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Lyrica - How does this NOT effect serotonin... dopamine...?

D

DexyDevil

Bluelighter
Joined
Jul 20, 2012
Messages
186
I understand that Lyrica, which I'm currently prescribed taking two 150mg capsules a day, has its effect due to the blockage of calcium channels... blah, blah... and somehow this results in extra GABA (yay!). But it DOES NOT bind to any GABA receptors. Fine, I buy that.

However, a few high dose experiences have led me to feel that someone up at Pfiser is hiding something. The first time I took a recreational dose I overdid it a little, ingesting 1,200mg. I started to fill the bathtub with warm water and bubbles while I waited for it to take effect. Several moments later I felt a bit dissociated. I remember hoping that wasn't the extent of the high. It wasn't...

Within five minutes my senses were overwhelmed; touch was electric; colors popped bright as can be; the water in the tub connected with the tips of my fingers and sent a joyous, explosive message to my brain.

I remember fully believing I had found the ultimate drug. I just can't describe the psychedelic relaxation/stimulation... as if that makes sense.

Anyway, I don't mean for this to be a trip report. I want to know, HOW DOES THIS DRUG NOT EFFECT SEROTONIN?!! DOPAMINE?!!!

I'm sorry, but there is no way these effects were produced by a mild and indirect increase in GABA. If somebody gives you a Lortab and the next thing you know the walls are melting, you'll figure you ingested a little something besides hydro and Tylenol.

So how does Lyrica really work???????
 
Lyrica is a fantastically wonky weird drug but those recreational effects that you are getting will disappear if you keep trying to get a buzz off it. I'd limit to only taking such doses every few weeks or so.
 
I had a similarly psychedelic and stimulated experience with gabapentin, a drug of which Lyrica is a refined version. It seems like I remember hearing that an increase in GABA activity at a certain level results in a dopamine increase. It definitely feels like those chemicals are being activated to me.
 
Seems like i should try 1000mgs next time. Highest i did was 600... was nice somehow ;)!
 
The tactile sensations you feel is lyricas numbing action on nerves...

It is a nice calcium channel blocker...
 
It was more than just that though. It was positively psychedelic but without the profound psychological impact. I'm talking rainbows, tracers, CEVS, OEVS, the whole spectrum.

I don't understand how these effects could result from Lyrica's mechanism of action.
 
The psychedelic action you speak is from calcium channel blocking as well as a rise in GABA...
 
The psychedelic experience provided by fly agaric mushrooms is GABA related. Its symptoms may mirror that of Lyrica is some way.
 
We (humans in general) really don't understand much about how Lyrica (pregabalin) or gabapentin work. I definitely have often felt some stimulating dopamine-type effects from gabapentin, but it's an unpredictable drug and the effects depend on many factors like the dose, what I ate, what time it was, what I was doing, etc. You are not the only one to have speculated that Lyrica affects dopamine and serotonin in some way (if it does it must presumably be indirectly), I've read others say they felt that too.

The only really psychedelic experience I recall having had with gabapentin was when I mixed gabapentin and kava. That was pretty intense and made me feel a bit anxious because of the circumstances (basically people I was with were drunk and doing some dangerous stuff and I was worried I was in no state to help them since I was seeing visuals and feeling strange).

GABA can be excitatory in young people, but I'm not young so that doesn't explain my dopamine-feeling experiences. As for the psychedelic-like effects, as DementiaSavantPlus said, certain GABA-ergic drugs can have some psychedelic visual effects, another example is Ambien (zolpidem). Actually I've felt as though zolpidem was affecting dopamine a little bit sometimes too.

I know these kinds of drugs are supposed to inhibit the effects of dopamine and serotonin, but they are so poorly understood, who knows. There could be another mechanism at play as well. I think there is definitely more to Lyrica's mechanisms of action than what is currently suggested/known.

Going to move this to Other Drugs since it's not a very basic question.

BDD -> OD
 
^that was an awesome post, and you made a good point bringing Zolpidem up as I've always found it to have some dissociative effects.

As for Pregabalin and Gabapentin (I've tried both, but have more experience with Gabapentin, both are indistinguishable IMO, lyrica is just stronger mg for mg), everyone else here has given pretty much the same answer I would of given. The truth is we aren't fully aware of how these drugs work as they do.

However OP, your experience certainly isn't unique, both Neurontin and Lyrica have a wide range of effects and many report feelings of stimulation or CEV's. When I first tried high dosages of Gabapentin I remember feeling as if I was going through different phases as the 'trip' (for a lack of a better word), went on. At first I'd feel stimulative but social, kind of like a small dose of amphetamine on top of some GBL. Then I would feel more sedated, and begin to nod out in an opiate manner. THAN I'd get a bit of stimulation back, enough to make me want to walk around and talk some, yet by that point my speach would be slurred and my legs lacked the proper coordination to take me where I wanted (meaning, I was walking like someone on Dextromethorphan). The dosage of Neurontin I took was about 2grams I believe. From that point on I stuck to pretty low dosages as I liked the effects I got from the 300-600mg range more, as they mimicked the effects (or so I thought at the timee) of Alprazolam. Over time thought I really grew to hate both though, as SwimmingDancer said, [Neurontin] AND lyrica have unpredictable effects. One day I would've literally payed money for these, but today I wouldn't take them for anything but opiate and benzodiazepine withdrawal.

A little off topic, but something thats really odd, is that Pregabalin and Gabapentin do not have a cross tolerance yet there effects are almost exactly the same (though I honestly find Gabapentin a bit more recreational).
 
Another interesting thing about Lyrica is if I take just the slightest bit too much I will pass out and be completely unresponsive for several hours.

This is a totally different drug from one dose to the next.
 
I have extensively used pregabalin/lyrica recreationally for years now.
It is quite a strange drug. I've felt drowsy, dizzy, sloppy, slower and euphoric on it.
But I have also felt cognitively sped, physically sped, motivated and euphoric on it...within the same dosing high.
 
Insofar as I am aware, the mechanism of action of Lyrica is very poorly understood. Who knows what the downstream effects are?
 
When lyrica taken with baclofen, I experience nice euphoria. But when I took lyrica (150mgs) with Xanax (taken around 6pm) I was zombie like. If I laid down for a second to watch tv, I was passed out. Wasn't really aware of anything going on around me.
Trying the lyrica alone, I still felt some anxiety (I started the lyrica and baclofen for my crippling anxiety). the baclofen makes me nervous that I am screwing up my brain so I wanted to try the Lyrica alone. But it is not as effective on my anxiety as when taken with 50mg baclofen
 
Yeah man lyrica is one strange ass drug works on alpha-2-delta, for me it defiantly causes a dissociative effect unlike anything before. But it is very true that we don't have a good understanding on it. But I love it
 
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