Bob,
Is the 600mgs of Lyrica helping you ? I have burning pain and its a bugger as you know.

I thought I would chime in, hope its okay, but my pain management
doc said that people do take both as they are close but not exactly
the same. Im thinking of trying it myself.. Ill let you know how it goes

I'm not Bob but 450mg a day is working for me.

This is one of the things I love about this board...ask a question and eventually someone that's been there and done that chimes in.

groskilly,
My 600mgs Lyrica & 400mgs Tramadol per day- have brought my
pain levels down from a constant 7-8 with spikes to 9+, (w/o meds)
to a manageable 2-4.... with some days even a 1.
Spikes are 5 or 6.

Is that even though Neurontin and Lyrica are similar, they must work slightly differently at the cell membrane level.

People who are on Neurontin for a while, the nerves get "used" to that way, and when you introduce the new Lyrica, either it doesn't get "in" the same, perhaps the Neurontin blocks it, or the nerves just have to "learn" to use the Lyrica
slightly differently. In other words an adjustment period occurs.

These drugs are not identical, and the body tends to "get used to things" and readjust etc. It does this with many other types of drugs too.

Thanks for all your input so far. The increase to 450mgs of Lyrica has really helped. I still have most of the feeling in my feet and no problems with my hands yet. I do get burning in my wrists on occasion which may be a sign of things to come for my hands.
I am still a newbie with this wonderful disorder and look forward to the next challenge. (yeah right)

Gerald

to work...that is the way of it all. Give it a month...by then you will know IF or how it is working or not. Transitioning from one med to another is an art, in my book, by docs... Some are subtle - others not? Also each of us react to each med differently... Strange things us humans?

There are times when I would almost KILL for a pain level of a 4 !!!!!! But I make do with what I have... So. keep in mind that some meds work for some folks...others for others. Keep an open mind and be alert to side effects that are good and bad in terms of the meds you are on. Do NOT be afraid to ask questions -test your docs about what all you are experiencing on any med. I've had some that have turned me into a total ZOMBIE! Granted, there are times when being 'zombie-oid' may be preferable to being a semi-functional human being, but I'm not coming up with many?

BTW? Bob? I might do damage to folks to get a 1! Wow, what a thing to aspire to!

Hugs to all - j

Groskilly I agree with your doctor the two do not seem to help in fact after having tried the two together for a week I found that they maybe actually antagonistic. Let me give my view points on this disease peripheral neuropathy. I am a retired physician for many years and I actually retired earlier than planned because of this disorder. Although we feel the pain in the feet the actual disease may actually lie in the brain. The reason I venture that opinion because the sudden episodes of pain are always bilateral. Also because the drugs, gabapentin and lyrica, were really originally developed to control seizures which of course results from firing of cells in the brain. Also many of the side effects are "central" in nature (i.e., in the brain)
Now for treatment. I found that giving a bolus (daily dosage given all at once) seemed to help considerably. There may be a sound biochemical reason for this. By giving a bolus very high blood levels are attained which can then effectively block receptors on the nerve (and brain cells) for a longer period of time. By splitting the daily dosage over 2-3 times a day very high blood levels are never attained since the drug is rapidly cleared from the blood (within 2-4 hours). Now I would recommend this idea only for old veterans like me and then of course only after consultation with your physician. Those of us who have suffered from this disease know that we all search for some satisfatory relief avoiding at all costs using narcotics. Finally I would be amiss if I didn't mention the side effects -- yes dear there are always and always will be side effects to every single medication ever brought to the market. The more dramatic side effects of dizzness, somnolence etc fortunately become less pronounced with time.

I was on Lyrica 400mg after work until the pn "gremlins" started poking me all day long. Then, I didn't work and took it in divided doses during the day. I was given clonazepam to take at bedtime and prn during the day if the lyrica wasn't enough. I was sooooo out of it I couldn't remember! I would get confused during conversations, forget what I was talking about, word recall problems,...but due to the effect lyrica has on me (like smoking really good weed and drinking) and add the clonazepam and I really wasn't aware enough to care. I wore pens around my neck to write on my hand anything I wanted to remember for more than a milisecond. I didn't drive farther than the grocery store for 3 months. I made my UCLA professor of neurology grudgingly give me neurontin as a replacement. I began to like the lyrica so much that I have a friend holding the 400 100mg capsules I have left over. I hope I won't get used to the neurontin and need the lyrica again. It was no life for me.