Gabapentinoids The Lyrica (Pregabalin) Mega Thread v 2.0

[Squeaky]

Ignio- background on me- I have high functioning Autism and I have meltdowns that are very much like a panic attach. They are very debilitating and last from 30 minutes to several hours. I used alcohol only for many years and it worked well. But now I'm on Ativan(a benzo) and I don't drink at all.
If I take my daily dose of pregabalin (150 mg x2/day)and my regular dose of ativan(right now it's about 1 mg /day) and my oxycodone (90mg/day) I feel normal-ish. But if I save my morning pregabalin and take 300mg pregabalin with 4mg Ativan it hits me exactly like drinking about 6 shots of tequila. Add 30 mg IR oxy and it's even better. The effect takes around 2 hours to start and lasts for 6 to 10 hours.
Even better is if I have been off the pregabalin for a few days. 300mg by itself gets me stumbling and falling asleep. Not good for me as a daily maintenance med for stress, but pretty awesome as an occasional use in acute situations to control a panic attack.
And yeah the withdrawls are pretty bad, even after only a few days use, but I have good luck tapering off with only a small bit if nausea.

 

[Ignio]

I called my doctor, and he thought that pregabalin might help with my anxiety as well. So he wrote me a script. I will start at 150 mg pregabalin each day.

I look forward to see (or rather feel) the effects. If it helps I will probably increase the dosage until I find the sweet spot where I get the maximum output and minimal side effects. But based on the posts here it seems like 300 mg will be the max dose. I can't go around sleepy and drowsy the entire day with blurred speach et cetera. So I will have to be careful with the dose. My goal is not a zombie state, but getting better through situation that trigger anxiety and thus have a better day with more energy as I do not have to spend tremendous amounts of energy dealing with or trying to avoid anxiety.

Anxiety is a feeling that is extremely hard for me to deal with and actually also understand. I would prefer fear of something real any day instead of this anxiety about abstractions. I have lived through and handled alot and never felt more than what I would all healthy fear in life threatning situation etc. But almost out of no where, anxiety came creaping in through the shadows leaving one with a feeling similar to that kids would feel at night when they fear there is a monster lurking in the shadows just out of sight. Monster, Monster, go away.

 

[Squeaky]

Ignio- whatever you choose, try to make your goal be taking as few different kinds of meds as possible. They all have side effects, and blasting your brain with too many chemicals can be disastrous. If Lyrica works, then see if it could be all you need. The magic number seems to be somewhere around 14 days. That's when you can be sure of the long term benefits of what you're taking.
Also, beware of Lyrica withdrawls. I have needed to taper after only 3 days use.

 

[Flowerpotman]

Back after a month, lol.

I called my doc and had them cancel my pregabalin repeats but I still had loads left over, intending to have them as an occasional pick me up. I had a few days of bad pain but I also had to get some chores done for my parents (renovating their house for them). I just had NO ENERGY for days and thought some lyrica might help. I took my old max dose for a couple of days on the run, then spent 2 weeks having it most days. I only took my last dose on Monday (1/3 usual dose on Sun and mon). Anywho. Those same days I had no energy again. I was a fucking mess. Nothing got done, plus I was really anxious and depressed. Not like an opiate withdrawal again but something else entirely.

last night I had the worst night sleep of my life. Just as I was falling asleep I was beset with deep anxiety and had a few night terrors that woke me up. Dreadful. I'm having cold water extractions to try and punch it away but they're not working. I feel OKAY (not good or great) for maybe an hour. This is worse than when I came off the longer and more consistent dose of 600mg for 6 months!

i burned through my last ones during this period so that's it for me. Its such a weird drug.

 

[Squeaky]

Flowerpotmsn- why cancel your script? I'm sure I'd find a way to f it up, but I would get them filled and try to save myself the pain if cold turkey- taper down and save the leftovers.

 

[Flowerpotman]

A show of good faith as I was trying to get a stronger opiate script. But as it now stands (once i finish withdrawing) I'm gonna taper and quit the lot.

