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  • BDD Moderators: Keif’ Richards | negrogesic

Lyrica Withdrawal

yeah you're right, I think it's completely out-of-mind to prescribe this drug. especially for GAD. By the way how are you doing since? For me psychotherapy, and being deeply honest with myself, about my mistakes and all, it helped much-much more than any drug in the whole world.
 
Well today I still suffer from anxiety but psychotherapy has also helped leaps and bounds for me. I'm in a much better way that I used to be when I was on all the medication I was out on for anxiety. I since have been diagnosed with ADHD, and take dexedrine daily at 40mg. It helps me leaps and bounds and has done for the past year - I have been using it therapeutically and not abusing for this year and as such am feeling a lot better in myself and haven't suffered tolerance problems either.

I still use drugs recreationally from time to time, but don't abuse (or at least hope and try not to) stuff now. Especially when it comes down to benzos - I've had relapses with the stuff but at the moment I'm off the stuff, save it for bad times, tonight I took diazepam but I have some real bad muscle knots in my calves. Don't feel a need to keep using it either which is really encouraging and nice.
 
Damn it these stories about lyrica withdrawal scare the shit out of me, because by now i truly have no idea anymore when i started lyrica it SURELY is longer then a year though and on minimally 900 mg a day.
What i always do do and still do is to take those 900 mg's in one go together with 75 mg oxazepam and its amazing the synergy between pregabalin and benzodiazepines, because there is no way in hell i would be able to feel 75 mg oxazepam without the lyrica so based on how i feel i can easily state that pregabalin potentiates the benzo amount five times so be aware of this fact and reduce your benzo dose when combined with pregabalin if you didn't do so already.

Like somebody else already said here abusing gaba agonists like benzo's with lyrica then without lyrica the benzo withdrawal would be very bad, i dont know how bad exactly at this point, because i dont even dare to try reducing pregabalin let alone stopping it. I am still fooling myself by telling myself that i need lyrica to combat the benzo withdrawal, but there is no benzo WD with 75 mg oxazepam and 900 mg lyrica, except if i would reduce the benzo amount something i should try i keep postponing this all the time though whereas maybe very maybe still at this point lyrica might help to get rid of those 75 mg oxazepam and not to forget 10 mg librium i add being a long acting benzo as oxazepam acts rather short.

Every single morning i feel bad, but bad in a way where 160 mg methadone only is not good enough so an hour before i take my methadone i take the 900 mg lyrica with the benzo then by the time my methadone is supposed to act i also take 300 mg seroquel into the mix and then by midday those substances hit all together together with smoking 1 gram of high grade Dutch pot a day so yeah its very far from an exaggaration to say that i use quite some stuff, but to say it gets me very wasted maybe so after i add the lightest substance being the pot, lyrica and pot are also very synergistic. By 13.00 i suppose i can call myself 'wasted' to feel quite normal by 15.00 already.

I am almost sure that if i would had dosed lyrica 3 times daily 300 mg instead of once daily 900 mg that this could possibly upped dependence, but alright i dont have to figure out what i cannot and regarding the action from pregabalin it feels like there is a little more gaba available so i may be wrong about this it is said that pregabalin can increase density of gaba receptors and further it changes glutamate into gaba, but i think lower glutamate levels are one reason for pregabalin's action aside of possibly denser gaba receptors and higher gaba action as a result. Pregabalin lowers the release from neurotransmitters like the named glutamate, substance P, nor adrenaline and i dare to bet also more unknown ones when known neuro's lower.

Looking at my own words i start to realise that i have a problem with substances, but alright only lyrica belongs here only i cannot mention lyrica only with everything else so to end here i think the pregabalin potentiate everything else quite a bit so i assume i better start to drop some lyrica while i stick to the rest only not yet today going down with lyrica i am gaining some stash though in case of emergency i hope i wont have to find out the bad way.
 
