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  • BDD Moderators: Keif’ Richards | negrogesic

Lyrica Withdrawal

WTF!!! Why is this drug so hellish for some of us, and so easy for others? As I said before, I had to detox cold turkey off of fentanyl, and even though the first 24 hours nearly killed me, I got very quickly better within just a few days. The first time I tried to get off lyrica, I made it through 14 days with absolutely no reduction in symptoms. I gave up, took a dose of Lyrica and went from completely incapacitated to fine in an hour.
 
Lyrica is def a hit and miss drug, I was lucky I took to for 2 years for pain, taking one 300mg cap three times a day and it worked wonders for pain. I basically stopped taking it overnight and luckily had no issues what so ever. Now I have been taking it for recreational use, 900mg in the morning and im on a Lyrica high for the day, but I only do it every other day as its a quit expensive drug to purchase. Im also a part time heroin user and find that I can go without heroin when i take the Lyrica as I don't seem to get a heroin high (so a waste of money) when taking the Lyrica and i find the Lyrica to be a long lasting high which is good
 
I also found the Lyrica high wildly euphoric, almost like an opiate high, and would use upto ten 300 mg pills every other day for a year.

Be on guard for the withdrawal, though, as it can be like a combo of a benzo and opiate withdrawal I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. DO NOT attempt to go cold turkey on it. Have some sedatives on hand, preferable benzos, or even better Gabapentin to taper down with. Opiates kind of help for the depression but not the physical benzo WD symptomps and can make you really nautious.

I also found a combination of Magnesium, L-Theanine, and Hops cut my symptomps in half, which I've mentioned many times. But Hops are known as the strongest herbal sedative and both Magnesium and L-Theanine are muscle and nervous system relaxers. Though Valerian could be just as good as Hops in high enough doses.

But please have respect for the drug and pay no attention to those who say there is no withdrawal to speak of. That is irrelevant as long as there are so many with a different experience. It depends on all kinds of things, like how long and much you've used, your state of health, and how you take care of yourself in WD.

As well as if you have another sedative to substitute with (even alcohol can make a real difference).
 
I have had a large increase in symptoms in the last few days, which is wierd because I haven't tapered again. I saw my regular Dr. yesterday, and he thought that my regime of skipping days might be keeping me in a kind of circular withdrawal. He recommended continuing the taper, but take my small dose every day and see if this helps. He asked me if I had ever heard of effexor withdrawal, which I hadn't. I went home and checked it out, and I must say that what those folks go through make my lyrica withdrawal look like a day at Disneyland! The capsules have little balls of medicine in them (like Contact cold pills) and to withdraw they remove 2 of the balls (from like over a hundred of them in one capsule) every couple of weeks, and they STILL experience horrible withdrawal symptoms! Just reading about them made me want to jump off a cliff! So, I will keep plugging along, and let you guys know what's going on after my next taper.
 
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Here's a quick bit of advise if you are going through lyrica withdrawal...last night I felt terrible. I have loperimide on hand from when I had to withdraw from fentanyl. I decide to take 10 with a big glass of freshly squeezed grapefruit juice (20mg of loperamide). I was just thinking what the hell, I feel like shit and its worth a try. About an hour later, I started to feel MUCH better. Stomach pain was gone, anxiety and headache gone. I didn't feel high, just relaxed and calm. I don't think it's a placebo effect, because I have taken every suggested pill and supplement, and while some have helped a little, nothing like this. I won't be doing this every day, but when things get bad, I'm going to try it again.
 
You can get addicted to loperamide and its meant to be unpleasant to WD from. Bear that in mind with how frequently you do utilise this method of relief.

Although I empathise on craving relief during withdrawal. It helps to have different modes of relief. Relying on one way or ways that work in similar mechanisms can lead to other addictions.
 
