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Do you suffer from lack of recall etc whilst taking Lyrica?

Posted , 6 users are following.

Glor888
Glor888

Hi, 

I know there are a lot of us taking Lyrica, so I just wondered if anyone else noticed a lack of recall, being slower on the uptake, spelling mistakes, visualising an object and knowing what the object is but the word just won't come out? That sort of thing.

Has anyone researched Pregabalin (Lyrica)? I have, but my son always says don't believe everything you read on the Internet.

It's bad enough I'm having problems now with increasing my dosage gradually. I tried 75mg and had weird side effects so had to come back down to 50mg.

I know as a pensioner there's bound to be a slowness and some memory problems as the brain cells die out bit by bit. But as my Dad used to say, yes, and they can be reactivated aswell lol.

But this slowness etc is bugging me.

Over Christmas my family and I played Articulate, everyone was a lot quicker at answering questions they knew accept for me,I just couldn't think of it even though I knew some of them. It was so frustrating. 

Im actually reducing the dosage down to 25mg now for the next week and then I'm going to see my Dr. At the moment my left leg keeps giving way and I'm getting awful sweats at night. I've only had 3hrs sleep.

Gloriana

0 likes, 25 replies

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  • wanganui
    wanganui Glor888

    Posted

    Dear Gloriana,I am sooo afraid of Lyrica these days yet there was a time when I called it my miracle drug as it did get me out of a bottomless pit of pain.......further down the line and on 600 mg the side effects crept up ...other people noticed not me,I felt on a high all the time,could conquer the world! But I rolled my car several times and came out alive.Last year I weaned off to 25 mg and the withdrawal effects were a hellish nightmare not from the larger dose drop but the smaller drops as is often the case in drug withdrawal .So here I am on 25 mg which does nothing for pain or anxiety but I have yet to get the courage up to do this next stage of withdrawal.I would never go back on the high dose even though I was pain free,the side effects were too much.My daughter like your son says likewise re the net but they are young and maybe have not suffered side effects from drugs.We are way more cautious.Also they don't like seeing their mums in pain .....why not try smother drug if you are able especially as you are having a lot of trouble with Lyrica.Happy New Year!
    • wanganui
      wanganui

      Posted

      That should read try another ....my iPad!!!
    • wanganui
      wanganui

      Posted

      New Years Eve...how are you ? Did you get down to the 25 mg of Lyrica? I am having some better days and await to see pain management clinic in February.Happy New Year!
    • Glor888
      Glor888 wanganui

      Posted

      Hope everything goes ok for you in February. Good luck with your last mg of Lyrica. Let us know how you get on.

      Im going to grab some Baileys now lol. Happy New Year!

    • Glor888
      Glor888 wanganui

      Posted

      Hi Wanganui

      Wow 600mg is a lot, I just about reached 200mg and soon had to drop again. It was like playing yo-yo.

      Ive dropped down to 25mg now, 2nd day and that's it I'm off them. I won't be able to discuss with my GP until Tuesday now. So I will just have to pop Paracetomol and stay dumb for hrs if TN plays up.

      I think you should stop 25mg or you could always cut them in half and go another week that way. Our bodies can only do better without drugs rather than worse.

      I think from now on I will be checking all Non-labelled drugs that are prescribed for me from now on. Or I may even think about Homepathy remedies. Someone else on here mentioned this.

      Ill let you know next week how I get on.

      Good luck to you and a Happy New year.

       

    • wanganui
      wanganui Glor888

      Posted

      Good morning Gloriana! Are you now off the pregabalin? If so how did it go? Thinking if you......
  • Baudwalker
    Baudwalker Glor888

    Posted

    I would suggest you are right on every point.

    I also get the stumbles walking as well as everything you identified.

    I thought it was my keyboard that had forgotten how to spell but I was wrong

    I am on 100mg 3 times a day but the symptoms seems to be reducing so I am off to see the GP about reducing this. I believe changing dose sizes without supervision can be a problem.

    I would like to think it is in remission but I would wrong if I start dropping everything. I am also on chemo so I have no idea what is effecting what so I will wait a while. 3 chemo sessions (9weeks) to go and I will review things after that

    • Glor888
      Glor888 Baudwalker

      Posted

      Hi Baudwalker

       

      My wobbly, weak legs are a lot better now since I've reduced to 25mg. I will have to persevere with the pain for now until I see/speak to my Dr next week when I will have finished them.

      Have you seen your GP yet re your reduction in dosage?

      I really hope everything goes ok after your Chemo too. Fingers crossed. 

      How long have you been taking Lyrica now?

      Will chat again soon. 

      Happy New Year!

