Lyrica
 

Hi guys,
I just started Lyrica (50 mg 3X per day) and I had two quick questions

1. It says to not drive until you know how lyrica effects you --- I am wondering how long should I give it before I can assume any side effects that would happen have happened? Or in other words people who have taken Lyrica if you had side effects how quickly did they appear? (I just want to make sure I am safe!)

- When I started Cymbalta (stopped since) my first side effects didn't hit until over 12 hours after my first dose and then they were brutal.

2. How long does it take Lyrica to become effective?

Thanks!

It's similar to gabapentin from what I hear so would take a week or so to begin to kick in for most folk.

Thanks icelander! Anyone else have experience with this drug? I have been kind of dizzy all day but nothing too severe I just want to make sure that because the drug may take like a week to become effective that the side effects don't come on a later day (I want to be prepared)

I used it for a few years at varying doses. It was very helpful at times. I was told that once we found a good dose that it should be all set.

Well, it either was losing effectiveness or I was experiencing progression. I decided to see how it went without. In the process of titrating off I began to recognize what a cognitive deficit the drug was putting me at. The titrating up must have acted as a mask, well that and the relief. Don't let me mistake that- it did provide some relief from the zapping and buzzing.

But it comes down to the quid pro quo. I don't like the trade off, especially after I realized how much of a mushy brain it was. I did require it for awhile, especially when I was essentially first dealing with this pn rising up forcefully the first time.

I will need to try something else again soon, something other than Lyrica or topamax, which is what my neuro has me trying now. That seems to do nothing but provide its own layer of pn and a metallic taste to my mouth.

I'd suggest giving it time. Take notes. See how it works for you. It is wise to see how others have done, but it could be a perfect fit for you. I hope it is.

Jon

Lyrica
 

I also just started the Lyrica a little over a week ago and I keep wondering when it is going to start working. So far I don't feel any effects at all - good or bad. In fact, the pain feels a lot worse. I am thinking about stopping it. Had a couple of really bad sleepless nights from the pain. I also tried the Cymbalta before this and had a really bad reaction to it, but the Lyrica does not seem to be doing anything.

Tried Lyrica several years ago. Starting dosage did nothing. When the dosage was doubled, I became a zombie. I couldn't drive or do much of anything. Didn't help pain any better than gabapentin.

For me, #1 is of utmost importance. i was hit by a car while I was on Lyrica for two weeks. It was a pretty low dose. I thought i was OK on it but once I got off of it I realized how different I was. I believe my reaction time was slowed so i was not able to react as quickly in a high traffic stress situation. I immediately got off of Lyrica. Lyrica is essentially a more potent, better absorbed version of Gabapentin. For me, Lyrica felt a lot different as compared to Gabapentin. I really felt like a completely different, numb person on it. I can't say if it really helped with my nerve symptoms because i was not on long enough and was obeying a very strict diet that minimizes nerve pain. I certainly was able to sleep at night that's for sure. I had a hard time waking as well.

Cymbalta made me IMMEDIATELY suicidal.

I believe I am very sensitive to medications, I am very aware of my physiological state. Some people actually are able to just roll with a drug better. It depends who you are really.

What diet did you use to minimize your nerve pain?

Essentially Atkins/Low Carb/Ketogenic. Blood sugar control helps a lot in my experience.

I have been on Atkins before and loved it.

Patrick,

Are you strictly ketogenic or do you practice a more lax style, like a cyclic ketogenic diet.

I'm going to be taking my diet to a more restricted level. I even bought a keytone breath meter from ketonix.

Yes, even my cardiologist thinks its the best diet out there. Although, he says probably the hardest to stay on long term. I found a relief in pain on it is all I know. Every now and then you will have to cheat to keep form going insane. in my case, when i do I get a wake up call to remind me what sugar/starches/etc do to increase neuropathy pain.

i always wonder how some people gain weight while suffering from neuropathy. My neurologist says I am actually in the minority. In my case i can't gain a pound because my body will not allow me to put garbage (processed, sugars, starches, wheat) into it without responding with neuro pain.

I still find Dairy can be a trigger and hope to eliminate that at some point. If I do give up milk though I will have very few options left though.

I basically don't eat anything that will put my Blood Sugar above 130-140 at its highest. Not sure what "cyclic" is but I do not eat sugar, wheat or potatoes. I eat lean meats, cream, green vegetables, etc. Anything that is extremely low on the Glycemic Index.

I do go through cheating periods of course to keep my sanity. Of course, my body eventually will rebel and send the message to stop.

Its what works for me, everyone is different of course.

LM pinkerton, to piggy back on your doubling comment the reason I didn't go up in dosage whe the effectiveness waned was because I knew that the dosage I was at was my functional limit. Anything more I would have to turn in my keys.

It may come to that at some point. I wasn't ready then and then when I discovered that smart had and "a" not a "u", well I had to try a different path.

I've navigated as a vegan for almost two years, which if I think about long enough seems preposterous. But I'm really willing to try anything that is not too absurd too deal with the symptoms.

