Lyrica side effects.....................
 

Hi all, I am sooooooo tired it is not funny. I am sleeping great at night which is a miracle. (also have MG/MS and the prednisone wouldn't let me sleep for several years) However, I am totally snowed all day long too!! I started on 50 at hs and added another 50 in the AM the following week. But I was sleeping prob 20 hours a day. I'd sit still and wake up hours later. So I have held the AM dose and seen some improvement. Has anyone else dealt with this?? Of course the pain and burning are returning. sigh. But still nothing like it was without any lyrica at all. Without any i had spasms/cramps/pain that I have never had before!! So am glad it is not there. I can live with what I have now. I have a good pain tolerance, so that helps. How many choose to accept some pain as opposed to being slammed with side effects?? As I said the night time sleep has been great, but hte day time I can't do!! Go back to see the doc in a week or so.
Thanks in advance
Deb
DX less than a month now.

Hi,
I just have to say that I had the same symptoms when I took Lyrica and then I started to hallucinate.... BIG TIME. I didn't know what I had done during the day until my husband came home. It is the the devil to me. I went off of it as soon as I could. Good luck.:)

Hi justdeb,

I might be wrong but I seem to recall that Lyrica should not be stopped suddenly, it's something that one should tapered off. Perhaps that is why you had such a horrible pain flair?

I couldn't tolerate Lyrica at all because of the side effects so I was only on it for a short time.

Yes I do go with out medications because of side effects.

Sometimes I will wait until I have all my daily stuff done before I will take my stronger meds. I definitely won't drive if I have to take oxycodone.

I'm returning to my TENS machine to try to keep the pain gate closed.


MsL

I tried Lyrica once and it almost was OK despite the fact that most drugs of this type cause me a lot of gastro intestinal and other problems. But I was greatly confused and discombobulated. Perhaps I should try it again in a lower dose.

Hi Deb,
I was on 3200 mg of neurotin to keep from have involuntary jerks, electric jolts, spasms, gain weight, switched to lyrica 400 mg. it worked better for nerve pain, but still weight gain. Dr. let me slowly go off it, and didn't get jolts, jerks, spasms back and lost 30 lbs. gain a little back with another drug. But glad I'm off. I seemed to be somewhat brain fogged.
Take care, loretta

I have to thank this site for everyone's posts about Lyrica and its side effects, that I refused to go on it when the doctor suggested it. So he put me on something else (Topomax) in July. Topomax didn't work at all for me, so now I'm on a different class of medicines.

Because I have a special needs daughter, I choose to live with a lot of pain and refuse many medications that interupt my ability to care for her. For me, epileptic class of medications do not provide effective relief even at the highest dose, and cardiac medications (Tambocor or Mexilitene) work better-this is just my case, because everyone is different.

Aikane (friend in hawaiian)

Deb,

I am taking 150 mg twice daily and, yes, I am finding myself in a fog much of the time. I need to fight to stay awake and to focus. I have only started this about a month ago, so I am still trying to decide if the relief is worth the side effect.

Mike

I'm not on Lyrica but on Neurontin, have been for more than 5 years now (more than 14 years with RSD). It does make me very tired and slow. I exhaust pretty easily too. They tried to put me on Lyrica instead of Neurontin, Lyrica was newer and was supposed to be better, but I didn't tolerate it at all. I had just eaten and my stomach was full. After taking the Lyrica, I felt a hunger like I've never felt before. I wanted to and could eat just about anything in sight. Of course I didn't, I had just eaten, but the hunger was intolerable. The feeling of an empty stomach can be a trigger for migraines, and so I got a massive migraine. I only took 1 Lyrica pill and was back on Neurontin the next day. Lyrica isn't the only anti convulsant out there, but I think they all pretty much make you tired and that there is an issue with weight gain in a number of them. I don't get that so much with the Neurontin. I tolerate Neurontin well. Yes, there are side-effects and they are an issue, but RSD without any pain relief is so much worse. I think finding the medication that's right for you is key, and what's right for one of us isn't necessarily right for another person.

I am taking Lyrica 200mg a day and Cymbalta. Together they work okay. I still have pain and last wk when the weather was very cold I was miserable so i wonder if I will need higher doses over the winter. Anyway, yes I am always tired. I have 3 teens though so I still need to function for them. I get up everyday and I don't complain. Sometimes I think my husband forgets, I know he has no idea what it feels like. I try to pace myself but its hard. When I do try to pace myself and slow down my husband forgets and expects me to do all I used to. He doesn't get why I can't spend 6 hours driving, attend a trade show and then go to a Halloween party. It's just too much. Sorry i am drifting from the topic. I have found that if I take a nap during the day, it's not so bad.

I have been on Lyrica for over 9 months and YES it is rough. Started on 200mg and they have now bumped it up to 600mg. It has helped with the burning and bone pain but I live in a fog. I can't drive due to the dosage. My husband has banned me from any cooking when he is not home and I sometimes can't remember things. When I first started on Lyrica, all I did was sleep. Now I am able to fight the drowsiness and try not to nap all day. I have begged both my Ortho and PM docs to take me off and they refuse. So now I am just along for the ride. Oh, and the weight gain is unbelievable... went from 115 lbs to 136 lbs in 6 months. The hunger pains are crazy!!!!

Lyrica can be a wild ride. Good Luck!