Does Lyrica build up in the system and start working over a period of time or is it more a fast acting medication kinda like ibuprofen?

Hi Marty, long time no see!

Your question should really be: Does Lyrica actually work?

Two new studies show that it is rather disappointing.

http://health.yahoo.net/news/s/nm/pf...o-pain-studies

Lyrica from what I've seen here works (if it is going to work) right off. What tends to happen is that it stops working and people end up getting huge doses...which eventually stop working altogether, and then you have a difficult discontinuance.

So you will need to think about benefit vs risk... as Lyrica can have significant CNS depressant actions, weight gain, and edema. It is very difficult to discontinue as well.

I must point out that, on the rare occasions that I have used Lyrica short term at 100 or 150 mg / day, it has worked well for me without weight gain.

David

I started using Lyrica in January with excellent results of which I am now seeing maximum benefit except weight gain. I feel a lot more swollen, my clothes don't fit and I am trying to lose weight on the Cambridge Diet.
My brain has lost a lot of the fog with Lyrica and I also don't 'Lose' words in the same way that I did with Gabapentin.

Wow funny you bring this point up because it was the talk of the town when I started on it some 7 years ago. I'm slowly going off it however. I'm down to half doses with no change in pain. I'm thinking without any studying on the facts that it really isn't helping me any. I'm going go off all drugs and use tramadol when I have flar-ups only (like once a week at max so I don't build up a tolerance to it) and see if my quality of life changes. I just have to find out.

Back to my question however, the reason why I wanted to know if it builds up in your system is to know how fast to reduce the amount.

It doesn't build up much and is not metabolized...it is excreted by the kidneys only. A rather short half life too.

But it alters how nerves work....and a sudden withdrawal doesn't allow for adjustment easily. Some people need a longer taper than others.

I think you should Google "lyrica taper" for details.

mrsD I'm amazed you are still here after so long. My hat goes off to you!

So am I! LOL

In fact I thought about it when I almost fainted the other day,
from too much sun/heat. I thought my time was up in fact.

As far as the Lyrica goes....it is very strange that Pfizer would tank its own product, releasing ineffectiveness results before the patent is even up. Makes me a bit suspicious that there are hidden PROBLEMS Pfizer intends to distance from that we don't know about. Like the rotting of the teeth, some posters have claimed here from time to time. Lyrica is scheduled to go off patent in late 2013 or so.

It certainly was promoted heavily, and was the "cat's meow" for
quite a while!

I was born shortly before the thalidomide debacle/tragedy of the late '50s/early '60s. My mother was so spooked by it that we were raised not to take any prescription meds that had not been on the market at least 20 years (since shortened to going generic - ~17 years). That was the theory, anyway.

In my early 20s I was prescribed an NSAID called Zomax that I had never heard of. Questioning it at the time, my then PCP said, "It's new." I took it a few times, but it made me sick, so I stopped it, never told him, and life went on. I learned sometime later that the drug had been pulled off the market due to severe side effects including anaphylaxis, blackening of the tongue, and heart attack. I just may have dodged a bullet.

The next time that doctor prescribed me something "new", I handed it back and said, "No thanks - I'll take something that's been around as long as I have," and reminded him of the incident. He had no recollection of ever prescribing the drug, and I had to have him look it up in my records.

I've broken that rule a few times since (and it's conceivable I may again), when generic alternatives either weren't available or weren't effective for some reason, but not without researching them as thoroughly as I could. Most recently I put my foot down against Topamax (before it went generic) for migraine prophylaxis, and I stopped Lyrica several years ago when it just didn't work (before PN).

Those early (thalidamide, Zomax) experiences put us onto things like Worst Pills, Best Pills and the like.

(N.B. I've been watching the list of drugs causing PN. Nothing matches so far.)

Doc