Originally Posted by invisable

well, actually the generic of it, is working well for me, I have been able to cut down to 900mg. of Gabby because of it. It does make me tired, but I take
30 mg. at bedtime, works out well........don't need Valium to sleep anymore.

Just wanted to share that, I know some of you are having trouble with tolerance issues with Lyrica and Gabby, as I was experiencing also.

Originally Posted by lnkn

I used to be on Elavil (Tramadol) to fight the fibromyalgia and it worked very well; I couldn't take it after 3pm 'cuz it would give me sleep apnea. So the administration was only in the morning. I realized this narcotic was only masking the pain so I faded it out of my "diet" and found myself very tired; I guessed it was the withdrawal symptoms. But after just a few weeks, I was okay. I decided to live with the pain that sometimes tells me I should take it easier some days than others... Of course the doctors tried talking me into taking more stuff. I'm not taking anything anymore and it's been years now. The pain from osteoarthritis is slowly incleasing and I live with it: jacuzzi 45 minutes every day... That is all I can do that doesn't have side effects. I guess I'm not hurting enough to try drugs yet... But it takes me a good hour every morning before I feel "soft" enough to get dressed; right away is impossible, even putting my slippers on without pain!

Originally Posted by zorrro13

Hi Rose I found Lyrica to be useless after upping the dosage to a point where it stopped working. At that stage I was a 90 year old brain trapped in a 50 year body. The brain fog has finally gone, thought i was going crazy! unfortunately the blurry vision is still with me for now.

here is a heads up about Amitriptyline. It is a brilliant pain reliever at very low dose, almost unbelievable.

However

1.The side effects for me were even worse than lyrica. Total detachment form mind / body.

2. insatiable appetite. A desire not from the mouth but from somewhere deep in the body. I have never experienced this and gained 15kg in the first month.

3. instant loss of libido. Absolutely no interest unless my ice cream was breast shaped.

I now take 10mg maybe once every 2 weeks if Im having a flare or insomnia. Amitriptyline is nasty stuff (for me)

here is website where people rate there use of Amitriptyline. 70% (approx)
do not recommend it and all for the reasons I have stated. some did not get pain relief. The rest absolutely loved it !

http://www.askapatient.com/viewratin...IPTYLINE%20HCL

just want to mention Amitriptyline really helped me taper off lyrica with its strong sedative effect.

The above experience was mine only I really hope this drug works for you :-)

Originally Posted by zorrro13

thanks Mrs D for keeping everything balanced. I just want to stress here that it was only my experience. I still would reach out for Amitriptyline as a first choice for a flare, its a strong sedative and pain reliever/sleeping aid, perfect for the job.

Just cant do it full time however dont need to. The Doc opened my eyes to absolute minimal dosage of anything when needed. i thought he was nuts or didnt have any real pain.

The problem IMO is pain killers them selves have serious side effects which tend to keep us in the loop.

I still detest the high dose of lyrica which just made me stoned , but not enough to forget my next dose because its what we have to do.

These drugs are highly dependent and anyone saying they are not hasn't tried to come down off a high dose. Of course we have the super disciplined 25mg a week for 6 months but lets face it most of us arnt like that leading to yo yo side effects and back to original dose whilst we despair.

Originally Posted by rose_thorn98

Zorro, your experience of Amitriptyline sounds like my experience with LYRICA! We are all certainly different. I've used Amitriptyline before for another condition and didn't have much problems with it except for its sedating properties. But it was hell to get off of when I was trying to get pregnant.....I mean horrible withdrawl. LYRICA worked wonders for me for about 2 weeks and after that I had to increase it every week. All the side effects without the benefits. It's all about seeing what works for us individually for sure!

Originally Posted by echoes long ago

ive been taking amitriptylene for almost 2 years now and i have felt no need to increase the dosage.

Originally Posted by zorrro13

"But it was hell to get off of when I was trying to get pregnant.."

Lucky your hubby wasnt on it

look its a wonder drug IMHO! if it wasn't for insatiable appetite and loss of libido I would be chewing them like lollies

strangely enough my pain is a 3-4 without the drugs. I can suck that up easy .

Originally Posted by invisable

Sucking up the side effects and taking the benefit of less pain!!

(we are all different in side effects and how we weigh them against the pain)

Interesting........