Hey Folks! Just Prescribed Lyrica - What Do I Need to Know?
 

Hello Again Friends!

First let me thank all of you who took the time to write me on my other threads regarding pain meds in "Whats After Percocet" and some of my other ones involving my exposure to an unreal IED Blast in Iraq.

I'm still seeing same Pain Management Doc who has me on :
Percocet 10/325
Oxycontin 10mg (has brought me down from 30mg 3 months ago)

And now has prescribed me Lyrica to use for the brutal nerve pain in my Cervical Spine, which is also treated with Facet Injections and RFA too.
There hasn't been anything that makes this pain subside so now he wants to try Lyrica - starting at 75mg for a week, then moving to 150mg after.

As I do with everything else, I researched this and found a number of issues that concern me. Some of them posted in other threads here too!
Like members having serious withdrawal symptoms coming off Lyrica - is this true?? :eek:

I also felt a little dizzy this am after taking it, but it was along with all my other meds at same time (none of those make me dizzy though) That is described below inside this link.

http://www.mdjunction.com/forums/fib...make-you-dizzy

And then I found this one which is almost identical to me with the person using Percocet as well. What issues do I have to look forward to here??

http://www.mdjunction.com/forums/ndp...-for-headaches

Reading stuff like this before starting medication does get in your head and it sounds like all horror stories to me! Are there any members who DO NOT have any issues with Lyrica and does it truly help you and your pains?
Any comments, links, or advice is always welcome my friends! :D
Thanks for everything!
Gunny

I've been reading reports on this drug for a long while, good and bad. Withdrawal issues too I've read about.

I live with a lot of pain issues and we all walk in our own shoes and our pain tolerances. I use a few supplemenets too for all the pain I have to deal with...these calm my pain some.

Personally, I wouldn't take Lyrica but that's me.

I actually do like hearing the blatant forward truth - the "East Coast" personality I've been told I have, meaning I just tell it like it is & speak my mind!

Thanks Caroline2- Care to share these supplements with us /me?
(You can PM me if you don't wish to put it out loud?) Love to hear what you mean. :)

Gunny, again we all have our pain issues, tolerances and mindsets. I've taken some opiates before and after hip replacement MESS and live with this mess. The pain I live with is manageable but I guess I have a higher tolerance .. I've talked to some who call themselves sissys when it comes to pain. I'm older than you I'd bet big money, so with aging too, more pain stuff. I just don't want to be medicated to the 9's.

For my "calming" some of the pain. I take MSM 1 tsp in distilled water (I use mostly distilled water for about everything), 2-4 times per day...this is higher dosing of MSM. A person told me about this years ago who deals with RA and this helps him calm the pain some. I have a book on the MSM Miracle...so I'm not blowing smoke on this supp. Do your research too.

Then I would not be without PAIN RX herbal supp and take this in between the iburprofen I take 2 times per day. Don't like to overdose on pain meds...

Right now, I'm experimenting with cozy products for pain...they are elastic products that are threaded with copper. I've used the cozy knee support for some time now and now using the finger and wrist products....

A couple friends claim they have less pain while wearing the cozy copper products...So last night I slept with a ring on my two little fingers and a wrist one on my right wrist...did I wake up in no pain? No, but I'm going to give it a good run....I work with about any reasonable to CALM pain. I'm trying to find the site for these products, made in japan and sold at a local medical supply store here. The company is Kyowa and trying to find if they have a site for these products...I know amazon sells their knee and ankle supports.

Gunny, hope you check in the vits/supps section here, I post a lot over there. Have an MSM thread going.

Wow. Very good read right there Caroline! Thanks so much for sharing this.
I liked the part about you being older than me, which I seriously doubt too! lol.
Need to speak with my Doc about the Lyrica and dizziness for sure!

I will check out that section and your threads.

Hi Gunny,
I take Lyrica.
Have been on pain meds for years and for me, despite issues with Lyrica I have been on it for years because it is the only med that helps with my neuropathy.
I had been on Neurontin for many yrs and had issues with it so went of it and tried to go without any neuropathy meds but the neuropathy was too disabling.

