gabapentin and lyrica

EarlG · 03-07-2009, 10:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Augie

I took gabapentin and lyrica together for a while last fall. I had both a neurologist and a physiatrist (pain doctor) and one prescribed gabapantin and the other liked lyrica. I was taking gabapentin 300x4 and lyrica 50x4. I took 2 mg of xanax to sleep each night so I was ok there, but I was moronic! I ditched the lyrica and added 2 more gabapentin. I'm still moronic.

Switch back to Lyrica, it is definitely more effective if you have had your condition for more than a year or so. Gabapentin is fine for the beginning but you will find that after awhile it is not longer effective. Lyrica at 50X4 is a rather low dose. I would try 100 X2. I have had my disease for 8 years and only 200mg x2 is adequate.

Conmari · 03-09-2009, 05:08 PM

Hi there,
This is my first time at this site and I was in the process of checking out info on Lyrica when I found this site.
While I am not taking the Neurontin, I have been on Lryica for about 2 years. My pain mgmt. doc started me on 50mg twice a day and I noticed some dizziness and confusion in the morning.I was taking it later in the evening and and just before bed time. It did help me sleep, but left me feeling so out of it in the a.m. Doc said I would get used to it. He upped the dosage because of my severe neuropathic pain in my legs ( 75 mg twice a day). He wanted me to take it 3 times a day, but I just couldn't take it early in the day. Makes me to foggy to function. Had a car accident last Sept.and my back and leg pain went through the roof. Anyway, he has now upped the dose to 100 mg. x3 a day. I have tried taking 2a day and I feel so out of it , I can barely function and my depression id worse than ever.
I can certainly sympathize with your situation. It seems to be so difficult to find the right combination and still feel like a human being. I just don't think I can handle the higher dose, so I will probably talk to my doc about going back to 75 mg.
i hope things get better for you soon !
Hugs, Connie

jsrail · 03-14-2009, 02:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MeeJenny2

When I was first diagnosed with Trigeminal neuralgia TN - my doctor put me on Neurontin for pain but after time, I started to build a tolerance to it. Needless to say, it never really did much and I still found myself popping Motrin thoughout the day. Eventually my dosage got to 900 3X Daily. The pain got to my moods and eventually found myself constantly depressed so a new doc had me include Cymbalta. It was quite a lift and I found myself making stupid and rash decisions...didn't feel loved by my family and ended up going on spending sprees. I even felt like a different person and started flirting with other men. I enjoyed the lift but it didn't do much for the pain. And with dosage up to 60MB x2 daily. I really became a different person to the point I wanted out of a loving marriage and didn't find my family very interesting. My hubby talked to my doc who tried to take me off Cymbalta but that was pure hell. Instead, I switched docs and had another one inlclude Lyrica on top of all that I was taking. 50Mg twice daily had me feeling high most of the day and I was really out of character. I started having an affair - ended up with a STD and that started my marriage in a downward spiral. I also found another new love for wine...even though I was not supposed to drink...all this, the motrin and now alcohol had me numb.

Now with a marriage in dispair, I've found that my kidneys are not working quite right and this new doc is telling me that the combination of all the pain meds is to blame. I also put on 40 lbs in the past year, lost most of my dear friends, my family and I look and feel like hell.

Now looking back, I wished my first doc had told my husband, sister, brother, about the potentioal mood and personality swings associated with any one of these meds, never mind putting them all together.

Not to scare anyone as these are probably good medications to help your condition but always ask a second opinion...and not alwasys from these sites...seek professional opinions. I've seen four different physicians, two psychologists and two neurologists and they all differ in opinion in side effects and effectivenss of these drugs.

I think a lesson we all can take from this to read the info stapled to the bag provided by the pharmacy when we pick up our meds. They would have told this person of the potential side effects. I will read the Rx info every few pickups to see if they say anything new in the info. Nowadays, we have to take some responsibility for our treatments and Rx's by reading, internet researching, and asking lots of questions of our docs and people such as you find on these forums.

I take Neurontin in large doses and Methadone, but am well aware of all their side effects, even the nasty ones. I am very pleased with the results they give me, even though a couple side effects are a PITA (I research the best way to deal with them) and I probably need to get my Meth dose upped. But they are better than taking nothing; and supplements and vitamins alone are not the answer for me (full body SFN). There is no cure for my condition and I have learned to accept this and try to learn the best way to deal with and treat this disease, so as to have the best quality of life I can with the minimalist of negative effects to my family.

I am sorry for everything you have been through and am glad that you are putting your life back together as best possible given everything you have through and lost. My thoughts are with you.

Jay

jsrail · 03-14-2009, 02:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EarlG

Switch back to Lyrica, it is definitely more effective if you have had your condition for more than a year or so. Gabapentin is fine for the beginning but you will find that after awhile it is not longer effective. Lyrica at 50X4 is a rather low dose. I would try 100 X2. I have had my disease for 8 years and only 200mg x2 is adequate.

I would like to try a switch to Lyrica, in fact my Neuro doc wants this, but the FDA hasn't approved this for SFN (it has for your Dx though) and therefore, my insurance company won't cover it, and its way too expensive for me to pay it all! I have been taking 3600mg a day of Neurontin for a couple years now.

Forgotten · 01-28-2010, 05:19 PM

Hi All
First time for me writing here, I have a nerve damage. Its in my nerve center. I have problems in my right arm, both hands and my back due to the damage.

I had for the last 2 years both Garbapentin and Lyrica.

