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pregabalin withdrawal

Posted , 7 users are following.

jaynerat
jaynerat

I was given pregabalin by my gyae for painful bladder syndrome about 2 months ago. I started off on low dose of 25mg and then slowly increased it weekly upto 150mg...this dose was causing lots of side effects like stomach ache and acid reflux so I visited my own GP christmas eve as I was in so much pain. My GP gave me some tablets to stop the acid and told me to come off pregabalin straight away (without tapering off). I was fine at first for a few days just had headache and felt my mood drop a little. Then it all started I woke up in the night with a servere left sided headache and neck ache, took two paracetamols and tried to get back to sleep. In the morning i drove to work I started feeling dizzy, anxious , crying as if I had lost control of my thoughts, I became very depressed within a short space of time and started to sweat, shake uncontrollably and massive panic attacks. I managed to see my GP that morning who said it wasnt caused by stopping the pregabalin and said I had an infection in my neck, he gave antibiotics and had a blood test (which came back fine so it wasnt an infection) Dr admitted that he didnt know much about pregabalin as he had only prescribed it a couple of times but he was still adament that it wasnt withdrawal from the pregabalin. I spoke to my Gyae on the phone who went mad about me coming off the tablets straight away and said that I needed to taper off them slowly. I am now on diazepam for the panic attacks and anxiety and back on pregabalin 50mg. I am due to see my Gyae tomorrow to come up with a plan to taper off these evil drugs. Has anyone else exprienced this kind of withdrawal coming off them cold turkey.....my advise is never just stop it was terrible. 

0 likes, 13 replies

13 Replies

  • louisa22485
    louisa22485 jaynerat

    Posted

    Hey I sympathise totally. I came off 300mg a day cold turkey and felt the same. It was awful but I battled it out for 4 weeks and now I am fine👍

    You should really taper off them though to reduce side effects.

    Be careful with the diazepam as its very addictive. Xx

    • jaynerat
      jaynerat louisa22485

      Posted

      I'll be careful with diazepam only taking when i need them but Dr told me 3 times a day!!!!!  only have took 3 over the past 4 days just to take the edge off the panic attacks. Are you off pregabalin now and if so how did you find the tapering just a bit worried thats all about doing it, dont want those horrible withdrawals back.
    • louisa22485
      louisa22485 jaynerat

      Posted

      I didn't taper I just stopped and for 4 weeks felt dreadful. I thought I was going crazy, was an emotional wreck and very tired and agitated.

      If you are only on a low dose now I imagine the symptoms won't be so severe.

      Stick with it and you will be fine, don't let it beat you. X

  • grey0417
    grey0417 jaynerat

    Posted

    jaynerat:

    Yes, I have also had side effects with Lyrica.  If your Doctor told you to cease this medication abruptly, he is, for better words, an idiot or a quack.  Lyrica acts as a nerve soother, blocking calcium channel electrical stimulus, and allowing nerves to "rest" and not keep transmitting errant pain signals.  The drug directly controls electrical stimulus and neuro-transmission, it takes a while for lyrica to build up in the system, and requires a slow and gradual increase on start up, otherwise you will have harsher side effects.  The same goes for the down side.  sudden removal of this medication causes over active stimulus in the body, (i.e. possible anxiety/panic attacks, restlessness, overt pain, difficulty focusing, tremors, etc.)

    Stick with Lyrica, it is an excellent drug with unknown potential for off-label applications.  

    My wierdist side effects so far:  A funny tingling in my scalp.  I am 55 years old and have to go to the loo 4-5 times a night, with Lyrica I can go 12-14 hours without having to make a johnny run.  Restless leg went away big time.  Some hand tremors, I think the calcium blocking is affecting local motor response in my muscles.  Well that's about it, But, my neuropathic pain is a tenth of what it use to be....  God Bless....

    • jaynerat
      jaynerat grey0417

      Posted

      thanks for sharing that grey0417. I slowly went on these tablets starting at 25mg and slowly building up to 150mg had the fuzzy head etc but nothing major. The thing that was affected was my stomach and servere acid reflux that felt like an ulcer had formed. That is the reason I went to the Dr surgery on Christmas Eve. My own doctor wasnt on duty so saw the duty doctor. He asked me what I was taking the pregabalin for which I told him for bladder pain, that is when he told me to stop them straight away, I did question this with him and asked if that would be ok due to withdrawal symptoms i had read, he said yes it is ok for you just to stop them. 

      since then I have visited my Gyae last night who told me I shouldnt have stopped them and gave me a plan to decrease them slowly over 4/5 weeks.

      She is writing a letter to the said Doctor to advise him so he is aware of these tablets (obviously the Doctor had no exprience in precribing these tablets. I feel a lot better now and I have levelled out, so as from next week I start the tapering. wish me luck!!!!

