No withdrawals???

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Hi All

Not to be mad at yourself if Lyrica has caught you off guard. It was totally misrepresented by drug reps as non-addicting. Funny thing for me is that when I was completed off all drugs, my own doctor who had helped me off talkeed about me starting Lyrica for pain relief in lieu of the opiates. I was shocked and told him it was addictive. He said, "No, it is not." I told him about all the people I had met here with a problem with it and about research I had done. He just kind of stared at me and shook his head. The truth about this drug's addictive properties is learned from patients' storeies, not drug reps!

reach
 
I agree - personal experience trumps textbook knowledge, hanRAB down. I am getting a little frightened as I anticipate withdrawal from the Lyrica. I had been taking 150mg in the morning and 300mg at night for nerve pain. I have to admit, it helped a lot however "isn't that just my luck?" I find something that works for pain, but it turns out to be a medicine that I shouldn't be using.

Ugh.

Oh well, life goes on. I'm going to try not to dwell on it. I've decided to just go about my day as normal as possible and not over analyze. I just really hope the withdrawals aren't like that of Oxycontin or Suboxone.

Reach - again, thank you for the info.

Cburger - I hope all is well with you.

RegarRAB,
emsmom
 
I have been on lyrica as well as opiates and when I go to the hospital for some reason they don't give me the 300mg of lyrica I am supposed to get. I have yet to experience any withdrawals from stopping them for up to a week so maybe it won't be that bad for you.
 
i hear ya. i'm 35 and have had migraines since i was a kid and also have degerative disk disease (started when i was a tean) and a few disk herniations... both my issues are kind of mysterious since structurally there isnt something MAJORLY wrong showing up to case me all the pain, when my back goes out and i cant walk for days. i need to lose about 20 lbs and tighten the tummy. but otherwise, my solutions are muscle relaxors, pain meRAB and anti inflamatories... and sometimes neurontin, which did WONDERS!
ask about it... and post what the doctor says... mine always said it was safe even for short term.. like i could take 300mg a day for 2 weeks til my back calmed down... no taper... when i was up higher, then i would taper but i never felt any ill effects. i always keep some around cause you never know! you could pick up ap pencil wrong and be on the couch for a week!!!:dizzy:
 
OK, I'm not complaining at all, but I stopped Oxy last week after tapering down to 3mg a day (from a constant 10 mg for months) and I had ZERO withdrawals! I've used Oxycodone over the last 2 years (up to 80 mg) for pain and have abused it from time-to-time. I've also experienced the BAD withdrawals twice that lasted for weeks. That is what I expected this time, but zero, nada, nothing, zilch... No restless legs, no chills, no diarrhea, no spinning head, just nothing.

The last 4 nights I alternated between Vicodin 7.5 mg and Oxy 3mg. The only thing I started two weeks ago was Lyrica 150mg/day and I'm on nothing else.

I do have the cravings which seem to be the worse at night. Anyone have any ideas? Did I just luck out??

C
 
Thanks for the info Wendy!

Cburger, hopefully this may help you too. It's at least worth looking into.

emsmom
 
I'm doing well. What I learned about Lyrica sort of spun my head. I just didn't know that about it. I'm educated now. I know my Dr told be to reduce it slowly when I came off of it before, but I never noticed any w/d's, but that was probably because of the opiates I was still taking.

I have also noticed if I take more than 150 mg at once I start to see double. The first time it happened I didn't know what was causing it, but the 2nd time I was able to figure it out that it was the Lyrica causing it.

I'm off of the opiates now, which was my goal.
 
hi guys!
just a suggestion - what about neurontin for nerve pain? i use that one and off (and was once on it for 6 or 8 months ... 900 mg a day) for nerve pain in my back/ legs that even percocets werent totally about to quiet ... and it practically saved my life! it really cut down on the pain, the sciatica etc...
now, as far as i know, it's not habit forming. i never had an issue with it... coming on or off of it many times over the years when my back goes crazy. the only bad thing is if you go above 300 mg and keep that sustained level for a while, u may put on some pounRAB.
anyhow- just thought i'd suggest this one. maybe it's a "safer" choice? not sure... something to research! :)
 
Hey guys, I hope this isnt going to cause some people to freak out over what I'm about to say, but I figure it better knowing then not knowing. I saw a couple of people suggesting taking Neurontin (AKA-Gabapentin) instead of Lyrica because of it being safer. The thing is Lyrica IS essentially Neurontin, chemically it pretty much the same thing. The only difference between the two is that Lyrica is a concentrated form of neurontin, and thats it. So if a person was to take enough Neurontin, they would be taking the exact equivalent of Lyrica. Its yet another way to slip things by people when they arent looking.

Oh and BTW I posted something about using Neurontin in an "Off Label" manner a while back, and it may be worth people looking into as there were a nuraber of other medications suggested by people that might be used to help with withdrawl symptoms.


Just figured let everyone know before they go getting into something they'd rather not be in to start with.
 
Hey Wendy,

Thank you very much for the suggestion. I will talk to my pain doc about it. I was very very disappointed about Lyrica. It worked for me, I didn't have much back pain at all so I felt I was on a very good track regarding my recovery.