As I stated in my last post, I only plan to use loperamide once in awhile. I am now into my sixth month of tapering off Lyrica. I am very aware of what needs to be done to get off this terrible drug. Do you have any experience tapering off Lyrica? If you have gone through withdrawal from this particular drug, your advise would be of interest.
 
I used Pregabalin recreationally for a few month, this was after 2-3 years of opiates/benzo abuse. It definitely helped, for benzos wd symptoms and overall drugs craving. When I stopped lyrica, this was really, really not fun. Some of both opi/benzo wd symptomes reappeared, as if they were just "delayed" by the lyrica. Lyrica also totally fucked up my memory and cognitive functions. It's been two months now, and it's getting better, though. On a side note, I find the lyrica high deliciously weird, hard to put words on it.
 
Finally finished with spawn of Satan drug Lyrica. Once I got down to 25 mg per day, I was able to stop entirely with very minimal symptoms. My Dr. put me on Wellbutrin, which has been brilliant for my depression, exhaustion, and is helping me shed this lyrica weight! I will never again take something without THOROUGHLY researching it first. And yes, I did research Wellbutrin, which is known as the "skinny, horny, happy" pill! I made a written complaint to Pfizer, and they have actually been very interested in my issues with lyrica, with several letters and phone calls asking me to describe my problems with the drug. Now if the would send me a couple mill I would put this all behind me! Hugs, love and best wishes to all of you put there still struggling!
 
Very happy to hear of your success Longbeachone. You must feel elated to have stuck it out, and gotten through it.

Something I wanted to ask if anyone else has experienced...When you are taking Lyrica to help w opiate withdrawal, and you feel drowsy from it, but you still feel horrible opiate withdrawal symptoms? This is happening to me, and does happen to me. I even tried increasing the dose...substantially, and it just isn't working. Wondering if anyone else experiences this. Thanks for any help that can be given.
 
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Psychedelic Jay said:
Nothing is WD proof, but this is certainly the most exaggerated thing I have ever heard.

Unless you stuff down grams at a time of this, you will has little to no side effects.
I too took lyrica, and it had no such symptoms...

The only thing that is happening to you is the slowdown of noradrenaline is gone and your GABA production is leveling back to normal.

You should only get a little anxiety and a bit of an stable cognition, maybe a general sense of malaise.

It is only natural for you to get a little panicky, it is absolutely no big deal... and not worth exaggerating.

I, my mom, and my step-dad have been on lyrica since it came out and it causes little to no discomfort.
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When I was reading all there forums they were scaring the shit out of me!!! I knew its not that bad. Unless its dif for everyone. iv taken up to 8g in 2 days. basicaly i take a a pack of 150mg everyother day, thats like 2.1g. very little w/d syymps. just dipressed and dont wanna do anything.
 
detriothype, Lyrica w/d is very real.

And very horrible. It's the most unbearable w/d, for me, that I've felt. And I have gone through w/d from numerous things, and lyrica takes the cake of all cakes. I feel so anxious it's unbearable...

chromphobe put up some links that are medical case studies. Wean yourself off. I know it's scary. I'm w you. I now don't take lyrica for too many days in a row.
 
Hi all. I have been reading this thread for a while and it frankly scared me shitless so i descided to take break or quit it. I have been using lyrica for 1.5 years. I started taking 150 mg daily for GAD and I loved it. But after a week I had no effects so started using 300 daily... Then 450. At that point I quit cold turkey cause i didn't want to up the dose more. I switched to atarax which only made me sleepy but still anxious. I figured i quit to fast and took one 150 mg and felt the effects agian big time. I then only used it every other day at a 150mg dose and that made the tolerance go away but i was stupid enough to use it daily after a while so then i upped the dose and was at 300 every other day. This continued until i was at 450 mg and sometimes 750 mg. After a very stressful april i started to feel very anxious on my days off the drug. I decided to taper off and i went from 450 to 300 in 24 hours. Then i went down to 150 mg for 2 days before going on 75 for a week before qutting all together. I felt w/ds that for me was really uncomfortable. Anxiety, depression, insomnia (slept for 4 hours a night), loss of appetite. All symptoms went away gradually and yesterday they were all gone. I have never had any other w/ds so cant compare but from what i read here it seems like i was saved by the fact that i usually only used it every other day? i am gonna be more careful with this drug in the future and only take it when i really need it and never more then 2-3 times a week and never in such dosages like some in here have tried (what were you thinking?!?). I was prepared for several months of w/ds so I am actually happy that from quitting 75mgs it took about a week to fully recover.

