can I ask you what kind of symptoms you were having that made you feel sick from the little pill? "I need help with questions I have about Lyrica and Clonazepam". What is your diagnoses, what did you take Klonopin for? I am so overwhelmed with pain, side effects , anxiety and fear . I suffer from Idiopathic Small fiber neuropathy, and the symptoms for this horrid illness are horrible. (all my tests results suggest I am otherwise "healthy") I get Severe buzzing throughout my body that has caused bad tinnitus (I never had it before), I feel the buzzing through my body and I hear it in my ears. Along with burning on my legs, arms, torso, face and feet. Tightening and squeezing pain in my thighs and calves. the list goes on. I take 325 mgs Lyrica for 16 mos, I feel it is not helping. I take 2 mgs of Klonopin for anxiety. ( I used to take Xanax for a generalized anxiety disorder too, but my psychiatrist changed it to Klonopin.) I need it now more, for this chronic pain.
I would like to go off the lyrica , but I am afraid of the withdrawal, plus I do not know what else I could take for this buzzing, burning and pain. I tried cymbalta, neurotin, elavil for a few days and could not tolerate the SE.
How are doing since your Lyrica withdrawal? What do you suffer from, and what do you take now in place of the Lyrica? I am beside myself. I'm in alot pain, depressed and don't know what to do. Pain management doesn't know what to for me either and like you said Doctors are not aware of the side effects and withdrawal of these medications. I believe I will be on Klonopin for the rest of my life. I wonder if any of these two pills are contributing to my symptoms? I would like too know how your doing. Maybe we can talk in private. Any advice or suggestions you can give would be greatly appreciated!!
In pain and depressed...

Hi Marie,

Pdk only posted here that one time, and has not logged on again since then (2/9/14).

I hope other members may be able to answer your questions.

If Lyrica truly is of no benefit to you, then IMO it might be best for you to discontinue it with the help of your doctor. Folks here will also help you do this in any way we can.

I understand your apprehension about discontinuation syndrome. Despite the fact that it is wider-spread than most doctors are aware of, I believe—from what I have read about it—that most people are able to discontinue it successfully within a reasonable time. We do not hear/read those success stories because those patients have no reason to post to groups like this—they are getting on with their lives.

Unfortunately there are no crystal balls; there is no way to know ahead of time if there will be any problem without trying. Discontinuing—or tapering down—may also help dispel the uncertainty of whether the Lyrica is of any benefit to you or not. Please don't let fear rule you, or get in the way of helping yourself. This group is here to help you with that as well.

This is unfortunate—but true—in some cases. I believe doctors generally mean well, and are sincerely trying to help even though they know that they don't know/have all the answers.

I admire everyone—patients and doctors alike—for not giving up hope and continuing to try to find help for us all.

Best wishes,

Doc

I'm just so heartbroken for all of you having to go thru this nightmare with Lyrica.

I've never been able to take Lyrica because it is in the same family as Gabapentin (Neurontin). I went LITERALLY psychotic on Neurontin. It wasn't until I was calling people in the middle of the night telling them, "I know where "they" take you when you go to sleep. DON'T FALL ASLEEP!" that anyone knew there was a problem. I was hearing music that wasn't there. Then I wasn't sure if dreaming was reality or if reality was dreaming.

I was taking the Neurontin for neuropathic pain. So since I couldn't take it or Lyrica, the went with Zonegran - an old school anti-seizure med. Very low-dose that had nothing to do with me currently being diagnosed with Epilepsy (wasn't even high enough dose to be therapeutic for that). The Zonegran was used in conjunction with Hydrocodone 10/325. I'm currently weaning off the Zonegran as I was diagnosed with Epilepsy last week (I had seizures way before I ever took any of this stuff, we just never realized they were seizures before now) and will be taking 1000mg a day of Kepra.

I just want you to be careful with Lyrica or anything in that family - including Neurontin. I can tell you of at least 10 people I know or have met thru my internet talks about what happened with me, who went psychotic on the medication. One woman started beating her husband in his sleep and she was this tiny, frail, girlie girl.

The best thing you can do is be your own advocate. This thread is fantastic - it gives people a place to see that they are not alone and that there are ways to handle things. This entire website is a huge blessing to me.

I hope all are as pain-free as possible, can withdraw easily and can live as normally as you want. That's not asking much, is it? (says the girl with 7 diseases).

This is a known side effect of gabapentin.
I wouldn't necessarily assume the same for pregabalin (lyrica) as it's allegedly better-tolerated, but I do find a similar warning:
http://doublecheckmd.com/EffectsDeta...67412&eid=1192

Good to know.

I GOTTA ask—the curiosity is killing me.... Where DO they take you?

Doc

I stopped taking Lyrica 10 days ago and I feel horrible-I was on lyrica for over 5 years following a car accident with left me with back issues and nerve damage. I am feeling so unwell. I did not taper off I went cold turkey which is indescribable.
The feeling of unease, flu like symptoms, and sleeplessness are the worst symptoms. Going to work is a nightmare because I can't concentrate and I want to lie down all the time.
I am flying out of state for work today and I am dreading feeling so ill

According to my psychosis (at the time...which differs from my normal weird), when my brother would go to sleep, he'd wake up in this tower where I never saw who "they" were, I just knew "they" had him and were experimenting on him.

The old tv show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" had an episode where Buffy was in the hospital but when she'd go to sleep she was in another world where she was awake. She couldn't tell which one was the real world. That's what it was like for me.

I hate Gabapentin, but Doc you actually made me laugh about it. Gotta love a smart *****.