Gabapentinoids The Lyrica (Pregabalin) Mega Thread v 2.0

[kel1127]

I have felt the same feelings like lyrica makes me feel like the person I'm supposed to be.

Is that not the most dangerous thought you can have about a chemical though?

 

[bnlmusicfan2]

No it doesnt scare me because I responded to this drug is probably because i was lacking something gentically(sp) that lyrica now provides.

 

[cannibalsnail]

No it doesnt scare me because I responded to this drug is probably because i was lacking something gentically(sp) that lyrica now provides.

And what is your solution when the acute effects stop occuring, and your tolerance prevents you from stopping taking it?

 

[Opiumoftheworld]

I'm prescribed 225mg twice a day. Today I feel like shit and am on a right downer. Thinking of taking an extra 400mg. Is 1000mg a safe dose? Anyone tried it ?

 

[xxxyyy]

^ i regularly take doses around 1200-1500mg, but i've been on pregabalin for two years, and i take it as needed, although i'm scripted 900mg a day. my tolerance is pretty high but you should have no problems with that dose. pregabalin has a pretty good safety profile as far as i know.

 

[TheTwighlight]

The only real bothersome side effect you may notice from a high dose is a tremor/shaking. I've had it happen to me pretty intensely, but you can avoid it by building up to a high dose instead of straight-up jumping in the deep end.

 

[HRopiate]

I have been using Gabapentin and Pregabalin for about 2 years now (Mostly gabapentin if I was without insurance). I have had periods of taking it daily for 6 months at a time. While the extreme "high" (drunk but in control) wears off, the overall sense of happiness, body buzz and euphoria have never gone away with daily use for me personally. Everyone is different but I think there can still be plenty of nice effects to be had from daily dosing. Just like there is a high tolerance buildup in opiates, you still can feel a decent effect. This stuff potentiates the hell out of opiates.

Also, regarding withdrawal, after daily use for months at a time, I have cessated on a few occasions. Would I recommend it? No, as there is seizure risk. However, I found that sweaty palms and hot/cold flashes for about a week occurred. Was it intolerable? No. Was it anywhere near the level of horror that I read on forums? No. Are we all going to have the same reactions? No. These are just my personal experiences.

I do think that the psychosomatic impact of expected withdrawals do impact the user more than one thinks. Personally, this drug works very well for almost anything and while at very high doses I can find myself looking for words, at more therapeutic doses I find myself extremely witty and productive....all while still feeling a recreational value.

At one point I was not doing ANY opiates and when I was scripted oxycodone, I was a bit bummed at how quick the euphoria went away. The general "feel good" from Pregabalin lasts throughout the day for me and this is one drug I wouldn't mind being on indefinitely. I guess maybe I am one of the lucky ones who seem to respond very very well to this drug.

My previous drug of choice would have been oxycodone but this drug rates higher in my book with way fewer side effects....just for me. For all those users who have similar results, we are pretty lucky because it's an easy drug to get scripted, the effects last for hours, and you can pretty much function very well on it without negative consequences (terrible drug seeking, preoccupation etc). Again, I think the withdrawals are not as bad as many say. I'm sure they are horrid in some, but so can stopping SSRIs abruptly. So many people go on these drugs and have their doctors switch them with a fast titration off the drug and don't complain. It's a great drug.

edit: My doses for gabapentin got up to 4k recreational. 2400mg daily gave me a euphoria and sense of well being that did not ever go away with tolerance. My equal dose for Lyrica is about 600mg=2400mg Neurontin. So with my quitting Neurontin at 2400mg daily for 6 months and functioning just fine at work outside of cold sweats (feet and hands) for about a week...isn't that bad IMO.

 

[The Happy Wanderer]

I'm thinking about tapering down or even just stop.
The reason is the way it fucks with my memory. I had problems before, but it kinda got out of hand.
I'm not sure if I should go with a smaller dosage or not. I tried tapering down before (200mg->150mg), but I felt to depressed. Maybe I should have tried the lower dosage for a longer time.

 

[BadMonkey]

PLEASE NOTE: THIS POST IS FOR CONVERSATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND NOT MEANT AS A GUIDLINE FOR YOUR OWN USAGE OF THIS MEDICATION. MEDS ARE DANGEROUS, PLEASE BE INFORMED ABOUT ANYTHING YOU TAKE~

Lyrica is a great med and I've found, personally, will halt opiate WDs in their tracks, NO SHIT. Of course, you have to snuff quite a bit of it for this effect, but I'm on 200mg of methadone daily for pain and when I run out, I immediately go to my Lyrica and start w/150mg x2 and I will also eat 2 as well. That's good for about the first hour but for safety I repeat the first snuff dose.

