pregabalin duration and effects from personal experience

[narcomick]

The drug:
If i open the capsule and swallow the white powder i find the effects to come on quicker, however the taste is unpleasant. I take zopiclone so have something of a tolerance to strange chemical tastes, and I find that pregabalin has a chemical, metallic taste very similar to zopiclone, but it doesn't linger in the mouth as long as the latter. Anyway, this is my experience of pregabalins effects, it's a little different to most people's but otherwise very similar. I personaly find the experience to have at least 4 or 5 stages, which i will now outline. This is with a moderate to heavy dose.

The effects:
T+00:00-30 nothing much other than some initial stimulation

T+00:30-1:30 come up. stimulation, apprehension building to euphoria and mild dissociation.

T+01:30- 04:00 peak. Euphoria and tactile sensations that may feel like anything from a mild satisfaction a full body orgasm. stimulation and sedation. Dry mouth. Empathogenic effects, aphrodisiac effects. Music enhancement. Colour enhancement. Mild but colourful 'mind movies' or CEV's/closed eye visuals. Change or expansion of conciousness. Appetite and taste enhancement. Effects come and go in waves.

04:00- 08:00 gradual come down. Effects slowly decrease. More sedating than previous stages. Feeling of well being.

08:00-15:00 afterglow. Mild mood lift, leftover dissociation slowly fade.

In my experience effects somewhat resemble marijuana minus the paranoia and anxiety, with some aspects more comparable to mdma or low dose ketamine/psychedelics.

Overall:
The effects of pregabalin on me are both stimulating and sedating, often with an intense mental and physical euphoria and a mild dissociative-psychedelic feel. I find it to be nothing like benzos.
I find it interesting that pregabalin does not apparently bind to seretonin receptors as many of its effects would be accounted for if such action was present. The dissociative effect i imagine is due to less glutamate being produced having an effect similar to antagonism of glutamate nmda receptors. A very interesting, mysterious compound that i think needs more research. Probably not advisable long term unless needed.

 

[truenamebrand]

For a while I've had a lot of interest in pregabalin as an off-label treatment for depression and anxiety. I've suggested it to my GP, who writes my benzo script, and she won't do any of the off-label stuff, so she referred me to a psychiatrist to discuss it (still unsure of whether I'm actually going to follow through).

Lately, however, I've started to read more and more about it and there seems to be a great deal of uncertainty as to its long-term effects on memory, cognitive function, etc. It sounds as if pregabalin use comes with the same risks as heavy, long-term benzo use, and possibly worse. This concerns me, especially since I already take a benzo, and should I be prescribed pregabalin, it would be taken daily, whereas I do not take a benzo daily. I've actually seen the words "brain damage" thrown around. Yikes.

Can you shed any light on this? Has it impaired your brain function in the short-term in any way?

 

[narcomick]

I'm on zopiclone 3.75mg, clonazepam 0.5mg and pregabalin 100mg daily, I do have deficits in short term memory, as for intelect I don't feel I've been affected too much. Perhaps slightly. I am however aware of these effects of pregabalin on brain development, and am not planning on taking it for much longer as it dosent seem to affect my anxiety or even makes it worse. The little research there is however as you said makes clear that long term use is probably a bad idea. My memory has been terrible since I hit puberty though, when my anxiety disorders first became apparent, so I'm not particularly worried. I have only been on pregabalin for a couple of months however.

 

[Isavela]

I always chew the capsules and swallow them with big glass of water. I tried to swallow the powder but tasted so horrible i never tried it again. I never notice any effects before +2hours, it takes very long at first to come active (for me), never experienced it to work under an hour. Duration is about 3hours and then slowly fading, it depends how much i take.

 

[narcomick]

Yeah I experieince a long come up before the two hour mark which is when the peak begins, lasting 3-4 hours. When I wrote this i wasn't very experienced with pregabalin so I may need to change the times slightly. And like I said Ive taken zopiclone as a powder which is one of the strongest chemical tastes I've experienced and I associate it with the calming effects it gives me, so in comparison pregabalin tastes almost pleasant to me.