Hello,

I'm on a myriad of pain meds to control this beast, but the nerve pain is so bad that the opiates won't really help it completely. I'm on 600 mg Lyrica and 2400 mg Neurontin (among others such as 200 mg Tegretol XR, 50 mg Amitriptyline, 300 mg Wellbutrin XL, and 6 mg Suboxone).

The Suboxone (buprenoprhine, 30-40 x stronger than morphine for those that don't know) is doing almost NOTHING for my condition. I was initially on 600 mg Lyrica but PM dr wouldn't give me more opiates, so I asked my psychiatrist for Neurontin. I am taking 2400 mg a day and together with the Lyrica, helps so much!!!!!

However, I'm only 29 and worried about my long-term memory and IQ on such a high dose of those meds. Anyone have experience with such high doses of Lyrica together with Neurontin?

I am surprised at a doctor combining 2 drugs athat are so similar to treat the condition. Usually it is Neurotin OR Lyrica combined with a SSRI, tricyclic or opiate not the two anti seizure medications together. I would personally get a second opinion on that. Lyrica and Neurontin actually share similar ingredients. Neurontin is the precursor to Lyrica. Lyrica has higher bioavailability.

Here's a thread on the subject: http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread68992.html

Johnny, I'm one of the much older members here and have seen a lot of damage from drug use, all types of drugs...I say no more. This thread could help you in another direction.
An older friend with 15 yrs of neuropathy from 30 yrs on statins, is much improved since on grape seed extract about 5 yrs now. She takes hardly any drugs, an advil or tylenol when needed.

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread230775.html

They diagnosed me with POTS and they think I also have Small FIber Neuropathy as well. Yes, I am on max dose Lyrica (600 mg), 2400 mg Neurontin, 50 mg Amitriptyline, 200 mg Tegretol, 25 mg Metoprolol (for POTS), 3 mg Guanfacine (for ADHD and blood pressure), 300mg Wellbutrin XL, 1000 mg Chlorzoxazone (muscle relaxer), and 6 mg Suboxone a day. My pain management docs know about all of my meds except for my neurontin (which I get from my psychiatrist). Yeah, I know that all of these meds are enough to put down a horse, but not me. I have an incredible resistance to medications. I am in a computer science program at University, and I am still managing to stay in school somehow. I get very sleepy sometimes, but the Wellbutrin usually keeps me going (which is why I decided to get on the med in the first place). My cognition is not too bad. I mean, my word recall is far from what it was before medication therapy, but its still there. Whats really bad is my ability to spell words correctly. My ability to type fast is much worse lol.

I cannot believe that on all of these meds I am still in intense pain. I know I have much more going on than POTS and SFN. There must be. I am unable to sit. If I sit straight up in a seat, I get burning pressure from the bottom of my pain and it shoots up to the bottom of my neck and spreads throughout my body. After sitting for more than a few minutes, my entire body starts to sear with burning pain - and it stays that way, meaning it raises my baseline pain... everytime I sit!!! So I do my schoolwork from home in a reclined seat. I'm only 29 and Im ruining my brain and body with these meds but I dont care because of the intense pain I am always in. I cant have sex with my girlfriend because that raises my baseline pain too. I can barely drive because that requires sitting. This is a "sitters" world, and I don't belong anymore.

I'm really sorry to hear how much you're suffering.

Cliffman

When I saw my Neuro doctor last week we discussed adding Lyrica to the 1800mg of Gababpentin I'm on daily. She said if you were not so sensitive to meds I would just have you add the Lyrica but given your past reactions I would advise tritrating down to 900 mg of Gabapentin and then add the Lyrica so there are instances when they combine the two. Patrick I was as surprised as you were that they would suggest it.

Cliffman

Thats really surprising to me. I think a lot of these neuros get to a point where they will try anything. I get better relief just taking a small amount of Gabapentin at night and taking high doses of B1 and R-Lipoic Acid. That's what seems to work for me. I have even had very brief periods where pain is almost gone completely and I am not dealing with any other side effects. Its rare but it happens. Everyone is different, as bad as i think my pain is I have learned that there are folks in 10x the pain as I. It seems unimaginable and my heart goes out to those folks.