I've never had the urge to bungie jump or sky dive, but if a scientific study or enough compelling anecdotal evidence was presented that showed they gave temporary relief, strap me in I'm going for a ride!

Lyrica praise- I think it is the reason I limped around like a gun shot victim from Wayne Westerns when I had shingles instead of you know, like a real gun shot victim. It's the only thing I can imagine.

It was hard adjusting to what my pn really was right after coming off Lyrica, though I also came to feel that dampening of my nerves worked against me as I just pushed that extra bit further than I should have.

End of addendum to my Lyrica experience for now,

Jon

onebeed - If Lyrica is not giving you negative side effects then I would suggest sticking with it a little bit longer - even Lyrica's website said "some patients saw relief within as little as a week" so in other words this was a FAST amount of time for the medication to really begin working. I am kind of in the same situation where I haven't seen really any positives or negatives YET but I will stick with it for at least two weeks before really deciding. I have felt a little dizzy/mentally sluggish but not too bad. Also what dosage are you on?

I've heard that some of these meds can take 6 or 8 weeks to get up to full effectiveness. So I would think at least a couple and maybe more would be needed to really evaluate the effectiveness. That's difficult when in great pain.

When I started it several years ago my doc told me NOT to drive for a minimum of two weeks and three was better, and I complied. I was very dizzy and felt kind of trippy but it wore off. My doc said since I could no longer take neurontin, I did not have many options left and even though the side effects were bothersome, they went away.

My relief was within a few days. I have gone off it a couple times due to side effects but, I always end up going back on for the relief it gives me from neuropathy and seizures. I would strongly suggest staying on the lowest dose you can tolerate, especially because it is not an easy drug to get off of.

I have been on it for something like 7-9 yrs.

I wish you the best.

I have been on Lyrica for nearly 1 year now. I have found very good relief with it, I have not had any bad side effects so far. The drug seemed to kick in more or less straight away.:)

Sweet, I'm so glad for you. What's your dosage if I may ask?

Hi Icelander,

I take 50mg am and 50mg pm. I started off at 25mg, I got relief even at that dosage. I got no relief with Gabapentin (neurotin). I am also taking 20mg of amitriptyline which has also worked very well.

:)

I am curious as to exactly what kinds of pain Lyrica is helpful with (understanding that everyone is different). For me, 60mg daily of Nortriptylene is helpful with pins & needles, tingling, burning & a bit of forefoot pain. I add 50mg (usually, but sometimes 100mg) of Tramadol in the AM which helps with forefoot pain, some of the numb feeling & helps me with my balance. It kind of rearranges the feelings in my feet.

I see that Lyrica must be safe to take with Amitriptylene. I wonder about the Tramadol. My Dr(s) are pretty flexible unless I get needing too much in the line of opioids, then they would be wanting me to try something else, like Cymbalta or Lyrica. Is Lyrica available generically in the US now?

I took it with Tramadol and Lyricai is not available in generic.

For me it lessened the burning to almost zero, shooting and electric jolts greatly as well. From going through my notes I feel I also created some rough nights on days I overdid it thanks to Lyrica numbness. I am sure this is possible with any med that is deadening sensation, but if it works for you don't start over doing it.

Keep a journal is just a great idea I think, says the guy who has been bad at journaling lately.

I hope you find positive results.

Jon

Jon is correct about no generic version however I have seen something that said there will be one by 2018

I am only on 75 mg twice a day. I am mainly worried that Lyrica will cause me to gain weight. I was told previously that I am prediabetic, although my last A1C was 5.2. I need to lose weight and am thinking that if I do, my pain might be reduced and the progression might stop. I think that this recent round of extreme pain might be from Gabapentin withdrawal, and only want to go through that once. Right now it is gamble as to what is going to help me in the long run. I don't want to take Lyrica if it is going to make me gain weight. The last three weeks I have noticed that I am starting to get stabbing in my ankles and the pain is coming about half way up my legs, where it used to be only below my ankles.

Anyway, I just wanted to tell the original poster that Lyrica didn't cause me any dizziness at this dosage, but that I also had a horrible reaction to Cymbalta so totally understand the concern.

I put off trying it initially due to weight gain concerns. I was very cognizant of what I ate and drank while on Lyrica & actually lost weight, but disclaimer- I was eating vegan half that time.

The benefits and side effects vary so greatly that is why I think it is worth it to anyone who feels it is an option to try it. It is possible I wouldn't have gotten to here without Lyrica. Unless Peter Capaldi shows up on my stoop we will never know.

Keep a journal.

Jon

onebeed -
here is a pretty good article outlining the possible reasons Lyrica causes weight gain most of them still have to do with changes in diet and exercise after starting the medication (like less exercise because the drug makes you sleepy or an increase in appetite). Also weight gain only affects between 10 and 20 % of people and most see the change over a long term of treatment

http://mentalhealthdaily.com/2015/02...ld-you-expect/

I was reading through comments and a few people were claiming lyrica made them gain like 40 lbs in one month or 20lbs in a few weeks and I have to believe that there is no way this happened without some change in their diets or lifestyles in addition to the medication because this is drastic. If I were you I would monitor your weight each week to see what happens and try to maintain a healthy lifestyle so that if you do gain weight you can be sure it is the medication causing it. Hope the article helps!

