After being on Lyrica for several months now, low dose I think...50 mgs am, 100 mg pm and still having back pain, at the docs insistance I went to 100 mgs twice a day. The only other meds I take are synthoid and atenolol.

Now, this dosage did not go well the first time around, why it was supposed to work now, beats me. Last time I was so somulent, I wet the bed and my dose was decreased. But I don't have a medical degree...I took it as prescribed......I slept for 48 hours. I mean, my family could hardly wake me to take sips of fluid.

Then came the screaming meamies and lots of very dark thoughts, angry outbrusts. My urine took on a strange chemical odor.My doc was not impressed but I told her this was unacceptable. So I am tapering off again, and after going back to the 50 am 100 pm dose, I have what feel like pain and fire in my entire body. My skin hurts, I am sweating, cold, restless, I can't touch my arms and legs, I am crying and irritable. This was the taper the doc had me on before.

I know this med works wonders for some. Does the sister drug neurontin cause similar, or is it better tolerated?

These drugs really work differently in most people.

Some love them, some hate them etc.

Your dark thoughts reflect the new warnings...of suicidal ideation which as been reported.

Both these drugs block nerve impulses in the spinal cord. This is their proposed mechanism of action. Remove the block suddenly and a torrent of electrical activity may follow.
There have been warnings of seizures for some people.

So there is no real way to block the withdrawal as there is with
SSRI's which using tryptophan may help.

I don't know of anything yet to help with Neurontin/Lyrica withdrawal... sorry.