Your experience of Lyrica...good or bad?
 

Hi everyone - happy new year!

Im looking for anyones personal experiences of lyrica (pregabalin?). My new pain cons wants me to try it out. However after googling it i have come across a lot of negatives about this drug (and very little positives).


Any of your views would be appreciated!

:D

hi tracey,
i was on it at 100mg at night for about a year and i really didn't like it.

pro- it totally works to slacken the nerves thereby reducing pain

con- i couldn't wake up in the mornings unless i had like 10 hours of sleep. and then i would feel disconnected for the bulk of the day. I was unproductive and felt my life was becoming more like a dream than reality :(

Now i am on 25mg of elavil instead which does not have a massive effect either way pro or con. Not too good but also not too bad.

hi Tracey
 

Hiya,

I was on pregabalin for over a year and decided to stop due to side effects and am now on gabapentin....the pre-drug to lyrica. I stopped due to the last side effect listed on the labeling....in-orgazmia.....can't have pain AND that now can I. so lyrica did do a good job and didn't have sleepy problems but I am not very sensative to drugs for some reason....probably because I have taken everyone there is to possibley take in the last six years of my pain.

hope this helps.
love and hugs,
Victoria:hug:

Thanks for your responses guys. Im still working and as i work with severely autistic children i really need to be alert at all times - im often tired anyway and this job does wear me down so the last thing i need is a drug so make me even more tired!

I should probably wait until the next set of school holiday and then try it to see how it affects me.

Or i may wait until i can see my pain cons again and ask him if there is anything else similar i can use that has a lesser chance of making me tired and drowsy....

another option
 

Hey T,

another option for you to try perhaps now could be nortriptyline. It is used for nerve pain as well as sleeping and mood stabilizer. I take this at bedtime to help me to get to sleep. It may be a good option to help you get your precious sleep...the time in which if we can do we heal.....so this may be an alternative until your next holiday....try it on a friday night so tht you have the weekend to see how you react to it. The other drug in that family is called amitriptyline however it has more side effects than the nortriptyline so I'd go with the nortrip. not the amitrip. and I have been on both.

just a thought!!!
take care
love and hugs,
Vic:hug:

Hey, Tracey! I am taking 100 mg Lyrica 3xday...I've found it really helps with keeping RSD symptoms under control. I would recommend waiting for a break to try it, though, as it did make me dizzy at first. Took a while to find a therapeutic dose, too...

Keeping RSD at bay was more important to me than other side effects. I don't notice much pain relief from it, though, other than the RSD-related stuff ( in other words, still deal with TOS related pain).

I've been on it twice. The first time I took 75mg 2x/day. It worked great but the side effects I experienced(brain fog & short term memory) were a problem. I stopped when my wife and I were trying to conceive due to the documented risk of birth defects.
After we got pregnant:yahoo: I started on it again right before my surgery. This time I ramped up to 300-450mg/day, split up into 3 doses. I stayed on that for 6 months and then started ramping down again. Cut down and then out the midday dose first and then did the same with the AM dose. I finally took 25mg/day at bedtime for a month or more before quitting it altogether.

Lots of folks report weight gain and other issues, so I think it's best to start out with a low dose for a few weeks until you figure out what works for you. It is priced per dose, so when you find a dose that works for you, try to get that size. The 25mg capsule is priced the same as a 75mg or 150mg, so you'd be paying 3 or 6x as much. This really sucks when you're trying to find a dose that works for you and maybe taking different doses at different times of day.

As I was ramping down I tried Cymbalta @ 30mg/bedtime. I noticed an immediate reduction in stabbing/shooting pains and am still taking that dose for about 5 months now.

Good luck!

Marabunta

Hmmm, lots to think about so thanks for that everyone - im prob going to give it a try and if it is too unkind to me then will ask about the nortrip that vic suggested sounds like a good option

x

Just wanted to share that I had been on Topomax and that helped,

But when I was put on Lexapro for other issues in 2007 I stopped the Topomax. THe Lexapro I noticed two seperate pllused besides helping the depression issues.....

1. I had problems with adult Roscea and my face is clear and pink FREE!

2. My TOS symptoms decreased in nerve pain by 50% or more on some days.
BUT it did not help the degenerative bone pain in the knee or the sacrolilliac.

As long as I behave with the computer or use my dragon when I am doing long term work,

With starting Lexapro I had 10 mg, I had to cut them in half and use everyother day for over a week, becasue I started the 10 mg daily and had extreme insomnia and complete loss of apatite.

I never felt any med could help with depression, that life controls us, but with years or chronic and emotional pain, after trying Paxil, prozac and Effexor, I ADMIT I needed the Lexapro, to take the ede off and cope, I did not gain weight, lost a few, no new fatigue, just the chronic stuff.

I reduced migrains and cervogenic headaches by 90%. I do not feel medicated in any way and am on the highest dose 20mg. I feel alive, or normal as we can call it.

Like I said I would advise anyone to break them in half or quarters and work up for two weeks.
I take 20mg, it has a super long half life.
di

Di- is that Topomax you are on now & like so much or is it Lexapro?

Tracey- about 2 years ago, I took lyrica for around 6 weeks. It helped with the nerve pain, but then i had an allergic reaction to it and wound up in the ER 2 nights in a row. I felt a little "fuzzy" when I was taking it, but it did help. Now I take keppra (an anti-convulsant), which helps, but not as much.

lyrica /gabapentin
 

hi all
i have been on both these drugs and both of them made me put on loads of weight 3 stone in 6 months! i had to stop them because i was retaining water ..my legs were like balloons and so painful and i could hardley breath .never again .
as well as TOS i also have sever back problems following two failed surgeries i take oxycodone and use an acticare unit ..but i am still in pain
i went to see my pain consultant on Monday and she said the words that no one wants to hear ...sorry Mr beer there's nothing more we can do for you!!
so i am feeling a bit sorry for myself
STRAKER

[QUOTE]
thanks straker....im hearing a lot more negatives than positives for this drug which is a put off, have decided to wait to discuss things with my pain cons again first! I have had a good week pain wise and feeling in fairly high spirits.....however i know what lies around the corner so im just savouring these more pleasant days. Im sorry to hear that your pain cons no longer feels they can help - i dont know your story but i feel for you and really hope that you can find another pain cons who can help you manage your pain. take care
x

[QUOTE=TraceyW;446888]Hi Tracey.....sorry not answered last email yet ---things been hectic over xmas plus now in plaster!!! Texting is tricky.
I have been on this drug since 2005 and on 600mg per day. I did used to have extra 100mg at night so a 300 and 400mg doses per day til about 6 months ago. It helped the electric type pins and needles...pain wise dont know but on combination of drugs as you know. Yes I have put 3 and a bit stone in weight on but the drug makes you feel hungry. Weight gain is typical to anti convulsant type drugs. Used to get sedated with it until body adjusted. So I have been on it a long time and the docs dont envisage me being able to come off it. Only other issue is dry eyes so have to use artificial tears and lubricant...minor nuisance.

Sorry does not help but as with most things everyone experiences different problems and mainly drug therapy can be a long trial. What suits one does not suit another. The side effects I have experienced are common to this drug type.

Speak to you soon.

Hx:)