 

[Squeaky]

I did that, show of good faith. If I remember correctly it got me cut off one and cut back on the one I wanted more of. Kind of backfired.
But then I had another surgery and it was open season again!
The biggest mistake I ever made was quitting oxy cold turkey and TELLING my Dr. When I had been clean for a month and was begging for pain relief, she gave me 3 norcos/day. That was like a screen door on a submarine.
Now I know..... Regardless of what I'm taking, I always ask for more. My stash has bailed me out several times in the last two years, specifically when my surgeon gave me practically nothing for pain and I had to wait 5 days to see a real Dr for real pills. Never again.
My current plan is to get off everything, but I'm not telling my Dr anything until way later.

 

[Flowerpotman]

I think ultimately it worked for me. Because really I don't want anything stronger than codeine, I'm already having 2-3x my prescribed daily dose just trying to combat the anxiety and depression from this lyrica withdrawal. My docs has a few of them and this time I landed on the tougher one.

but yeah. This is like day 5 now of the withdrawal. I don't actually know for sure what I'm withdrawing from. I was taking (too much) tramadol and (right amount of) lyrica when I stopped both and switched just to codeine and a standard anti depressant. What hit me could have been either tramadol or lyrica... or maybe even both!

its (because it's still here) a feeling of huge anxiety. I'm having nightmares and I'm sweating. There's some depression too. I don't have the energy to do anything, and everything feels like an insurmountable task... I'm not even eating correctly because of it. But it's getting better. CWE helps.

but I'm sure never to have lyrica again, hah. I've actually only got enough for one days worth of max dose left. Dunno if it's worth risking it and saving it for a rainy day.

 

[Flowerpotman]

Squeaky, how long does withdrawal usually take you? I can't put an exact number of how many days I've been using it for, maybe 7 and I'm now day 5 into WDS funnily enough taking a similar time to last time when I used for months.

 

[Squeaky]

Flowerpotman- I've never let the lyrica wd last more than two days. I always had a lot of reserve, so I just went back on it and tapered.
It sounds like your wd's are a lot of the tramadol, spirinkled with the Lyrica wd. If that's true, then you should start getting bettet right about now-day 4 being the peak of opiate wd's.

 

[Flowerpotman]

Yeah its hard to work out since I find Lyrica WDS similar to opiates but less intense, but deeper+weirder+more depression and anxiety. I'm only taking codeine when I feel really down and each day I'm less and less down.

 

[Slow_Mobius]

I think ultimately it worked for me. Because really I don't want anything stronger than codeine, I'm already having 2-3x my prescribed daily dose just trying to combat the anxiety and depression from this lyrica withdrawal. My docs has a few of them and this time I landed on the tougher one.

but yeah. This is like day 5 now of the withdrawal. I don't actually know for sure what I'm withdrawing from. I was taking (too much) tramadol and (right amount of) lyrica when I stopped both and switched just to codeine and a standard anti depressant. What hit me could have been either tramadol or lyrica... or maybe even both!

its (because it's still here) a feeling of huge anxiety. I'm having nightmares and I'm sweating. There's some depression too. I don't have the energy to do anything, and everything feels like an insurmountable task... I'm not even eating correctly because of it. But it's getting better. CWE helps.

but I'm sure never to have lyrica again, hah. I've actually only got enough for one days worth of max dose left. Dunno if it's worth risking it and saving it for a rainy day.

Holy crap Flowerpotman! That's quite a jump you made there. You're probably WDing from both the Lyrica and tramadol. I've gone through WD from both, but never at the same time. Plus it's common to experience depression when switching to a new antidepressant. May I ask which one you started? An SNRI would probably help you more than an SSRI.

IME tramadol WD caused worse depression and anxiety than lyrica WD. For me, acute WD from both lasted between a few days and a week, and PAWS lasted about a few more weeks. Once you adjust to the new antidepressant though, it should help a ton with the tram PAWS.

 

[Flowerpotman]

Holy crap Flowerpotman! That's quite a jump you made there. You're probably WDing from both the Lyrica and tramadol. I've gone through WD from both, but never at the same time. Plus it's common to experience depression when switching to a new antidepressant. May I ask which one you started? An SNRI would probably help you more than an SSRI.

