Hi Mike, I am on lyrica orginally I was taking neurotin. The only side effect I had was weight gain and it was serious, 20 pounds. I caused me to crave carbs. It still does. I have now been taking it for a year. i did get the weight off as my knees were worse wth the weight, but I really have to fight the urge to binge.
My husband is also on Lyrica-(not for rsd) He had the weight gain but also a terrible mental fog for about a month. He almost had three serious car accidents pullilng out in front of oncoming traffic. SO if you drive be very careful. Prior to lyrica my husband was an excellent driver.
The carb craving is tough, but this drug has helped me so much with the burning. good luck, cz

I am on Lyrica now. I wasn't on anything previously. I also take Cymbalta. The combination has been working well. I still have good days and bad. Humidity and cold are bad for me and I think once winter comes doses will need to go up. When I first started I would get dizzy and very tired and dry mouth. Now that I've been on for a while I don't get dizzy much but I do still get the dry mouth. I always have a water btl. I am always tired but I think that the lack of sleep, constant pain (it's better but still there) and meds combo has alot to do with that. I have also been fighting the weight gain.

Hope it works.

I am glad that Lyrica is working for some of you, but it caused some serious side effects for me. I hallucinated and slurred my words like I had a stroke. It was awful! I cannot take any anti-seizure meds. They make me just completely out of it. I really hope the Lyrica works for you.

Hi Mike,

I think Lyrica is a very nasty drug, it made me want to jump off a bridge on top of all the other side effects. I'd stay away from it if I were you. Talk to your doctor, perhaps you should go back to what was working.

Wishing you well with this.

MsL

I may have jumped off a bridge and didn't know it when I was on Lyrica! LOL! My kids and hubby would come home and I wouldn't even remember what I did all day. I could have been wandering in the yard naked and I wouldn't have known it.

I wish everyone well that have used Lyrica and the don't have side effects, but it is not a drug for me.

Hey Mike
just to add a note, that ive found that compounds when you stop a med,,it ussually aggravates the rsd to flare up,,when i back off pain meds to the point that im detoxing,,i have flares.bad ones,,and when i back off the xanax,,,same thing,,i really dont think that the pains meds are keeping beast in his cage,,i think it allows me to deal less stressfull without the pain,,when im in pain,,i stress big time and get short ,aggravated,resentment,bitter, depression,,,,all these thoughts and feeling we go thru when we detox too,[ i know im off track and your not detoxing],,but i go thru this all the time,,when i back off the pain meds, i ussally will up the xanax to keep the flares down,,,,when i come off the pain meds,,either way,,its a merry go round that i'd love to get off of,,,,best wishes to you all,,,,,,,,,,,,,,bobber

I was on Lyrica for over a year to control nerve pain. I had many of the side effects reported by the other posters. My mouth was so dry I had to dust my tongue. It made me foggy and my "sleep" was more like a dreamless coma from which I couldn't be roused from easily. And weight gain....I think there's a cheese cake in every pill.

However, the worst part of taking Lyrica was stopping taking Lyrica. It's addictive (but not habit forming) and you have to wean off slowly or face unspeakable pain and possible seizures.

And, of yeah, it didn't do as good a job at controlling my symptoms as the older drug I take now.

Good Luck

I remember hearing and reading of some very nasty things with Lyrica, and was reluctant to go that route. I discussed this option at length with all of my doctors (different fields) and my pharmacist before agreeing to the switch. I also heard from a co-worker of my wife and a “friend-of-a-friend” about how wonderful their results were.

MsL, the reason for the switch was that the old stuff was not working as well as it use to, and we are looking for better results. I wouldn’t change for the sake of changing. The Trileptal worked pretty well for many years, and was still working somewhat. But either my pain is getting worse, or the effectiveness of the Trileptal has decreased over the last year or so. It just hasn’t worked as well as it used to.

Thanks to all for your responses. It gives me a better idea of what to watch out for as I “ramp up” the dosage. In particular, I will watch out for the munchies. That is the kind of side-effect that sneaks up. I generally am much more aware of things like fog, fatigue, and confusion.

Thanks again,

Mike