But i was impatient and think some of the wds was from tapering way too fast
 
i think a lot of people do not realize how strong this drug is because technically it is labeled as an anti-convulsant. i mean, if i saw that for the first time i wouldn't think much of it either. but chemically, lyrica and gabapentin are almost identical. however lyrica is MUCH stronger, especially for those that have never taken anti-convulsants before. and although i completely sympathize with those that are going through withdrawal from this drug, it is also a very good drug to use when going through an opiate withdrawal. it is a rather weird drug i must say, it's almost as if it knows what my circadian rhythms are because when i take it during the day, although i do get a bit groggy and wobbly, i don't fall asleep effortlessly like i do when i take it at night. right now i take 150mg during the day and another 150mg at night in attempting to kick a 600mg a day tramadol addiction. working like a charm at the moment. but i do intend to taper off lyrica, as i had to quit tramadol cold turkey because my source got busted.
 
theedeadmau5 said:
i think a lot of people do not realize how strong this drug is because technically it is labeled as an anti-convulsant. i mean, if i saw that for the first time i wouldn't think much of it either. but chemically, lyrica and gabapentin are almost identical. however lyrica is MUCH stronger, especially for those that have never taken anti-convulsants before. and although i completely sympathize with those that are going through withdrawal from this drug, it is also a very good drug to use when going through an opiate withdrawal. it is a rather weird drug i must say, it's almost as if it knows what my circadian rhythms are because when i take it during the day, although i do get a bit groggy and wobbly, i don't fall asleep effortlessly like i do when i take it at night. right now i take 150mg during the day and another 150mg at night in attempting to kick a 600mg a day tramadol addiction. working like a charm at the moment. but i do intend to taper off lyrica, as i had to quit tramadol cold turkey because my source got busted.
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It's also great for the non physical symptoms of benzo withdrawal. Using lyrica, weed and antihistamines coming off low dose temazepam was pretty easy. I'm also prescribed 300mg a day and last week I started tapering down 50mg a week until I get down to 100mg where I plan to stay for a while for my tolerance to drop since it hasn't been helping my pain much since coming off the benzo.
 
if you wanna fall asleep easier add hydroxyzine to the lyrica.

lyrica and hydroxyzine knock me out faster than seroquel.
 
Luckily when I run out earlier than I can refill, I don't expiererence any withdrawal symptoms, none, nada. I'm on 450 mg daily. But I think it is probably because I am also on three opiates, tramadol, oxycodone, and morphine. These drugs must mask any withdrawal symptoms I would have experienced.

From what I have read and can gather, lyrica is said to 4-5 times stronger than gabapentin and lyrica is a C5 medication. Of course it could go the way of tramadol as reports of addiction/withdrawal become more prominent.
 
I HAVE downed grams at of time of Lyrica, and when the come-down came, I was so depressed that I actually seriously considered suicide for the first time in my life. The stuff can really mess with your mood. BAD!
 
I have been taking pregablin for 4 year each year the dose was increased till I'm
Now on 300mg per day. I decided I can't take anymore of getting fat so I want to come off it. I missed a dose last night and took my morning dose so I can half the amount I use he only thing is my mouth feels watery, I have a headache from hell, I am also on 25mg of mst every 12 hours. I feel so scared to stand up and I want to cry. Please if anyone has been here and can offer any advise I would be grateful ?
 
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