  • rosemary62797
    rosemary62797 jaynerat

    Posted

    beware pregab, I took 28 x 25mg caps over 21 days,  instant addiction, I am struggling to get of .57 of 1 ml, withdrawal is as bad as side effects, I felt better without it ,but psctrist said it would help me slep, it didnt, it had me flying and hallucinating, started july 2014, still having problems,  fell like am being  eaten alive, am housebond ,just abt bedbound, and only get out house to see dr. , affectd every part of my body,  guts mainly, am just abt legless, loss of balance, no appetite, stick thin, never felt so ill in my life, do be very careful. xx rosie
    • grey0417
      grey0417 rosemary62797

      Posted

      That was one of the side effects I forgot to mention to jaynerat, I did have mild to moderate hallucinations when I first started Lyrica, and my sleep/dreams were very strange to frightening.  This abated after two months, and I don't notice any side effects now after a year on this med.
  • dinky_dee
    dinky_dee jaynerat

    Posted

    Hi everyone seems to be saying that this drug causes stomach upset? Does it do this at 25mg? I have IBS & have been prescribed it for GAD. I've found that all the ADs I've been on have given me really bad IBS symptoms so this is a last resort thing to help with anxiety. 
    • grey0417
      grey0417 dinky_dee

      Posted

      This is one I really don't get dinky, for some reason doctors in the UK and europe use this for GAD when there are so many excellent drugs targeted just for GAD, again, it doesn't add up.  Ask for Zoloft for your GAD, I use it, and it has virtually no side effects for me, (other than insomnia, so I take it in the morning, no issues.)  No stomach upset for me, but I have a pretty strong gut...
    • jaynerat
      jaynerat dinky_dee

      Posted

      Hi Dinky I also suffer with IBS and have diverticulosis at the lower dose it didnt seem to affect me but as i increased the dose upto 150mg I got bad acid reflux and stomach ache so that is why i am coming off them. I am back down to 50mg now and my stomach is fine, no acid reflux or anything.
    • dinky_dee
      dinky_dee grey0417

      Posted

      Hi I've been on sertraline before, it doesn't agree with me. I'm now having to stop this Lyrica, been on it for 14 days started 25mg for around 8-10days then as soon as I've upped it to 50mg ( days on that dose) I've come out in paintful urticaria with hives all down my legs, rash on my stomach also & upper arms, lots of other side effects too. this is the 2nd drug I've taken with an allergic reaction to. I've stopped taking it & been put on a strong antihistamine. Really annoyed with the last doctor I saw, tried to prescribe venaflaxine straight away & I refused to get over this drug & it's nasty side effects. He also didn;t listen mentioning chronic urticaria may be my problem. Er no, this is a bad reaction to the drug with other side effects as listed in the uncommon 1 in 1000 section on the leaflet. I'm getting sick of doctors with their russian roulette of meds. I really don't know what is going on in my body but it's not liking psychotropic drugs lately. Feel so ill today was temped to call an ambulance.
  • bobb89972
    bobb89972 jaynerat

    Posted

    Deatr Janerat,  Four or five years ago I .  gradually increased my pregabalin dosage to 300mg daily.  This dosage, along with requip for RLS, and four or five other meds helped me control my restless leg symptoms and other various maladies.  Lately my RLS has gotten worse and my doctor sugested that I cut out the pregabalin. 

    Like you, I was in a hurry to stop and didn't taper off.  After two days of 'cold turkey'  I also suffered 'panic' attacks and haven't slept for three days due to constant body  movement because of what i would describe as restless leg syndrome throughout my whole body.,  I plan on getting back (gradually) on pregabalin or some other Dr. recommened alternative. I agree  with your advice to never stop anything 'cold turkey'

    c'ept maybe cigarettes. 

  • TaraTBox
    TaraTBox jaynerat

    Posted

    I've been on zoloft for about six months for the ptsd and anxiety I have. I was just put onto lyrica fir fibromyalgia and nerve damage from many accidents I've been in, the last one causing a traumatic brain injury and occipital nerve damage on my scalp and neck - and nerve damage throughout my spine.

    My rheumatologist is who prescribed the lyrica.

    Today is my 3rd day on 75mg twice daily for two weeks. I'm supposed to increase to 75mg in the morning and 2, 75mg at night for two weeks, and wind up at 2, 75mg twice daily for a dose of 300mg.

    I'm currently on 200mg zoloft. I also take mobic for bone and ligament pain.

    My biggest concern with coming off of any medication is whether your body's genes are meant to metabolize then in the first place.

    I was having a horrific time with trying different medications, because my body was rejecting them and I was having terrible side effects. For this reason, my Dr gave me a geneSight test which tells every practitioner you see what medications your body can and cannot metabolize, and which ones are in the middle (neutral) zone.

    Every insurance and state medical coverage covers it. If you make less than 50,000 a year, it costs 30 if you have no insurance at all.

    This simple gene test saved my life and has helped me since. It may help all of you as well. smile I truly hope it does. It literally changed my entire quality of care and how/what is done for my various medical issues.

    I'm following this thread because if I should ever have to come off lyrica, I want to know what to expect. I'm so sorry you all have had such horrible battles with this (and any other medication withdrawing) at all. Good health & Good luck, all.

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