  • Valkyrie
    Valkyrie Glor888

    Posted

    Hi Gloriana, I am on 450mg Lyrica and 900mg Tegretol and the Lyrica is far far worse than Tegretol. I have a memory like a person with Altzeimers, its so frustrating.. I not only know the word, I can almost see it in the air before me but I just can't say it. This is a daily thing and my husband is now used to me saying "um, it's the round thing you put in the sink" and he says "the sink plug?" yes. It's like some macabre guessing game. We do laugh about it but it's frightening actually. Lyrica also seems to be making fluid collect in my feet and ankles and gives me a kind of flip of the wrist jerk from time to time at random which has seen teacups full of tea vault the kitchen counter and smash on the floor. Last week it was a full jar of mustard pickles..
    • dawn90956
      dawn90956 Valkyrie

      Posted

      At the moment I am on 1200 mg off tegretol i take them every 4 hours through the day I ad a half a tablet, pain is reducing, I also get flip or jerks of the wrists, I also get times off Altzeimers. I think I have been able to manage the pain, now not using any pain killers, but scared of the amount of tegrotol I'm using seeing my GP today to discuss this, I dont want tot come of it as it has reduced the pain.

       

    • Valkyrie
      Valkyrie dawn90956

      Posted

      Wow. That does seem like an enormous amount of Tegretol. I know people sometimes go above 1000mg for a short time but I was under the impression that 1000mg was generally the highest dose. My Neuro recently said that he finds Tegretol slow release work better than the regular ones and you only have to take them 12 hourly. Maybe that is something to ask as well. Also neurologists often have Tegretol along with some other drug as a helper so neither drug gets taken to excess. My Gp will discuss this stuff with me but all drug changes have to be made by my neurologist as GP says he is out of his depth and does not have that kind of training/knowledge
    • Glor888
      Glor888 Valkyrie

      Posted

      Hi Valkyrie

      I now have problems with Lyrica, and last year could no longer take Tegretol, yet you're taking both. Crikey, I'd definitely be like a zombie and crash out too if I were on both. No wonder youre having problems.

      Do you think if you came off Lyrica you'd feel any better? 

      you could always increase the dosage of Tegretol couldn't you?

      Have you seen your GP and told him about your mishaps?

    • Glor888
      Glor888

      Posted

      Whoops, meant to say Happy New Year! Lol
    • Grex
      Grex dawn90956

      Posted

      Hi,

      That's a lot of Tegretol. Since my remission, after 6 months, I have TN again but it's different. It's on the top lip only but the pain is there when I touch my lip for eating and talking. It's the same pain that goes straight to the head but not quite so electric shock, if you know what I mean. In the old days Tegretol used to work fine but it doesn't seem to. Same goes for Lyrica. I wonder if this is a different type of TN.

      Cheers

    • Valkyrie
      Valkyrie Glor888

      Posted

      Unfortunately, I can't increase the Tegretol because I also take Warfarin ( because I have a mechanical heart valve). I have reduced the Lyrica by 25mg last week and am attempting another 25mg reduction this week. I was surprised to only have a mild backlash from last week's reduction but am expecting something more this week. We can only try though. If I am successful, I will wait two whole weeks then try to drop 100mg Tegretol also. Who knows what I can get away with in the warmer weather we are currently having?
    • Valkyrie
      Valkyrie Grex

      Posted

      Do you find it less noticeable if you are busy or if you are standing up versus sitting down?
    • wanganui
      wanganui Valkyrie

      Posted

      Hi Valkyrie ,From my experience of withdrawing from Pregabalin is that the higher dose drops are easy,you need to watch withdrawals symptoms when you get down to 75mg.I found liquid pregabalin easier after 50 mg......only used it when I had horrific withdrawals from 50mg to 25 mg! How long have you been on it? The less time the less withdrawal effects.I had been on it a long time.Good luck and Happy New Year!
    • Valkyrie
      Valkyrie wanganui

      Posted

      Only since March 2015. Had Tn since 2011 but mild enough that I could do without any medication. Got severe in July 2014 very suddenly (overnight actually) and I went on 200mg a day Tegretol. The pain continued to get worse and worse until by March 2015 I was on 800mg Tegretol and the Neuro added Lyrica.
    • wanganui
      wanganui Valkyrie

      Posted

      Hopefully you should do okay with the withdrawal as you've not been on it long.How are you with the side effects  on Tegretol?
    • Valkyrie
      Valkyrie wanganui

      Posted

      I dont even notice them anymore. I see you are off to a pain management clinic in February. Please get back to us and let us know what they have to say. I am on a waiting list to see someone at a pain management clinic but they said that the waiting can be up to two years.
    • wanganui
      wanganui Valkyrie

      Posted

      Which country are you in? Two years seems a long time to wait.I am in the UK and the waiting time on the NHS for a specialist is usually three months,unless of course urgent.
    • Valkyrie
      Valkyrie wanganui

      Posted

      I am in Australia which usually means very short waiting times for everything medical and most of it paid by Medicare but unfortunately I am in Adelaide (capital of South Australia) where the pain clinic is held at the Royal Adelaide Hospital. This Hospital is currently in a fair bit of turmoil as they are in the middle of rebuilding as it was originally founded in 1841 so it need modernising for sure. Nearest other capital city is probably Melbourne (Capital of Victoria) which is 700km or 2 and a half hours by plane away so i cant really do regular attendances at any other pain clinic in the country.
    • wanganui
      wanganui Valkyrie

      Posted

      That is unfortunate ...a suggestion..could you attend the Melbourne clinic once ,take their advice re medication etc then go back to your doctor with that advice and work with him/ her.Your doctor  may well be pleased as doctors know little about this disease.
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