Damn dude you've really got some substance abuse issues going on. That's enough drugs to put down a horse let alone a human. You really need to start thinking about reducing your doses of stuff and quickly before its too late. You've only been on the stuff for a year and even at such a high dose I think it's possible for you to get off it. In all honesty I think your benzo dose should be the first to go, but anything would be good. I suggest you start tapering off the pregabalin slowly at 25mg every two weeks, or if you can manage, per week. Dont taper any faster as it will be pure agony and may actually cause neurological problems. Keep on doing that until you're off it (if you can manage). At the last 25mg it will be difficult, so I suggest you invest in some of the 1mg liquid solution, but it's very expensive, and it's unnecessary now.

Also - I don't suggest stashing what you don't use. Dispose of it. That way you're not lead to temptation of dosing higher. It's a long and tedious process, but your mind and body will thank you to no end in the future. When you're tapering you have to be weary and not fall back into a higher dose. It should be manageable tapering that slowly and not cause much discomfort at all. But still - I strongly suggest you start now.

May I ask what you're prescribed all this stuff for if you don't mind sharing that with us?
 
Hi Synthetic, sure you can ask who writes my meds its a psychiatrist, but the reason i got lyrica prescribed was for treating GAD, because i wanted to try lyrica myself plus the psychiatist named pregabalin as effective against GAD so that's what i said to have using benzo's well the psych thinks that using benzo's is the same as being drunk, well okay, but not all the time.

I started with asking seroquel more then a year ago to sleep better, but before i knew it the initial 50 mg became 800 mg on my request though, because i liked it's effects.

The methadone that started in 1990 i believe at 50 mg, but only since the year 2001 doses higher then 50 mg could be had and at my max i was on 200 mg methadone a day.

About stashing and temptation when it comes to lyrica thanks for your suggestions about this, but i dont have problems with larger amounts of lyrica, because that euphoric feeling i got initially that wont happen anymore, except if i would stop using lyrica for say a week and that became a problem the stopping of lyrica not so much for that real withdrawals hit me while tapering its a feeling i cannot describe i can tell you though that that feeling makes me want to take my lyrica asap and makes me want a stash based on the chance for badness with lyrica hopefully never.
About recretional i find lyrica great if not for the very fast occuring tolerance, but even then not taking lyrica for 4-5 days can again produce very nice feelings by day 6 still with this in mind i find myself unable to stop lyrica it has to go though until i am able to use it say twice weekly.
Me being used to 900 mg a day for a long time already do you think that if i take 1800 mg could get me high again? Answering is enough i wont try this mysef those days are gone when i took amounts of 2.4 and 3 grams so when i learned to respect lyrica i got back to my prescribed 900 mg and stayed there.

Benzo's like the oxazepam i use i dont get that prescribed i buy it per 30 pill box then the librium i also find here and there. Oh yeah i remember i also get zopiclon prescribed one of the so called Z drugs of whom was thought that they cause dependency slower then benzo's so less addictive they were thought to be well not really zopiclon is as addictive as benzo's and just like a real benzo it will attach to the benzo receptors alpha 1-3 and 5 on the GABA receptor i read about some days ago.
Zopiclon is quite addictive and other Z drugs would be zaleplon and lunesta, but lunesta isn't that eszopiclone? Yep it is i see so what lunesta is is simply the active enantiomer from zopiclone 7.5 mg it got a new name and more money is made.

The seroquel is down to 300 mg after a while at 800 mg so i want to lose this med first and after it i want the benzo gone with the help of lyrica. That's what i have in mind first.
 
No I don't think that taking that high a dose of lyrica will get you high unfortunately. You're too accustomed to its effects that it won't provide a high anymore. Your body has adapted to it.

As for tapering off your benzos with lyrica, well okay. You can start that first. You say you take 75mg of oxazepam daily, and you buy it in? Can you get ahold of diazepam? And you also take zopiclone? Yes that is addictive, and just as addictive and dangerous as normal benzos. It's exactly the same but marketed as a safer alternative. Where have I heard that rubbish before?

The seroquel will be the easiest of the lot I think. You can safely reduce this by 100mg weekly until you're off it. At 100mg you could do 50mg a week until finished, but I think you could manage it. At 50 you could do 25mg too. At 25mg you could do a day off, day on, two days off, one day on , three days off, one day on, four days off, one day on, etc. until you're on 1 week and stop.