When I started Lyrica I was very dizzy...my doc said don't drive and just be careful.
After 3 weeks the dizziness passed.

Very honestly, sometimes you just have to weigh the side effects with the relief you get. I did get off it a couple years ago because periodically I go on a drug holiday from ALL my meds to access my current, true pain level. I already had a mild seizure disorder and those seizures returned.

Bottom line, I am on a very low dose, 100 mg a day, and it takes enough of the edge off my neuropathy(in addition to my other pain meds) so I can function reasonably. I am not doing cartwheels or running marathons but, I can do the things I need to do to get by in life.

My suggestion to you is give it a try for a month or so and if not to your liking, get off it, but slowly. Everyone is different Gunny....I wish you the best.
I know neuropathy really sucks.
Take care, D.

Some people do well with Lyrica and love it.
I tried it for nerve pain. It helped somewhat. However, my feet swelled up so badly, I could not wear any shoes.
This was totally unacceptable to me and I stopped taking it.
I hope you have better luck.

Hello my Friend,

Just in case you missed it, and for those who come after us, here is a Thread with a few Lyrica supporters:

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread212323.html

Take it slowly, get maximum benefit,

Dave.

I took Lyrica & Gabapentin for 16 years. I tolerated it ok & it worked somewhat for my nerve pain. I had a lot of neurological weirdness. All doctors thought it was from my brain tumour. I was feeling very well and decided to decrease down to the minimum dose I could live with. Well my whole world turned upside down. It took 2 years to work out what was going so wrong with me and then to safely withdraw. It was absolute hell. I have been Lyrica free since Aug2015. My nervous system is still recovering from the ordeal. It was so bad I can't describe it without writing a book. Am now living drug free & putting up with the nerve pain. Anything that toxic to withdraw from has got to be so bad for your long term health!!!

Husband of lyrica dependent spouse
 

My wife was prescribed this med about 2yrs ago, no relief after 1 month she tried to stop, went into horrible withdrawal. Doctor said "it can't be the drug" I suggested she go back on after a week of terrible side effects(sleepy,dopey,scared,almost suicidal,depressed,nausea complete personal breakdown,no showers,ect) She started back on at 6:oo pm by 9pm she was a weak normal person almost unbelievable. Called doctor and told him what was going on and he said he would check into it with drug rep. 2 months no response, I called and expressed myself. I got her to try to go off again but after reading here I decided to go very slow and reduce meds by about 10% every 2 weeks we are down to 60% and she is starting to have side effects again she is a wreck ! I don't know if we continue or not, but this is terrible

Hi there, I also use a natural botanical that helps me much with pain. I'm new here and have no idea how to privately message someone. If you can instruct me how, I'll tell you what I'm taking.

Hello Gail59tx
You will not be able to PM (or link) until you have sufficient posts to have full Member status. It's part of our anti-spam system.

You can post the info on your natural botanical here on the thread, provided it is not something you are marketing.

Seriously questioning my use of Lyrica
 

Like so many of us, I've been dealing with chronic, severe pain for longer than I care to remember and as I get older, it gets worse. I've been to several pain management clinics with little to no satisfaction. I was just referred to yet another pain doc and after discussing ALL the meds I had been on that either didn't work at all, or stopped working after a while, she took me off a high dose of Gabapentin and put me on Lyrica 100mg. twice daily. I've only been on it for one week and I think it has helped me, but I've gained 8 ilbs.....IN ONE WEEK!!! I could not figure out what was happening as I blew up like a balloon until I saw my primary doc today and he noticed right away, then looked at the chart and told me that's what it had to be. Now I'm more discouraged than ever. I'm certainly not going to continue taking something that will have me weighing a ton for just slight pain relief. And the extra weight will cause my back to hurt even more. My pain doc did put me back on Norco 10/325 and that does help but not for any amount of time and I really don't want to go down that road of feeling like I need more and more. Has anyone investigated or tried medical marijuana? I know that it has worked wonders for some people but I'm hesitant to go down that road too. I have nothing against it whatsoever, I just wonder if it would be something I could do on a regular basis and find relief. I'm so tired of all this...like we all are. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated and welcomed...sorry for the rant. Just kinda feelin that way tonight

