Neurontin or Lyrica
 

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.

Neurontin vs Lyrica
 

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

Both Neurontin & Lyrica caused weight gain. I gained 25-30 lbs on Neurontin
& was able to lose 25 of it with dieting.
Lyrica has caused 30 lbs weight gain but I've not been able to diet to take it off.
It seems more difficult to try to do so.
But one hasn't caused more weight gain than the other.

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.

Methadone can be dangerous, there have been many suicides . I know of one personally. I'm really not convinced that she meant to kill herself it just so easy to OD on methadone especially combined with other medications. Recently there have been articles addressing this problem.

hi i have been on neurontin for 8 yrs now & am on 1800, they do well for me except for all the weight gain. have not tried lyrica but am keeping that in mind. i also have 600 tegretol retard, 2 amytryptaline at night also i am on 10 mgs methadone. i have recently started using versitis patches but so far not having much luck with them mainly as i can`t get them to stick as they`r to go on my head & face. although i have heard of wonderful results from the patches.
it`s very difficult getting the meds that are right for us & of course
"what does for one doesnt do for us all "
just put my little piece in for what it`s worth
best wishes sophia

been on lyrica, didnt do anything for my nerve pain...not dxed with anything but have pins needles tingling pain for years....lyrica only gave me side effects...didnt help with sxs...

now doing neurontin...it is helping...I feel the numbness feeling I get wiht pins and needles but nto getting the pins needles yeahhhhh

I know there is a note on my meds..neurontin that says to alway let drs, dentists, and any medical know that I am on this medicine....

hugsss,sarah

Thanks Dan. The issue is for me since I am young and this is going to be probably for the rest of my life they don't want me on certain meds and why they want an implant. I have cruddy insurance so I usually ask for samples too from my docs if they have them. I also have had no luck with meds like none.
I think a huge frustration with this is what works for one may not for another. Also weighing the long term issues that come with some meds vs what is going on now. I know last year at my bed rest crying pain I just wanted relief and could care less about addiction so on.
To the poster hae you went to a pain managment doc? They may help more with a long term plan that is what I have found

Daniella - My GP did refer me to a pain med doc. Apparently, I was sent to the "wrong kind" as he said his speciality was injections. Although I have no neck or back pain he ordered an MRI of the spine. (I have also had MRIs of the brain and neck). He said if the issue was in my spine then he may be able to help. So...I need to start another search for a pain specialist. How do I know if I have the right kind of pain specialist?

Hi. I just saw my 4th pain doc in a year. Anyhow I have seen 2 at Cleveland Clinic and 2 at Ucla/Marina del ray. All were anastesologist that were pain docs. I have pn but also something similar to rsd. So I am a little different then most here. While you are getting an mri of the spine if you have not gotten one may be ask for one of the brain too. My spine mri they did the brain at the same time. At that time I didn't have any neck or back issues either. May be you can search on here for pain management docs in your area. I guess for myself I would look for an anastesolgist one though cause I think some pain docs are not.I am sorry where is your piain or is to wide spread? Hang in there.

[QUOTE=daniella;341766]Hi. I just saw my 4th pain doc in a year. Anyhow I have seen 2 at Cleveland Clinic and 2 at Ucla/Marina del ray. All were anastesologist that were pain docs. I have pn but also something similar to rsd. So I am a little different then most here. While you are getting an mri of the spine if you have not gotten one may be ask for one of the brain too. My spine mri they did the brain at the same time. At that time I didn't have any neck or back issues either. May be you can search on here for pain management docs in your area. I guess for myself I would look for an anastesolgist one though cause I think some pain docs are not.I am sorry where is your piain or is to wide spread? Hang in there.[/QUOTE


Thanks for the information.

My pain, so far, has just been the horrible burning which is in both feet, in the shinbone area of both legs, both hands and ower arms. I really didn't think was needed the pain doc in this early stage but my GP had some concerns with the neuro doc and the fact that he works out of 3 offices. When you call his office to get info, ask about meds, indicate that something isn't working, it takes several days to get a call back from him or his nurse.

On both neurontin and lyrica I had weight gain and strange mental issues. Sort of a "high"...too high! Also I was forgetting names of people I know and such. The trade off wasn't worth it for me. But who knows, may have to give it a go when (if) the pain gets worse.

TJ

I've been on Lyrica for eight months, it works great now but took quite a while to figure out the right dosage. It had absolutely no effect until I reached a total of 300 mg a day. I've tried splitting it up into twice a day, three and four using 75 mg caps. What finally worked best for me was three times a day for a total of 450 mg. I also take Tramadol as needed and have found a Tramadol/Lyrica "cocktail" to be extremely effective for my "idiopathic" neuropathy.
Luckily with my insurance copay it's only $40/month no matter how much I need.
Only side effect has been a bit of drowsiness and sometimes not being able to find Q on my keyboard!

I'm with you about the constant pain. Mine however, is slightly better in the morning, and gets progressively worse all day.

What I can say about Lyrica is that I am on both Lyrica and Gabapentin (generic Neurontin). The only reason to switch to the Lyrica or add it is if the other drug you are on is not working well enough. Otherwise, you are being managed fine, and the drug change is unnecessary.

This is sort of a side question, but how high can you go on Lyrica?

Lyrica's recommended max is 600mgs/day, but trials
and some others have gone as high as 900mgs/day.
I take 600mgs/day in 3 divided 200mg doses, along with
Tramadol- 400mgs/day in 4 equal divided doses.