I suggest you start to switch over to diazepam. Instead of your dose of 75mg oxazepam, you can immediately drop to taking 40mg of diazepam. Then every two weeks reduce your dosage by 5mg. Continue this as needed until you reach 5mg, or a level you're comfortable with. Don't increase your lyrica consumption. When you reach 5mg, I suggest you invest in 2mg tablets and further reduce 2mg each two weeks until you're at 1mg. Then take 1mg for the next week, 0.5 the week after and you should be benzo free with little difficulty in stopping. Does that sound like a plan to you?
 
we all have a different makeup my friend...I wouldn't be so quick to say someone was exaggerating such a difficult time...With all due respect.
 
Hi Synthetix, good that makes two of us when you mention that a high dose of lyrica wont get me high anymore, but regarding dependency yesterday i decided to finish up those 3 zopiclons i had in some cupboard and now the day after i feel normal instead of crappy and that makes me think benzo dependency is still an issue.
The problem with using a short acting benzo like oxazepam only once daily is that doing so will deliver daily the sweating, coldness and what more there is what i recognize as lack of benzo.
You are quite right Synthetix about the fact that i should start to use diazepam preferably starting at 40 mg a day, but buying benzo's there is almost nothing to get anymore, except for crappy short acting oxazepam else if i could get diazepam i would jump onto it. Arghh and then to think that i had a script exactly like that 40 mg diazepam a day from the house doctor, but when i started things with the shrink he found that i could better lose the diazepam and start a taper with chlorazepath and so it happened only when i got low enough i started oxazepam again without telling this.

I am going to divide the 75 mg oxazepam in three doses with the last one to take as late as possible like before sleep lets see how that makes me feel the day after if i still feel bad then i will start to take the lyrica three times a day instead of once.

I get zopiclone, but i dont think i will ask it again, because if i take this stuff then i tend to take too much leading to memoryloss so however zopiclone can fill in for benzo's its better that this stuff is gone and stays gone.

Seroquel is easy that is no problem, but also this stuff can cause dependency and when you stop it and feel bad they call it the anti psychotic discontinuation syndrome, its doable though. Thanks for your suggestions Synthetix.
 
hey guys!
I am back here on the thread - unfortunately.

I quit Lyrica about exactly one month ago, which i was prescribed for anxiety, and took it for about 6 weeks. i took 150mg a day, 75 in the morning, 75 in the afernoon. I "tapered" off for about 6 days, because I had side effects, and just couldnt continue with the long taper that people recommend.

After I quit, due to the fact that I didn't need any medication at all, in the first few days everything got a lot better, my head was clear, and I regained lots of energy. It was like that for about 1 and a half weeks, when I started to feel off, to say the least. Luckily I'm not going through some of the worst withdrawal symptons, (i can sleep, i can eat, i don't have to stay in bed for the whole day, i can do some activities). But I feel very very rough. My tongue has been really white (in the last 3 days its starting to get better), and I have had really bad chest pains, and weird headaches. And some muscle tension/tingling sensation.

What I do is I take Vegepa which is basically fish oil (EPA), and it helps me stay clear in my head. Because otherwise it's close to unbearable a lot of times. And it seems to be just going on every single day. I know some people say it lasts for 6 months, which sounds horrible. I just hope it will be soon over, or at least it's going to be better. Because I don't mind feeling tired, or a bit off, but I do mind the constant pain I'm feeling.