IME tramadol WD caused worse depression and anxiety than lyrica WD. For me, acute WD from both lasted between a few days and a week, and PAWS lasted about a few more weeks. Once you adjust to the new antidepressant though, it should help a ton with the tram PAWS.

Yeah after speaking with you all I've come to realise this is probably due to the tramadol. What seems to happen with me is that Lyrica WD completely eradicates opiate highs so there's no CWE for when everything gets too much. But now nearly 2 weeks from stopping Lyrica I'm getting the highs again but there's still the persistent depression+anxiety that is slowly slowly fading. I went to my docs trying to get an SNRI explaining all this, including the severe mood swings and suicidal thoughts. But he told me to ride it out a bit longer and prescribed my usual SSRI. That should almost be kicking in soon anyways.

Oh hey so because my lyrica usage was only 7 months, and opiates maybe 8... I shouldn't get long PAWS, right? I mean last year when I went CT from Tram+Codeine it lasted maybe 2 weeks before I was working again. Just a bit worried this time.

 

[Slow_Mobius]

Yeah after speaking with you all I've come to realise this is probably due to the tramadol. What seems to happen with me is that Lyrica WD completely eradicates opiate highs so there's no CWE for when everything gets too much. But now nearly 2 weeks from stopping Lyrica I'm getting the highs again but there's still the persistent depression+anxiety that is slowly slowly fading. I went to my docs trying to get an SNRI explaining all this, including the severe mood swings and suicidal thoughts. But he told me to ride it out a bit longer and prescribed my usual SSRI. That should almost be kicking in soon anyways.

Oh hey so because my lyrica usage was only 7 months, and opiates maybe 8... I shouldn't get long PAWS, right? I mean last year when I went CT from Tram+Codeine it lasted maybe 2 weeks before I was working again. Just a bit worried this time.

It's really hard to say how long your WD will last. PAWS can be especially variable. If your SSRI works for you, I would bet that your PAWS from both will be pretty much over whenever it starts working. I had crippling anxiety from tram WD during the acute phase, but not the post-acute period. The depression from both Lyrica and tram WD was the longest lingering symptom for me. As difficult as it might be, forcing yourself to do some physical activity can help a ton with beating PAWS and starting to feel normal again.

Sorry if I missed it in a previous post, but what were you trying to treat with these drugs?

 

[vortech]

After years of 450mg a day, the withdrawal was worse and longer than I expected, and I even had gabapentin to ease the comedown. It wasn't until
the gabapentin was increased to 1800/day a week after stopping the lyrica that I finally found some stability. I'm not sure how much switching to gabapentin has helped my game, sure its generic and not a controlled substamce, but the physical dependence on it isn't too far from lyrica's chains.
Still, better for me than any opioid, to treat nerve pain.

 

[Slow_Mobius]

After years of 450mg a day, the withdrawal was worse and longer than I expected, and I even had gabapentin to ease the comedown. It wasn't until
the gabapentin was increased to 1800/day a week after stopping the lyrica that I finally found some stability. I'm not sure how much switching to gabapentin has helped my game, sure its generic and not a controlled substamce, but the physical dependence on it isn't too far from lyrica's chains.
Still, better for me than any opioid, to treat nerve pain.

Any reason in particular why you decided to switch from pregabalin to gabapentin?

 

[Jabberwocky]

I certainly had fewer side effects with gabapentin than pregabalin. Personally, when I'm not particularly tolerant that is, I prefer gabapentin across the board.

 

[LucidSDreamr]

How long did it take u to get dependent toothpaste?... Just started lyrica want to take breaks so I don't get dependent

 

[Jabberwocky]

I'm not sure I ever became entirely dependent. I definitely developed a tolerance, but over the nine months or so I was taking pregabain (I think 150mg three times a day) I never seemed to develop a dependency.

It's different for everyone, but pregabalin and gabapentin are fairly easy to manage. Even though there is the occasional person who struggles getting off most are able to manage without much issue.

 

[LucidSDreamr]

I kinda feel dependent on lyrica but its probably because i'm on day 3 of kratom CT and if i don't snort 50 mg of lyrica twice a day I feel like I'm withdrawing