One of the hardest things to deal with once I weaned off of pain pills, was the pain. Although there is going to be pain associated with withdrawal, I continued to experience pain long after (the reason I began taking pills to begin with) so it was very frustrating.

I won't get my hopes up, however it's something to look forward to.

Again, thank you kindly.

RegarRAB,
emsmom
 
I was put on neurontin first then didnt get optimal results and tried Lyrica. It made me crazy, fuzzy brain, tongue tied, felt stupid, couldnt get worRAB straight, I would think of one word and another would come out. I didnt get the refill on the Lyrica through the VA, its insane trying to get some meRAB because they are so expensive. So I went off the Lyrica. I didnt feel great coming off of it, and didnt think I wanted to get it refilled anyway. Well, this week my PM doc re-prescribed Neurontin to me. Now I am back on it again I notice that it makes me a bit off kilter too. Double vision, get tired all of a sudden, cant think straight and muscle twitches. I dont know if I will stay on it, I am giving it another chance. I take 2 300s at night and 1 in the morning . I work 3 twelve hours a day and it makes work really hard. I work on as a unit clerk at a hospital and HAVE to be on top of things so I cant take the full dose (which is 2 300mg 3x day).
BUT if it works for you thats great, I wish it would work better for me. If you think about switching from Lyrica to Neurontin, you also will save a lot of money, as (I believe) it can be gotten as a generic (gabapentin).
Good luck.
 
jonsonben

Well you're not really gonna feel any sort of withdrawal as long as you're on opiates. The opiates are gonna mask any sort of withdrawal you might have, so you wouldnt feelanything at all really in that situation.
 
CS7

Hey give the Neurontin a chance. I was like you with it, kinda put me in a daze, and made me almost feel like I was drunk. I kept taking them though, and after like a week and a half, to two weeks all of that disappeared as my body got used to it. So you might want to give it a chance and keep taking it for a while and see what happens.....
 
Cburger;

You are very lucky. I have been on Lyrica for 3 yrs and had to stop taking it because it had a reaction with the Lamictal I take. I stopped the Lyrica and I had the worst withdrawals ever, AND Lyrica is not even classified as a narcotic. It lasted for 10 days and I didn't think I could do it. The reason that I stopped it was causing me to black out and also the weight gain. I have gained over 40 pounRAB. I had RNY Gastric Bypass 7 yrs ago and the pain med was Dilauid and I had a continuious drip and the hospital over did it and I was having withdrawals the first night out of the hospital. I flushed the Dilauid pills and struggled through the pain. I have had 30+ kidney stones. I am very medication tolerent. So with that said I wish you good luck with the Lyrica.
 
huh... interesting. i had no idea about that. my doctor who i really do trust, always told me how safe a med it was etc... but now i wonder.
it's kind of like how they market one of those quit smoking drug pills under one name (Zyban) and under another, it's a psychopharm for depression (Wellbutrin). so crazy. its not fair that drug companies etc arent honest about what they are selling to people who are going to be putting that product in their body. grurable grurable.
 
Hi C

It is the Lyrica keeping you out of withdrawals. It affects the same receptors as opiates. Although drug reps touted it as non-addictive, anecdotal evidence by thousanRAB of patients has shown they were so, so wrong. I do believe the company was actually sued over this.

Not sure what your plans are. Is this a med change or are you trying to stop all drugs? WHatever your goal, good luck.

reach
 
The good part of me likes the idea that I can have no withdrawals switching from opiates to Lyrica and the bad part of me, well... wants me to use it as an excuse to use the opiates and to come off when I need to without any withdrawal pain. I almost don't want to make this post because of the bad part.

In fact, I verified the no withdrawal part again because I ran out of the samples of Lyrica and I had to switch back to the opiates and then back to the Lyrica once I was able to get my prescription filled. Again, no withdrawals switching back and forth. Of course, I have not found out what it is like stopping the Lyrica. I know there's no free ride and it will catch up with me eventually.

In the meantime, the Lyrica seems to work. I'll see how it works after a few weeks of being on it. I've learned a lot about Lyrica from this post! Thanks!
 
Lyrica was something new to see if it would keep the arthritis pain in check. It is working and if it is hitting the same receptors that the opiates hit, that explains why. I decided on my own to stop the opiates, I guess because the Lyrica seemed to solve the pain problem. I've been on and off of Lyrica and I don't recall having any withdrawals from it, but most of the time I was taking the Oxy at the same time. Now, I'm only on the Lyrica. Thanks for the info.

C
 
I looked up Lyrica and sure enough, it can be used for opiate withdrawals. I learn something new everyday! :-)
 
Wow, I have been taking Lyrica for about eight months now and had NO idea that is can be used for opiate withdrawals. I am a little angry at the moment, and yet feeling a little stupid for not doing enough research.

Reach, thank you for your knowledge on Lyrica. I looked it up and sure enough, it should not be used by addicts whose drug of choice was opiates.

My hubby and I are going to wean me off of Lyrica starting tomorrow...

Disappointed,
emsmom
 
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