After all the playing around with drugs, I have settled on Lyrica over neurontin. Since I have been taking Lyrica on a regular basis and accepting that I really have IPN I can honestly say that my pain level is almost zit! I can wear all my shoes, exercise on my elliptical machine, walk around our little like out the backyard and just forget that I even have this disease. I've gotten weight gain under control...again...with the help of the South Beach Diet. This is the best I've felt in four years!!!!

Glad to hear it, Jack!
Its about time. You can now get on
with the rest of your life.....and have a life
(some restrictions may apply )

I'm withn you Lyrica has worked the best for me. I tried everything else>

I don't know what I'd do without Lyrica. I tried Neurontin, and it was ineffective. Lyrica heat the magic head on the nail. It has been a life savor for me. When I'm on it.....zero pain. It is the greatest. Yes, there is some carbo cravings....but, it is a small price to pay, when you consider the alernative.

Well, we are on this discussion and I'd like to speak up. Since starting Lyrica I've finally got pretty good control of the pain but the weight gain is getting out of control. I've gained 20 pounds. When we went to Mayo they increased my Lyrica only 50 mg. and it made the difference between my eating and not eating. It also stopped those screaming piercing jolts of pain. At least I think that is what happened. I was losing weight fast before this happened and Mayo said I was starving myself to death. But the pain in my mouth is what was causing it.

We moved about 6 months ago and it really aggrevated my Rheumatoid Arthritis. I also developed a mass of stress fractures. So combine Lyrica and a very sedendary lifestyle and you get 20+ extra pounds. Now how do I get it off when I can't exercise. The neurologist is threatening to remove me from Lyrica. But I don't know if it's the Lyrica, low dose Fentanyl or the rescue hydrocodone. None of which I want to take. I'm constantly trying to skip doses, leaving the Fentanyl on one extra day, but the pain is unbearable. The stress fractures left me with one pelvic bone that is misaligned, one leg shorter than the other and one foot that will not flex. The RA has crippled a lot of my fingers and toes too. It all adds up to a miserable existance without the meds.

Now back to the weight gain. Do any of you have any guess which meds or combo of meds is causing the gain and how do I get it stopped?

Billye

P.s. We sold our house finally, we close tomorrow!! Only one to clean now and one yard to do.

Billye

Lyrica is known to be a cause of weight gain. So, live with the weight gain or come off it and perhaps increase the Duragesic patch strength.

--is also that it's the Lyrica--weight gain is a well-known side effect of the med, both through fluid retention mechanisms and through the tendency to make one carb-crave.

Many have sort of accepted the trade-off of weight gain given the effectiveness of Lyrica for them, but in your case I know having that additional weight is certainly a problem for your weakened bones. Unfortunately, most of the anti-epileptics, with the notable exception of Topomax tend to have this side effect. As Dan says, you may just have to experiment with other combos to find an acceptable balance of pain relief/side effects.

I realise that this is an old post but as it has been revived I will chip in!

I first started on Lyrica about twelve weeks ago - a low dose of 75mgs. At 75mgs I was initially very sleepy all day, even although I took a night time dose. I began to sleep better with the Lyrica but the pain did not budge.

About three weeks ago I increased my dose to 150 mgs per day, 75mgs @ 9am and 75mgs @ 9pm. When the doctor suggested increasing the dose, I was concerned that I would be a total zombie on the double dose but he assured me that it doesn't work like that....and he has been proved correct. Still the burning etc. has not reduced substantially (altho' I do detect a small improvement) however I will give this dose a bit longer to work.

As far as weight gain with Lyrica, it has not been an issue for me to date. I have actually lost about 18 kgs/40lbs since December as I have recently developed Gastroparesis, so keeping weight on now is a constant battle. It becomes a daily challenge to have enough calories and nutrients, as I can only tolerate a totally liquid diet. I do have some pureed food but even that can be tricky. We had guests to dinner tonight and I indulged (after having only soup - my mainstay these days) in some nibbles of chicken liver pate and very soft Brie cheese and am now suffering the nauseating effects....but it was yum while it lasted! Perhaps by tomorrow morning my tummy will feel better.

Lyrica increases your appetite, so be prepared to gain weight unfortunately, 6-10kgs in fact.
Greg Australia

Actually, it is more of a carb craving than just an appetite enhancer.
(Altho I am a lifelong, admitted, chronic, chocoholic.)
I put on 30-35 lbs and went from 220 to 250 +/- (varies) in 6 mos.
That was 3 yrs ago and I've not been able to shed that 30 lbs, yet.