This article was given to me and I figured somebody might be interested...


http://www.painnewsnetwork.org/stori...yrica-capsules

Russell, Thanks for the article. Also the link to pain news network has some great info. and articles, so thanks for the link to that too. Check it out. ~mac

I was not aware of the recall. I consumed them all. I guessed I did not notice much changes.

The date on the article is 2016 so I would assume it's all clear now. I take Lyrica and haven't noticed any issues with it.

I take gabapentin. Noticed something odd, I was taking brandname, so Pfizer. They suddenly let through the pain; same dose as always. Been taking this 16, nearly 17 years now. But they were "imported" (from Spain) boxes, with stickers on, very odd appearance. So I thought at first they look funny, they must not be "the real deal".

Went to the pharmacy, no it was supposed to be all "stickered up" like that. They can import from other countries, but odd that, because when they were from Belgium I had no issues. Contacted Pfizer, they would not believe me, blah blah, they CAN import etc. Got the brush off. Contacted my government agency. They didn't investigate, took Pfizer's word.

I went generic!!! 1/cheaper 2/worked & still works like a charm. No more pain that came/comes through. So something must have been up!!! I noticed an immediate difference (well within a couple days) when taking the off-brand. Much much better.

I mean... What kind of world do we live in, when a "customer" tells you that there is something up with your meds and you won't even investigate!

Wow CRPSbe, that's crazy!! I can't believe that. In the US all complaints have to be thoroughly investigated. But we mostly get generics because insurance companies don't want to pay for brand name. I only ever get brand name when there's no generic available or a shortage on the generic. And then I pay double or more even though it's not my fault. Welcome to US healthcare LOL.

How is Belgium for pain management? I actually had a rather pleasant experience with a hospital outside of Bruges when I broke my foot on holiday.It was like night and day from US hospitals - I had to pay some small amount up front and then they tracked me down in the US and refunded all but the equivalent of $50 USD. Here an ER visit is thousands and usually at a bare minimum you're paying $250 in copays.

Anyways, sorry, tangent - do y'all have good pain management for CRPS or chronic conditions? It's a dream of mine to move to Belgium or the Netherlands some day and I've had a few work opportunities to do so but hesitate not knowing what the situation with opioids is over there.

Yeah, what can I say. OTOH we have generalized health care, OTOH we are taxed to death (like a family where both parents work, they pay 50/60% taxes on their income). All to keep the entire social structure alive, including health care.

But still, I do pay €120-150 per month on medications, out of pocket, with the social / health care system in place!

I went on a pain management program 2004, had my accident and the start of CRPS in 1995. So... it took a while.

But nowadays, I feel that patients are faster referred to pain management and that CRPS is also discovered way faster than it used to be. Whether or not you get adequate pain management really depends on your individual situation. But they aren't anti-strong pain medicine when it is *genuinely* needed, but this also depends doctor to doctor.

Pros and cons to both scenarios I guess! Our taxes are lower but we pay a lot more in medical care ...but we don't have to wait very long usually.

Sometimes in bigger cities, for "popular" doctors or pain teams (Leuven/Louvain) there is a 3 month waiting list. If you go elsewhere, you might not have a waiting list at all. It greatly depends here. I went locally, because I did not want to travel to Leuven/Louvain, and I got a great doctor here who put together a pain program that works for me, and he worked with my GP/PCP and so... Yeah. 2004 since I got on this program; 2021 now and it's still the same. No need to steer it in a different direction, and everything is still as effective as on day 1.

It goes usually fast here too.

And yes, pros and cons to every system, but at least you don't lose the roof over your head if you have something incurable or serious. There is that!