Off Lyrica, Ouch!
 

Well I've been off of Lyrica for a few months now and my pain level has continued to increase. I had no pain to speak of while taking 300mg of Lyrica daily and noticed a slight pain increase when dropping to 150mg but very tolerable. Now that I've been off for more than 3 months and this drug has cleared out of my system, my pain level has increased to a non-comfortable level.

My activity level has lessoned but my mind is clear and fully functioning (sometimes a scary proposition). My interests have returned and I feel like my old self but am in more pain than I'd like. My pm has given me a Lidacaine patch, Tramadol and when needed, Norco. I take Celebrex daily and a muscle relaxer when indicated. Still, I'm hurting.

My dilemma; I so enjoy being able to depend on my mind and do not want to get back on Lyrica. I feel in control again, something I didn't even know was missing. I so don't like being in this much pain, sometimes localized in my back but more often radiating down. Most times my left leg feels like a lead weight.

I realize no one can help me made this decision and I'm leaning toward living with the pain and an even more limited lifestyle... but if anyone's had any success with other meds that don't interfere with thought processes, please let me know.

Thanks, Dale

Hi Dale,

I've never taken Lyrica, but I hated the brain fog that Neurontin gave me. I knocked it off several times, only to feel the "Wham... that's how much relief you were getting from it." As much as I hated being stupid, it was worth it for the relief. Like most... my docs wanted to ramp me up to 3600 mg/day and I never went for it. I stayed on 900... only took the 4th pill for 1200mg/day to help sleep occasionally.

The point of my post is to suggest that maybe high doses are not necessary for substantial relief. If you could get substantial relief on a smaller dose and experience only a partial exit of your personality, brains, interests, etc... maybe that would be a worthwhile compromise. Talk it over with your pain doc.

All the best... see you soon....

Mark

my brain or my pain
 

I have missed that sharpness of mind as well while on Neurontin yet the pain that I feel when taking it down isn't worth it to me as it's so debilitating and excruciating even. Not even a option in my case~ w/o the pain effectively covered my brain is just overprocessing pain signals anyway.

For me the trade-off is easy. I'm taking 3200mg Neurontin and the relief is worth the brain fog. I'd like to move off all meds for a while to get rebaselined, but I don't know if I'll be able to make myself do it.

I just started lyrica a week ago. I am only at 50mg and I am having so much vertigo and nausea. I feel terrible and have spent 2 of 6 days in bed taking phenergan for the nausea. I have noticed a slight decrease in the nerve type burning pain. Has anyone had this reaction and were they able to adjust somewhat to it. I am so bad with nausea...I would rather have pain than vertigo, nausea and vomiting. I don't drink for that same reason! Any help?

Can't say I had those symptoms when beginning Neurontin before switching to Lyrica but since I got pretty sick when withdrawing, I would assume you're not alone. Have you discussed these symptoms with your doctor? How long might you expect to feel this way?

These drugs are very worth taking if needed as they do provide the necessary relief. If it's just a matter of your body getting used to the drug and you do need it, I'd suggest sticking with it for a little while longer.

Good luck, Dale

Question for All
 

What are the withdrawals like from these Neurontin-type drugs. Everyone talks about the side effects when you're increasing dosage. I'm wondering what to expect when I try to cut back.

Many thanks,

Jim,

Most people were pretty surprised that I had withdrawal symptoms, especially after experiencing nothing when coming off of Dilaudid. However, for me, my stomache was upset for the entire 3 months I was coming down, and had intermittant bouts with dizziness, nausea and earaches. I do believe I could have decreased faster than once every 2 weeks but I wanted to evaluate my pain levels too. Ultimately, it took about another 3 months before the drug completely left my system.

Though my pain has definitely increased as a result, I like life better without the drug.

Good luck, Dale

I tapered off of Neurontin several times without withdrawals, but my highest dose was 1200mg/day, which is relatively low. With my surgery, I stopped taking them all at once, which you are not supposed to do. When we realized the mistake, I'd been off for 4 days and my leg pain was gone (thanks to the surgery.) It seemed like a stupid idea to start up, just to taper... so I stayed off them.

Jim, when I stopped taking the Neurontin prior to my surgery, what I learned was how much they were helping. For me, it was a gradual increase of the leg pain. Tough to tell because I was always in pain and the change was so gradual. However, many days later, I could really tell that my leg pain was a much bigger component of my problem.

Take care... it was great to see you again... thanks for stopping by.

All the best,

Mark