Pregabalin and benzo withdrawal

[Cyanoide]

I'm currently going through benzo withdrawal (the third time in my life) and having quite a terrible time right now. I've managed to halve my dose in 7 weeks from 45 mg to 22,5 mg oxazepam a day. My doctor doesn't really want to script anything to aid the WD's except for mirtazapine for sleep and propranol for palpitations. However I have pregabalin (Lyrica) which i know can help with the WD's.

I have previously used pregabalin to aid in benzo withdrawal and found it helpful, but I'm a bit unsure of if it's a smart idea. I don't want to do anything to ruin this taper. Right now I just feel horrible.

Is there any kind of cross tolerance between benzos and pregabalin? I do know that pregabalin doesn't work on the "BZD sites" and works through different mechanisms, but since it's still a GABAergic drug, I do hesitate somewhat. It's a familiar drug and I'm fully aware of the addiction and tolerance that builds very quickly to it. However I would only take it sporadically.

What's your verdict?

Edit: There are in fact some studies done on the subject, that do suggest pregabalin may be helpful in benzo withdrawal.

We review all available studies on the use of the newer anticonvulsant drug
pregabalin (PGB) in the treatment of both alcohol dependence (AD) and benzodiazepine
dependence (BD). In AD, the available evidence includes one
open-label and one double-blind randomized studies, whereas in BD, only a
few case reports and one open-label study are as yet available. In both conditions,
PGB was found efficacious with significant improvement in withdrawal
symptoms at the dosage ranges of 150–450 mg/day (AD) and 225–900 mg/day
(BD). Moreover, its side effects were mild and transient. Despite the limited
quality of the studies design, their findings suggest that PGB might constitute
a novel efficacious and safe option in the treatment of both AD and BD.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1755-5949.2009.00120.x/pdf

 

[Cotcha Yankinov]

Anything that decreases excitability of the brain will help with benzo withdrawal, Lyrica and Gabapentin are very useful for this. They only have a minor effect that is mediated via GABA though, most of their effect is mediated via calcium channels.

Nowadays sodium channel antagonists have proved the most effective for benzo withdrawal, things like carbamazepine have proved effective in several trials for benzo withdrawal. I'm surprised your doctor didn't want you on something more.