SJ,
I have not tried medical marijuana. Have tried an assortment of meds, including Lyrica for a few weeks which did not seem to help. Apparently, the only thing that has really helped was when my PM prescribed opioid meds. I am addicted only for the pain relief they bring. I deliberately take less than I am prescribed which makes me feel I have the choice to lessen my pain or continue on a path that will keep increasing the meds. I have been on these meds for several years.

You are far from ranting.


Gerry

Hi SailinJane

Welcome to NeuroTalk :).

Recently medicinal cannabis has been approved here by the TGA (similar to the FDA) as a prescription-only drug though some details remain to be worked out.

I don't know if it is legal in Florida but, if so, it is an option which is well worth discussing with your doctors.

Best wishes.

Dropping in to see how everyone is doing. And Gunny who started this thread. I've been thru a lot with a staph knee infection and now off those nasty heavy duty drugs. I've heard and read so many times that : More Pain Meds Cause More Pain. And I believe there is a lot of that theory.

Pain Meds Cause More Pain! The New Silent Epidemic

My daughter went thru a mess on the toxic pain meds and now so clean off them -- long hard journey. She recently had dental work and dentist had her taking ibuprofen for the healing and she had such nasty side effects, edema came on strong too. She said: Mom these pain meds are so hard on the body.

I take MSM powder for years and that helps reduce some pain.

We all have our pain issues and levels of tolerance and there is so much to TRY out there besides all the toxic ones. So much is so toxic to our bodies.

My next big try is Cosamins DS for arthritic joint issues. I found out about it in 2005 but ignored it, now it's come up strong in my view and I'm so ready for it...it's a little more pricey and I think that's what held me back. I buy mine on amazon or ebay. C

Once I reach 3 months post this most recent surgery I am going to request a pain Mgt guided detox program with ketamine infusion for 2 days so I can get back to just relying on my Nevro stim and 1 temgesic a day. I'm not putting myself through the angst of medication withdrawal on my own again. It's hell on earth and I've done it far too many times, I'm 56 now, the thought of it makes me ill. I cried earlier this year when they put me back on endone for breakthrough pain and then in July they upped it along with Oxy, Targin, Endone, Bupranorphine & Diazepam. Highest doseage I've been in in years. Now I've developed abdominal nerve pain as a result of this last Retroperitoneal Anterior Lumbar Interbody Fusion. I feel as if I can't win. New pain mgt specialist been in this morning pre discharge and suggested Lyrica, said I've been down this path before, no thank you. I've been in hospital 3 weeks this time, my body just can't tolerate these things anymore, allegedly I'm told I came seriously close to dangerous ground in surgery after 4hrs and they had to cease so didn't complete the whole job. They wont go back in through my stomach ever again so no clue what to do now with this pedicle screw peirced thru vertebrae disc space S1 & lying alongside spinal cord. Been told never to bend or twist again... apologies didn't mean to hijack the thread. Lyrica, been there got the T shirt never again..

I had monstrous results with Lyrica. Suicidal Thoughts (detached in some weird way), it generally made me feel ill, disrupted my circadian rhythm. It did not reduce my pain or neurapathy. I had trouble getting off of tis drug or the small time I was one it. I can't understand why they prescribe these horrifically expensive drugs, (for your insurance company) when their are other tried and true drugs that work, like Morphine. It's been around 100's of years, but since there is no money to be made with producing Morphine, as it's cheap as dirt, from legit sources, the pharmaceuticals come up with these drugs that are poison like. The an "Opiod" crisis is invented, and people who have pain issues are lumped together with drug addict users. What ever happened to the "Americans with Disabilities Act"? Sorry, my East Coast mentality. I wish you the best.