It's been a hellish month for me so far, but I hope that I'm through the really hard part of the withdrawal. I hope it's gonna get better. Because obviously it's very boring and frustrating to live like this, it's hard when you are not able to do your everyday stuff. work, study etc. (i'M 25 years old)

What I do is I try to drink lots of water (i am thirsty all the time, so it doesn't take much of an effort) and I try to eat regularly, take vitamin C, magnesium and the VegEPA. I'm not taking any other stuff like pain killers (they don't work anyways) or other lyrica type drugs.
My advice for anyone who's going through this complete shit, is that be careful with any fucking substance or drug or medicine you take, because it's just not worth the whole procedure. Your body is perfect the way it is, and for example if you deal with anxiety, in some parts of your mind you got to know, that it will be better. Even if you feel hopeless, if you work on it, talk to your friends, family and psychotherapist regularly, your anxiety can be solved. it just needs patience, it doesn't come overnight. Lyrica and Xanax and stuff like these are to ease the symptons, and maybe to "clear" the anxious mind a bit, but it definitely has more downsides than ups. I would never advise anyone to take medication like this for anxiety "disorders". I wouldn't even say that there is such a thing as "anxiety disorder". If you have anxiety symptons you should look deeply into your life, what are the things that you should change, or what is wrong, what causes you to stress.

Eventually it will be over, and I hope I will be returning to my "old self". i would rather call it my New self :)

I have one question though!
If i feel like shit, and have these fucking bad symptons, should I try to exercise? or perhaps work? or maybe jogging? or I should just do how I feel? (for example if I feel like hell, i rest, even though my body would have the energy to walk or jog, it just wouldnt feel comfortable, because how i feel).
anyone know the answer to that?
hope it's gonna get better, It's very hard to live like this. But obviously. You can't run away from yourself, and killing myself is never going to be an option, so my only road is going through this, so it might be hard, but it's happening, and I will keep my head high and continue on this road.

Good luck to all of you too! :)
 
I have one question though!
If i feel like shit, and have these fucking bad symptons, should I try to exercise? or perhaps work? or maybe jogging? or I should just do how I feel? (for example if I feel like hell, i rest, even though my body would have the energy to walk or jog, it just wouldnt feel comfortable, because how i feel).
anyone know the answer to that?
hope it's gonna get better, It's very hard to live like this. But obviously. You can't run away from yourself, and killing myself is never going to be an option, so my only road is going through this, so it might be hard, but it's happening, and I will keep my head high and continue on this road.

Good luck to all of you too! :)
I haven't gone through L:yrica withdrawals, but from my experience with similar drug withdrawals and other health issues, it's important to force yourself to exercise even when you don't feel like it (easier said than done sometimes of course!). Don't overdo it, but definitely get at least some gentle exercise (walking, swimming, yoga, etc) every day if you can at all motivate yourself to do it.

Your attitude towards what you are going through is admirable and inspiring :)
 
thank you very much! :)
i'm talking some walks every day, and maybe going to try some gentle jogging. hope it will help to become completely healthy again! In my opinion it's very irresponsible to prescribe drugs like this for young, physically healthy people like me. it can totally fuck up your system.
yeah I try to hold on, and stay positive. as I said, I don't have any other option.
 
From my experience coming off of klonopin I totally can relate to what you're saying about just having to hold on. Staying positive is indeed your best friend, as the withdrawal effects make you feel anything but.

I know they are different substances, but the concept is generally the same. Fully getting back to your old self takes a long while, so looking at the big picture isn't always best. Just note the small but good changes everyday. It gets there eventually.

If you need someone to talk with in private, feel free to PM.
 
back again.
hey guys! I'm still feeling very bad. I stopped lyrica about 45 days ago, and since then, it's pure hell. The biggest problems are my constant pains, and exhaustion, lack of energy. I don't feel depressed, or anxious, as others are saying, but I can't really do work, and physical activities due to the pain i'm feeling.

it feels like I'm burning from the inside. its mainly my chest, and upper arms, and my head somewhat.
i have been to blood tests, and everything is fine, except my GPT is just a bit higher (thats something to do with liver function)

I had psychosomatic pain, which was similar to this, and that's why i started to take lyrica for. But i have eliminated the main stress from my life, which caused my symptoms, and now that the symptoms are gone, that's why I stopped lyrica too (and it was causing bad side effects too).

After 45 days off lyrica, is it still possible to have physical side effects of withdrawal? or I have somekind of a different serious illness? because it feels so intense, sometimes close to unbearable, and there is no change, every day.. there are some days when it's beginning to get better, but then out of nowhere, it gets worse. Even though time is passing, and it should be better, it doesn't seem to get better at all.

