Misc Lyrica and opioid MU-agonism

[Etterwonde]

Hi all,

I don't know what it is with Lyrica (Pregabalin), but I am almost convinced it also has some opioid Mu properties. For instance, last friday I forgot to go and take my Methadone. Not a big problem, one day skipping your 'done shouldn't make you too sick. But the day after, saturday, I overslept, which meant I did not only miss my saturday dose of Methadone, but also my sunday dose, since the pharmacies are closed on sundays.

Normally, I would feel like shit when I went three days without my Methadone, but I've been taking Lyrica for a few months now, and it just took away all of the withdrawal symptoms. And I really mean this in a hard way: Suboxone wouldn't even have come close to relieving the withdrawal symptoms of Methadone! I just felt normal, like I would if had taken my Methadone each day.

Also, I have noticed that the withdrawal symptoms of Pregabalin are extremely similar, if not identical, to the withdrawal of opioids. I know that the mechanism of Pregabalin isn't fully understood, but there HAS to be some opioid activity at work, and not a weak one as well.

Can anyone relate to this or can someone explain why this happens?

By the way: Lyrica, for me, is a wonder drug. It takes away almost all of my social anxiety and enables me to have normal conversations with people I don't know. Also, it seems to boost my self-esteem by quite a bit. And what's even better: I don't seem to experience any side-effects from it! It seems that I found the holy grail for a lot of my problems with Lyrica...

Thanks in advance!

 

[Mr_Pin]

Wish I had the same experience with pregabalin :/

 

[candidsurprise]

I'm interested in this also. If gabapentinoids such as lyrica are acting on the opioid receptors this is a big problem for me because I have a careful rotation of drugs that I use each week involving opioids and gabapentinoids (amongst many other things). I wanna avoid mu-opioid agonism more than two days a week at all costs. Well I say that, but I also use tianeptine on two other days a week, but only at therapeutic doses

Also OP, do you know anything about whether the same sort of 'opioid tinge' to lyrica withdrawals is shared with gabapentin? I'm using gabapentin instead of lyrica atm because it gets the job done, but I was considering moving up to lyrica. Ofc if the two are different in this respect I'll avoid lyrica just out of caution.

 

[Speed King]

OP, I get what your saying about Lyrica/pregabalin effects. There is no proof of opiate receptor activity with pregabalin.

I can say that if this drug is used incorrectly, the nice, pleasant feelings like anxiety relief, will go away quick.

Afa feeling like an opiate, it seems to lack any direct dopamine activity. That was my opinion.

If you are on Gabapentin and it does the job, you really don’t have to switch. If taken correctly, they both work great..

 

[JackARoe]

I have thought of this too with gabapentin. But maybe in the way it helps nerve pain it helps cut off sensations? Like the sensation of chills, pain, anxiety. Yet that would not explain the boost in energy they give in opiate withdrawal too at least for me.

I think the most fascinating thing with some of these drugs is that they are freely given with full understanding on how they work. But I know they do work for opiate withdrawal in my experience. And however they work now it is known they have their own withdrawal issues if taken everyday.

 

[ConstanceG]

So this is what my doctor said, in basic simple terms.
Opioids block the signals of pain from coming into the brain.
Lyrica blocks the signals going out to the nerves.

 

[Keif' Richards]

You're a little late to the party my friend! Gabapentinoids, including Pregabalin (Lyrica) are wonderful medications for mitigating withdrawal. I can practically trade one for the other. I can be in full withdrawal, but under the influence of Pregabalin, I feel fine, meanwhile my nose is running, I'm yawning repeatedly, etc. So, I think given the fact that I still experience the physical symptoms of withdrawal, it would seem unlikely that the drug in question works directly upon the Opioid receptors, but I'm just a layperson and this is just opinion.

 

[JackARoe]

i speak from personal experience when i say do not abuse these drugs if you want to keep their opiate-replacing properties intact. high dose abuse is great to kick opiates but after a few times it won't work like that anymore, for whatever reason, and as for me regardless of how much pregab/gaba i take now, i can't achieve the positive effects they once had.

The highest I ever went was 3600 mgs. That was high for me. I have read a lot here and there seems to be people that have tolerance last forever and others say it goes away in a few days. But then again I have also seen people say they took 10,000 mgs and do that regularly. Then some people said they felt it once and never again. And others that never felt a damn thing. I can say though at twice a month when I need it to carry me through it works. But abuse is a broad term.

Thanks for that though xivixve. That is a good warning for people that don't take it everyday and would like it to keep working.

 

[keeping]

You're a little late to the party my friend! Gabapentinoids, including Pregabalin (Lyrica) are wonderful medications for mitigating withdrawal. I can practically trade one for the other. I can be in full withdrawal, but under the influence of Pregabalin, I feel fine, meanwhile my nose is running, I'm yawning repeatedly, etc.

do y0u just take your usual pregab dose Keif or do you up it a bit when facing down WDs?

 

[Keif' Richards]

do y0u just take your usual pregab dose Keif or do you up it a bit when facing down WDs?

Actually, that's an interesting question man. I've never been "dependent" per se upon Gabapentinoids. I've been prescribed them for years, but have always used them in a more or less, binge/abstinence cycle. In the end, I think that's for the best, because I would hate to use the consistently, chronically and not be able to access their benefit whatsoever without an extended break.

So, with that in mind, the amount that I might take just for "recreation/stimulatory" purposes is pretty much the same as the dosage I take when I'm in the midst of Opioid withdrawal. It's strange like that, but I never feel the need to exceed the dosage more that 15%-20% maybe. If you put some Cannabis in front of me or some Benzodiazepines while enduring the same, I will at least double, if not triple my standard dosage in an attempt to overcome the increased distress.

Of course, this doesn't mean that I don't take ridiculously high dosages of Pregabalin/Gabapentin, due to these drugs' wicked fast onset of tolerance.

 

[LucidSDreamr]

I've read from what I believe we're well informed members on here that lyrica results in dopaminergenic release downstream in it's action. I can totally see that as true based on that clean euphoria it gives about 5 hours in.

If this is true...there's your answer....same reason meth or Adderall are known to mask withdrawal

 

[Keif' Richards]

^I've never found Amphetamines or Alcohol to "mask" withdrawal. They've always made it significantly worse, even when I'm under the influence.