Tolerance Withdrawal

Hi Dorrymatt.

There's a great support group on FB called Lyrica survivors. Worth joining and sharing your experience as I'm sure you're not alone. I have never taken the drug but my husband did.  I lost him suddenly last year and I believe that Lyrica contributed to it. Take care of yourself Lesley x

Yes this craving has been documented. Some patients have too many side effects to even consider upping the dose (maximum is 600mg daily) but others find Pregabalin worked for a while at a certain dosage then needed upping for the same relief. This drug alters your brain chemistry and central nervous system, it is very powerful. Although GP's may tell you that it is not addictive, the body quickly becomes dependent on it. It only takes one week to start changing the brain chemistry but it can take an awful long time to come off and the withdrawals can be very challenging indeed. Anyone considering coming off this drug must never go Cold Turkey - this can cause seizures (Read the accompanying leaflet). As it was originally meant for control of seizures this is hardly surprising. If you have any further questions, please ask and I will do my best to help.

 

Thank you Lesley and Elizabeth. I have been on Lyrica since December 2007. I have Non Hodgkin's lymphoma and before I was diagnosed I had six months from hell. I had pneumonia followed by ppleurisy then shingles. As my Lymphoma was transforming from low grade to high grade, everything I had was exacerbated. I had post herpetic neuralgia - the pain was way beyond normal and I could not bear anything, including clothes and bed linen on my skin. I was put on gabaprentin but a neurologist put me on pregabalin. Chemotherapy helped with these symptoms a bit. I was on the max dose but had to come down to 375 mg a day due to damaged kidneys because of chemo. I brought myself down further to 150mg a day about 4 years ago. I also take amitriptyline with them. 

Also when I was in hospital they gave me lorazepam (Ativan) and I took these for six years then I hit tolerance Withdrawal in that my body was experiencing severe withdrawal symptoms despite the fact I was still taking them. I was diagnosed with Ménière's disease but it turned out to be the Withdrawal. It took my 2 dreadful years to taper off those dreadful tablets.

Now I am having mild (as yet) symptoms similar to the above, internal mild tremours, sound silly but my teeth feel 'sensitive' and I feel queasy when I look at the computer for so long.

Oh my dear, you do have a lot of problems and yes I can quite see that Pregablin would have been of help to you with your pain. You have been on it for 10 years which is a very long time and your body may well be shouting at you to go back up to maximum dose. You seem caught between the devil and the deep blue sea. Have you been able to see a Neurologist again to discuss this? Gabapenten is the sister drug to Pregabalin but much less powerful so again I can see why you were prescribed it. You did extremely well to come off Ativan with all the withdrawals involved and you have courage and strength which enabled you to do this. However, you need pain control and this needs to be addressed by the Consultant or Neurologist before you can make any major decisions about whether Pregabalin is still suitable for you or not. I have my own opinions about Pregabalin and believe it to be a terrible man made chemical cosh that should never be handed out the way it is now for all sorts of issues. Having said that I am not a Doctor, just one the many patients who have been given this drug and can only speak of my own experience. Currently I am slowly tapering off and it has taken nearly all year so far to get down to 50mg x 2 daily. The withdrawals have been extremely unpleasant even coming down by 5mg a time and stabilising for however long it took ( sometimes a week, sometimes 3/4 weeks). If after consulting your medics you ever wish to taper off Pregabalin then please post again and I will do all I can to support and help you. I wish you a much better, brighter future, Liz

I have been taking 25mg Pregabalin for about 9-12months and because they make me sleepy daytime as well as night time,I asked  if I could withdraw and was told yes and to take one every other night until my next visit to Rheui which will be in November. I feel that I am having withdrawal symptoms as I often feel weepy and out of sorts is this possible