What is happening to my body? because I feel like I'm heavily poisoned.
it's very hard to keep going, and to stay positive, in this state I'm in.

im taking
Magnesium
Vitamin C
VegEPA.

also it's the end of winter, so I thought vitamin D might help a bit, but I haven't bought it yet, because I don't want to spend money on stuff that doesn't help at all. I can do short walks every day. that's what I do. but other then that. Pure hell. Really. no exaggaration in that. it's unbelievably hard, and the pain is awful.
is this normal?

thanks.
Marcell
 
^Yes it is withdrawal still. I have suffered these same symptoms you describe for a total of 219 days now since I stopped taking gabapentin (lyrica's sister drug). It's the worst horror ever, and I seriously hope it passes as soon as possible for both of us! It takes a loooong time to recover from this unfortunately. I'm still far from ok :(
 
Oh my god! that sounds awful!! 219? wtf? is it improving for you? that's sounds like a huge amount of time! Are you capable to do work? or do your daily routine? I took it for a shorter period, for 6 weeks, and only 150mg per day. that would be insane for the withdrawal to last for more than the actual taking of the drug itself... is there any way to speed up the recovery process? or to ease the pain? what are you doing? I admire, that you can still hold on. that's very inspiring! I really hope it ends for both of us, because it's impossible to live this way. thank you for your answer!
 
Uh oh...

Lyrica withdrawal?? Uh oh... I didn't know this was possible!

I have been taking Lyrica for a couple months. In the past several days, I have been taking HUGE amounts to help ease the opiate wd I'm going through....

So, you're saying I'll need to taper when I go back to my other meds? I'm kinda scared now. Should I talk to my doc about stopping completely and switching to something else?

Now I'm worried!!:?
 
well i guess if you ever choose to get off lyrica, you should taper for the longest time possible. probably 3-4 months, slowly lowering the dose.. I couldn't do that, because I already had side effects from lyrica, which made me impossible to do my everyday stuff.
 
So, you're saying I'll need to taper when I go back to my other meds? I'm kinda scared now. Should I talk to my doc about stopping completely and switching to something else?

It's always best to taper any medication before you stop it. Since you've been on it for a short period of time, taper over a couple of weeks then stop. If you experience any withdrawal, then initiate it again and do a slower taper.
 
I have been taking 600mg-900mg per day for six months (one morning dose and one evening dose).

Recently I have jumped down to 300-450mg per day.

This jump felt uncomfortable at first (agitated/anxious, sweaty, tingling extremities, depressive/destructive thoughts) but within a week I was stabilized on the low dose. I dose three times a day now, and if I skip a dose I'll still feel OK.

I have personal experience with (severe) alcohol WD, benzo WD and GHB WD so I think I know what to look for in GABA-related withdrawal..


Question to others: how long after your last dose did it take for the withdrawals to start?


--

Marcell, you were only taking 150mg/day for six weeks, right? And you have stopped 45 days ago?

I am surprised to read that it is still "almost impossible to live this way" for you and that it is "pure hell", "close to unbearable, and there is no change, every day".
You mention an unusual type of pain that feels like you are "burning from the inside" and "heavily poisoned".
Yet you feel no depression or anxiety or many of the other common Lyrica WD symptoms.

Have you tried taking a low dose of Lyrica to see if it cures your pains? Have you spoken to a neurologist yet?
 
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Lurching: I don't ever want to take lyrica anymore. I want to be off it completely. I stopped lyrica, because I felt bad, because of the side effects. I had to quit fast, because i was feeling sick from the lyrica itself. that's why I couldn't taper for a long time.
I have been to some other forums as well, like neurotalk, and somebody said, that some withdrawals can be fatal. I'm scared!
Probably I'm exaggerating my state sometimes, maybe it's once or twice a day, when it's really really bad, but the other parts are better. But still can't do work or university. I get tired if I do very short programs a day. it's scary, and I'm afraid, but I really hope that I don't have any kind of serious illness, it's only the withdrawal...
 
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