NeuroTalk Support Groups - Neurontin or Lyrica

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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.

Daniella said:

Quote:

I pay out of pocket for meds

If your pain is a BIG problem and cost is huge factor then you may want to try Methadone. It's dirt cheap and an excellent pain reliever. It is a narcotic but this should not be a problem. If your doc is worth his salt in pain management he can start you out low and titrate it slowly to give you maximum pain relief and also permit you to be able to function normally. Be sure your doctor starts low so you don't feel any kind of "high" or zonked out feelings. Give the med a fair chance to work and allow your body to adapt to it...a minimum of 2 to 4 weeks. Addiction is rare in patients with true moderate to severe pain - roughly 1 percent but some argue as high as 3 percent - which means 97% to 99% never become addicted. Damn good odds I'd say. And, don't confuse addiction with dependency/tolerance...there is a huge difference. See:
http://www.painfoundation.org/page.a.../Addiction.htm

I should think your main interest is to get control over your pain and I understand where your coming from. For 16 years I suffered horrific pain: 7 to 9.5+ on the Mankowski Pain Scale. All the docs including the Neuros were RXing Neurontin and the other anti convulsants plus various other pain meds and none helped me. Finally my PCP who is a Internist tried me on the Duragesic Patch (another narcotic pain med) and this worked! The only reason I'm not recommending that to you is the cost - it's outta sight...even the generic substitute. Anyway, the Duragesic Patches reduced my pain levels down to a 2 to 4 on the pain scales thus allowing me to lead a relatively normal life and this was 6 years ago and I am still doing just fine. And I strongly believe you could be doing the same.

IMHO, the secret to good pain management is to find a med that works and then keep it in your blood stream 24/7/365. My pain is CONSTANT...never easing off. I don't have varying degrees of pain or what's referred to as 'breakthrough' pain ... mine is continuous, severe, and unyielding. But my pain med completely changed all of that and thereby my life.

Good luck Daniella and keep us informed.

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.