I would appreciate everyone's insight and experience with the drugs Neurontin and Lyrica.

I am presently on Neurontin (1800 a day) along with Tramadol (as needed) and Amitriptilyne (1 at bedtime). Thanks to everyone's vast knowledge on this site I have started with the supplements. I haven't had a tramadol in a couple of days and can back off from time to time with the Neurontin. Anyway...my neuro doc told me at my last appointment that he wanted to start me on Lyrica. I asked why and he said it might help me more with the discomfort. I did some research and saw that Lyrica is a controlled drug and Neurontin is not. That was a red flag to me. Also, the Lyrica pens/pads and Lyrica clock on the wall gave me another concern.

Will Lyrica be better in the long run, is it a better alternative than Neurontin?

Thanks!

My husband has had PN for 18 years. Neurontin made him deathly sick (it obviously has not done this for you, so that's a good thing).

They tried Lyrica. While it didn't make him sick, it did absolutely nothing.

They tried elavil. IT WORKED, no pain. But he itched like he was dumped in a river of poison ivy. So he had to quit.

Pain meds (except for the Fenanyl Patch), did NOTHING for his nerve pain.

He was on the Fentanyl patch YEARS ago, and THAT WORKED JUST FINE, But (in his case), that had to increase the dosage and after you hit a certain point, they can't increase it.

So he went to a chiropractic neurologist who worked on his body.

He now is on NOTHING for his PN. And while he does have it between the toes, it's no where near what it was 6 years ago.

So I gather that Neurontin, Lyrica, and the other meds DO work for others, but some people can't take them.

Best of luck

Melody

Lyrica also costs about 4 x as much as neurontin. I have pretty good
insurance and it was 74.00 a month. It also didnt do much more than
the neurontin for my nerve pain so I switched back to to just neurontin.

hth

There is no reason to switch if the Neurontin is successful in managing your pain, symptoms, & discomfort. I was on it for 7 years, along with Tramadol.
Only when I became tolerant of it & it was not working well for me, did I switch.
When Neurontin is taken in the generic form, Gabapentin- it is much cheaper than using Lyrica.
As far as the 'list', I thought both were on it, at least it used to be that way. Things could have changed.

I was on Neurontin when first diagnosed in 2001 and stayed on it a couple of years, with the doses increasing. Finally reached the limit on what I could take and switched to Lyrica which has been a godsend for me. I also take Tramadol and am reasonably comfortable most of the time. My Lyrica dose is 100mg morning and night. I was at one point on 150 mg morning and night, but dropped back and still doing fine.

In the evenings if my toes start burning or just feeling very unfomfortable, I rub Eucerin Calming Creme on my feet and works great for me.

I tried both which did nothing for my pain and I had a hard time tolerating. I pay out of pocket for meds and it is true Lyrica is much more. I have heard too many gain more weight on Lyrica. I am not sure though. If I were you and you find your current regimen working and your docs feel safe with it I would not change things up too much. I would think that tramadol long term would be more of a concern but I may be wrong. I also don't like when docs push the meds they are given lots of. Not right at all. Hang in there

Hi, For PN I find Lyrica to be more effective than Neruontin. I take 150 at supper time and 75 at bed time. It is very expensive but I have insurance. I also take 20 mg of Baclofen because I have FMS too. I have trouble with blurred vision and I think it might be related to Lyrica. Otherwise I would probably up my dose of Lyrica because I still have some trouble falling asleep due to burning sensations in my legs.