Both medications can be used for nerve damage, but with my "experience" Lyrica are a far better medication, or at least with less side effects. My doctor wants me to quit with lyrica, and go for Garbapentin, but I think I will ask to change for Lyrica instead. (and drop Garbapentin from my medical list).
The medication are more expensive, cost here like 1 x lyrica for 10x garbapentin. - But I do belive it can be worth it, if Lyrica are better medication then im willing to change, I only have one life, at least what i can be sure of

For now i take:
3x300 mg Garbapentin 3 times a day
2x150 mg Lyrica 2 times a day
1x50 mg Diklofenak 3 times a day
2x50 mg Tramadol/Tradolan 3 times a day
2x250 mg Paraflex 3 times a day

Then I often have mega pain in my brain, for that i do take up to 8 Treo like 4-5 times pr. week.

Side effects of all this:
Blood pressure got very high, almost critical (might have to take medication for that as well).
Waight increese 20+ kg. in the last two years. (since i got my damage)
Feels foggy, sometimes like high feever without temp.
Nose blood.
Dizzyness, and can be very tired very fast, not easy to ex. to drive a car, watch a tv program etc.

the list goes on...

My question here is, any chance that Lyrica (without Garbapentin), can remove that dizzyness, or take out some of my "brain killers"... As far as i could see there have been more people here that had problems with concentration, and yes I have big problems with that. (never had that before).

pwells1997 · 02-05-2010, 03:04 PM

Hi - I'm new to your site today.

It isn't just the weight gain with the two drugs - it's how they made me gain: I had to be actively crunching something in my mouth ALL the time. I was manic and out of control. I was on them one at a time - couldn't handle either one.

Right now, however, I am in some of the worst neuralgia of my life. I have MS and it will set off the trigeminal nerves in my face. I take one Cymbalta at night for the pain - I won't take more because it also makes me gain weight, and I use heat, Lidoderm patches, and Lortab when it gets really bad. Lortab just takes a tiny edge off, but I think the placebo effect makes me think it SHOULD be working. Anyway, the past 2 weeks have been non-stop pain, plus reacting to sound and movement - I have never been so out of my head with it like this for so long before. My neurologist cut down my Amitriptyline 3 weeks ago (she gives it to me at night to help me hold still) to see if I would be more wakeful in the daytime. As I tossed last night I began to wonder if Amitriptyline was used for nerve pain and on the web today found that it used to be a drug of choice in the "old days" before gabapentin. Have any of you used Amitriptyline for nerve pain? Has it worked?

hipnochik · 02-05-2010, 09:02 PM

On the topic of Lyrica. . .
Along with quick weight gain, has anyone noticed the jerky "jolts?" I notice that about 1-2 hours after I take my 50mg Lyrica, I experience the worst case of electric shock like jolts. It feels like a shock in my head and causes my arme and legs to shoot out. . .scary! I'm sure ot's the drug and not the disease because of the time frame right after I have taken a dose. I am presently weaning off, but what to replace it with that won't have the same effects? Does gabapentine have the same effect?

Gehtle hugs to all,

Kelly

Forgotten · 02-06-2010, 04:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pwells1997

Hi - I'm new to your site today.
As I tossed last night I began to wonder if Amitriptyline was used for nerve pain and on the web today found that it used to be a drug of choice in the "old days" before gabapentin. Have any of you used Amitriptyline for nerve pain? Has it worked?

I found this article about Amitriptyline:**

Garpabentin gives some side effects, that can be very annoying, pain in throat, bad smell out of mouth, noseblood, dizzyness etc. In order to work against nerve damage, I was taking 900 mg. 3 times a day, in order to reduce my nerve pain.

(Noseblood can be caused from Diklofenak, witch I also have.)

Lyrica is what I can read me to, almost same medication, but in an improved version. That they managed to take out at least some of the side effects. But the drug cost a lot more, but I think it can be worth it.

Im on my way out of my use on Garbapentin and changing to Lyrica atm. And I can feel a big diffrence. My dizzyness are not as much as it was before, and I start to beeing able to think and concentrate a bit more than before, when i was taking Garbenpentin.

suezq45 · 02-20-2010, 07:19 PM

You said "Lyrica is an antidepressant, not an anticonvulsant, and the mechanism of action is very different than gabapentin."

Lyrica (pregabalin) is NOT an antidepressant it IS an anticonvulsant. "Pregabalin is an anti-epileptic drug, also called an anticonvulsant. It works by slowing down impulses in the brain that cause seizures. Pregabalin also affects chemicals in the brain that send pain signals across the nervous system." this is a quote from a web site but I'm unable to put the link here because this system won't let me

It's important when sharing information that we share correct information so as not to mislead folks. It's very easy to research on the internet.

Chemar · 02-21-2010, 09:24 AM

hello suezq45

it is helpful to quote from a post directly if you are going to critique it, as otherwise it leaves people confused as to whose words you are quoting. "you said" could mean anyone. In this case it seems you were quoting from a post on page one of this thread, made in 2008!!! and if you will read the posts following it, you will see another member corrected the info and the person who made the error replied that she had been confusing 2 different meds
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread57906.html

so just as much as it is important to try to share correct information, it is also important to be sure one reads a thread in context before commenting. Please do also keep in mind that this is a patient support forum, not a professional one.

thank you

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Taking Gabapentin and Lyrica together ?	groskilly	Peripheral Neuropathy	55	07-06-2013 10:07 PM
Gabapentin and Lyrica	Leslie	Peripheral Neuropathy	11	09-03-2008 09:56 AM
Gabapentin to lyrica????	soxmom	Medications & Treatments	9	08-16-2008 08:28 PM
gabapentin anyone?	wakegirl	Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD and CRPS)	23	09-02-2007 08:21 AM
Lyrica doses plus other meds with Lyrica?	Sydney	Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD and CRPS)	2	05-31-2007 10:37 PM

Site Navigation

NeuroTalk Online Support Groups

gabapentin and lyrica

NeuroTalk Forums