Hey. I just found this site. I was looking to find out side-effects on taking gabapentin and lyrica together and it brought me here. Quick infor. Doc diagnosed me with fibromyalgia.....(I dont know though..) had me on gabapentin300 3x, and cyclobenzaprine(flexeril) at bed. Acouple days ago he told me to stop the flexeril and start the lyrica 75 twice a day with the gabapentin. Now I'm wide awake.....flying at night.
The combo of gabapentin and flexeril had me just about stuttering and I couldnt think proper....I was getting like a zombie. This combo of gabapentin and lyrica has me flyin at nite...but its not helping me any. I cant think good enough to spell simple words, and the pain and numbing is still here!!!!!!!!!!
I'm guessing the lack of sleep could count on my spelling problems tonite. Anyone out there had any bad side-affects with taking the two?

Hi lujazz! Welcome to NeuroTalk!

Sorry for your sleep and prescription problems. I don't have any answer for you, but I did do a search using gaba and lyrica.

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/se...g_searchinfo=1

Maybe you can find some answers there. Good luck to you! Hope you get some sleep tonight!

Yes! Welcome lujazz
I'm sorry that I don't have an answer!! In fact I didn't know that one could take both meds- aren't they both anticonvulsants? Wouldn't it be like taking Tylenol AND Advil for a headache??

I have been on both Lyrica and Gabapentin but never at the same time. My Pain Management Doctor told me that you shouldn't take them both together so he weaned me off the Gabapentin and then put me on Lyrica.

I also had problems with sleeping whilst on both the Lyrica and the Gabapentin. It would take me hours to fall asleep and when I eventually did, I would never reach deep sleep and would wake up lots during the night. One of the main side effects I had from the Lyrica was weight gain, I put on about 25lbs during the 3 months I was on it.

I would speak to your Doctor and see if he can suggest anything. I can't understand why he has put you on both Lyrica and Gabapentin at the same time has my Doctor said you shouldn't do that has it is too risky.

I hope you get things sorted soon and Welcome to Neurotalk!!

Alison

I have CRPS type II due to a venipuncture nerve injury to my right arm that occurred 3+ years ago. In that time, my CRPS has spread to the entire left side of my body, and has worsened in severity.

I've been taking 600 mg gabapentin 3X a day, with the usual side effects ("brain fog", slow metabolism, fatigue), including weight gain of 30 pounds the first year, and no weight gain since then. I often have finding the correct words to say, which I think is called aphasia.

About 8-9 months ago, while under the care of my regular neurologist, my pain was no longer under control and I couldn't sleep, and I found a wonderful new pain doc. He often recommends combining gabapentin and Lyrica, and put me on 60 mg/day Lyrica (before bed) in addition to the 1800 mg/day gabapentin.

The combination has worked well to keep the pain in check most of the time, and also has helped greatly with sleeping. Since I take the Lyrica only before bed and I was already taking so much gabapentin, I did not notice any increased side effects compared to Lyrica alone.

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

Just thought this might help.... Gabapentin is the generic name for Neurontin which is manufactured by Pfizer Corporation... When Pfizer lost the exclusive patent for Neurontin, the generic form became available... at that time Pfizer did not want to lose their hold on the market therefore developed Lyrica. Lyrica (Pregabalin) is a essentially a second generation of Neurontin. You can find more information at www.pfizer.com

Prescribing info w/chemical info:

Lyrica: http://media.pfizer.com/files/products/uspi_lyrica.pdf

Neurontin: http://www.pfizer.com/files/products/uspi_neurontin.pdf

LYRICA: http://www.drugs.com/lyrica.html
Lyrica is an anti-epileptic drug, also called an anticonvulsant. It works by slowing down impulses in the brain that cause seizures. Lyrica also affects chemicals in the brain that send pain signals across the nervous system.
Lyrica is used to control seizures and to treat fibromyalgia. It is also used to treat pain caused by nerve damage in people with diabetes (diabetic neuropathy) or herpes zoster (post-herpetic neuralgia).
Lyrica may also be used for other purposes not listed in this medication guide.



GABAPENTIN: http://www.drugs.com/gabapentin.html
Gabapentin affects chemicals and nerves in the body that are involved in the cause of seizures and some types of nerve pain. The exact way that gabapentin works to prevent seizures and nerve pain is unknown.
Gabapentin is used with other drugs in the treatment of some types of seizures associated with epilepsy and for the management of postherpetic neuralgia (nerve pain caused by the herpes zoster virus or shingles infection).
Gabapentin may also be used for purposes other than those listed in this medication guide.

Here's a good example of my brain fog - I'm on Cymbalta, not Lyrica. I was recently talking with a friend who's on Lyrica.

Me bad!

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.

weight gain is the big thing for both of these drugs.

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.