I was given lyrica for back pain (100 mg twice a day). It worked great! I was in heaven for the first two days and then I had a moderate case of hives. I didn't connect it with the lyrica until the next day when I had a BAD case of hives. I immediately stopped the lyrica and no more hives. My only other option is neurontin which makes me a zombie. Is there any way around the hives? Do lower doses help (i.e., 100 mg once a day)? The web tells me that hives and rashes are post marketing side effects that appear early in treatment. How could this be a side effect that didn't show up during the testing phase?