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Coming off pregabalin

Posted , 4 users are following.

mikew2801
mikew2801

I am taking 200mg of Pregabalin on a daily basis to treat generalised anxiety disorder. It also helps with my insomnia.

Unfortunately I have moved abroad and I am running out of the drug, and there may be a delay before I can get further supply. I am seriously considering coming off the drug, as it looks as if the situation may not resolve itself.

My question is simply has anyone had experience with tapering off this medication from the 200mg mark? I have been on it for about 5 months now. I plan to start off taking 150mg a day for about a week, then reduce by 50mg every week. 

I tried stopping it abruptly once before and had terrible rebound insomnia.

Would be grateful for any experience.

 

0 likes, 3 replies

3 Replies

  • Sneakypete
    Sneakypete mikew2801

    Posted

    Hey Mike. I'm weening off 225mg after being on it for close to a decade. The bad news is that those who take it for GAD often have a hell of a time coming off this drug. I've gone from 225 to 50 and its taken me a year to get here. Do some research by googling Lyrica withdrawal. There is a very wide range of experience with the drug so you may have it easier than most. Reducing your dose 10% per month is the safest way to go. Those that go cold turkey tend to suffer for months. 
  • Inmate88
    Inmate88 mikew2801

    Posted

    Hi Mike. Im on 600mg for GAD (also help with chronic insomnia) and am having extreme difficulty lowering.

    I decided to quit cold turkey, and after afew days of feeling like I had a really bad cold.. I felt fine.

    But I ended up back on it as I couldnt cope - anxiety wise. After a few months I decided to try tapering. I found my anxiety was worse on 550mg and it never improved or felt manageable, which then would have enabled me to reduce down further. I was completely stuck.

    Now I'm now using a compounding pharmacy and reducing down in smaller amounts.

  • nstar
    nstar mikew2801

    Posted

    Hi, when I was on 175mg and had horrible side effects when weening off as well. Insomnia was one of them. I tried reducing the amounts by 50mg too, but found i felt the affects pretty immensely. Instead, I scaled back 10mg every 2 weeks, I know it sounds like such a little amount, but this was the only way my body could handle the withdrawl. It took a long time, but worked!

    Good luck.

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