I haven't taken lyrica, but do take gabapentin (a similar drug). I do have a theory on the weight gain issue, based on my experience with gabapentin.

Your body has two "hunger signals" - one that signals you to eat when your stomach is empty, and one that signals you to stop eating once your full. For me, I don't have any major cravings that push me to start eating. However, once I start eating, I have a really hard time stopping. (Gabapentin seems to prevent the "stop eating" signal from getting through.) I might decide to eat a small sandwich for lunch even though I'm not super hungry. But after I finish the sandwich, it takes a great deal of effort to prevent myself from following that with a whole bag of chips and a dozen cookies for dessert.

I was on gabapentin in the past (for something other than PN), and went from about 190 lb to 230 lb in a year. I was able to lose that weight after quitting the gabapentin. After my PN symptoms, I went back on the gabapentin, but this time I'm aware of the weight gain issue and have only put on a few pounds. I have made a decision to never go back over 200, and although its not easy, I'm so far managing to meet that goal.

One of the other theories--
 

--regarding weight gain on Pregabalin (Lyrica), gabapentin (Neurontin) and most of the other anti-seizure drugs is that since most act by downregulating neural signalling, especially in the central nervous system, the hypothalamus reacts as if the body needs more nutrients to "wake it up", and produces hunger signals.

I've also heard people claim that these drugs act as if the body is going into a sort of winter hibernation and that causes a craving for especially carbs to "get through the winter". I know I certainly carb craved (more than usual) while on Neurontin.

We really don't know the exact mechanism behind the appetite increase/weight gain effect, but it certainly has been noticed as a common side effect of these drugs. Moreover, some of the weight gain may also be due to fluid retention, which is another side effect commonly reported with these. That effect may have to do with the fact that these meds are generally excreted whole through the kidneys, without going through appreciable metabolization by the liver (and why one needs good kidney function to take them).

glenntaj - anything out there suggesting it affects metabolism? or is the theory that a majaority of the weight gain comes from increased eating by people who's bodies are producing more hunger signals due to the medication

Glenntaj, I definitely have fluid retention from gabapentin. However at night when I want to sleep I often seem to urinate excessively. Do you know if this could be because my kidneys are working overtime to rid my body of the fluid?

I have had so many urinary issues like that from gabapentin. It does wacky things. Even though I am on a very low dose. It's a strange drug. I find it actually does relieve the "burning" aspect of this so i take a light dose at night. Otherwise, i would prefer to not be taking it. I also used to get bad migraines and be hypersensitive to sun and it alleviated that. I am still hoping to get off it completely at some point. the memory recall and diziness is not a welcome aspect of it. As far as weight gain. Dropped actually about 45 pounds since I started it. but, i also eat somewhat low carb. My supplement regimen also plays a part in the weight loss.

Yes--
 

--taking gabapentin or pregabalin will get the kidneys working harder. The fluid retention side effect seems, at least anecdotally, to happen more often in those with lessened kidney function. DEFINITELY intake fluids when on these drugs, and move around to tolerance to promote fluid elimination.

As to whether these meds have an effect on metabolism, many of the central nervous system anti-epileptics, with the exception of Topomax, seem, again anecdotally, to have some "slowing" effect in some people. But I don't think there are any double blinded well controlled studies out there (at least that I'm aware of) comparing basal metabolic rate and thyroid function for people taking doses of these versus those not.

Makes sense i only take my gabapentin dose at night and at that time i am basically asleep so I don't know the issues with retention. Although when i wake up to go its a little more of an effort than during the day when i am not taking it. i make sure to drink a ton of water.

Fluid retention
 

I definitely had fluid retention with the Gabapentin. My feet swelled so much that I have black and blue marks under my toenails. I was taking 500 mg of Naproxen with that also and I quit taking that. I am starting to notice the swelling with Lyrica now too. My Pain Management doctor told me to get a diuretic from my GP but I really don't want to take that too. I have been trying to walk more. I walk my dogs now for about 45 minutes to an hour a day and also try to go for a walk by myself when the pain allows me to.

I had horrible fluid retention in my calves on an overnight flight many years ago. My calves were twice the size. I was told to put my feet up and drink water. At the time I thought drinking more water when I already had fluid retention was nuts but it worked. Walking is really good thing to do for it also. When this happened my legs hurt too badly to walk.

how much gabapentin were u taking?

Only 300 mg 3 times a day. I think it might have been a combination of the Gabapentin and Naprosyn, which originally was 500 mg twice a day. I cut down the Naprosyn to 500 mg once a day but even that caused me to swell so much. It did help me also when I was able to put my feet up, but I had to go to work every day too so I wasn't able to do that all the time. I think the Naprosyn did help the pain quite a bit so I wasn't happy when I had to stop taking it.