Not only are there no WDs but I can actually sleep, which is miraculous as I, for one, am never able to sleep when in WDs or off my meds. Unfortunately, I can be a glutton in my rabid attempt to avoid the cursed WDs and it's not uncommon for me to kill a whole script for 60 Lyrica in like, 4 days. So at x15 a day, I fill it and never touch it until those last 4 days.

I can sleep, am never dopesick, no aching, kicking legs, no sweats, anxiety or even diarrhea as Lyrica is also a bowel inhibitor, as opes are. I know this isn't entirely harm reductive and I certainly am NOT suggesting any of you try my use/dosing of the stuff. I've been on this drug for over 10 years now, long before it had been labeled a 'controlled substance' back when it was just said to 'produce drug seeking behavior'. Also, I know how much it takes for me to achieve the desired effect. It would most likely be a lot less for anybody else and hell, I could probably get the same effects using a lot less, myself? But the nerve-pain relief is unbeatable and in my mind, the biggest bonus of all? NO DOPESICK is worth more than gold or being able to get in a size 2 pair of jeans.

Please bear in mind that I post this conversationally =ONLY= it is NOT intended as a guide or suggestion for anybody else, merely a recollection of my experiences with Lyrica. If you are using it, please do tread lightly, especially until you know how it affects you. Read the literature that comes with your Rx, read up on it online at drugs.com or just plug the name into your favorite search engine and surf around the returns. More importantly than anything else, especially my or anyone else’s experience is YOUR OWN, as these meds affect folks differently, no doubt.

So don’t just jump off into mega-dose land and follow my example, as my tolerance after all these years is phenomenal, unusual and uncommon.

Good luck, tread softly and always be informed~~

BadMonkey

 

[xxxyyy]

The only real bothersome side effect you may notice from a high dose is a tremor/shaking. I've had it happen to me pretty intensely, but you can avoid it by building up to a high dose instead of straight-up jumping in the deep end.

yes, this happened to me a few times at first when i switched from gabapentin to pregabalin. this can become highly unpleasant, to the point where i had violent muscle twitches akin to tardive dyskenisia brought on by antipsychotics. these days i know my pregab and it doesn't happen anymore, although at doses exceeding 900mg i will still get a noticable tremor sometimes.
i find pregabalin to be an absolute godsend from the pharm gods. i enjoy the effects on its own, but it mixes well with every drug i tried it, its anxiolytic and calming properties take away all the side-effects i hate about amphetamines and hallucinogens, it potentiates and synergizes wonderfully with opioids, benzos and GHB, it makes weed moderately euphoric and 'trippy'. the only drug it doesn't seem to like is alcohol, which it also potentiates quite a bit, but it's so easy to overshoot it with the drinking to the point where you're just drunk off your ass and hardly feel the pregab anymore.
regarding withdrawal, i jumped off 600mg/day taken for ~six months without any real ill effects. was a bit nervous, anxiety was up a bit and sleeping was more difficult (though even without chemical help possible) and generally the only gabaergic i ever quit that wasn't absolute hell. about the same i'd get from using, say, 60mg diazepam for three days in a row. but this is by no means indicative that it's generally an easy drug to quit, because i've read more than one story here where cold turkey pregab WD was a nightmare and even tapering was quite unpleasant.

 

[ganeal]

I am rx'ed 900 mg's a day for severe nerve damage in my legs after a car wreck and 2 failed back surgeries... anyways I try to skip a day here and there to keep tolerance at bay but dammit my legs hurt too bad on the 2nd day off... Lyrica is a wonderful drug and can be very pleasant to use if your tolerance is not too high..that is the one thing about it..after 3 days of use the "high" runs out. But the silver lining is that your tolerance also goes down fast too. Just by skipping a few days I can get a very good buzz on 900mg's I have taken up to 2000 mg at one time and that is when I started dropping thing I was carrying and when I was in bed my legs and arms would suddenly jerk...it was very unpleasant!

 

[longbeachone]

I am at the end of a six month taper off of Lyrica, a drug I came to despise for turning me into an overweight zombie. If you have been lucky enough to escape the withdrawal symptoms of Lyrica when quitting, thank the Gods, for they are hell on earth. I tried to quit 450 mg per day use (prescribed for RED) cold turkey, and was incapacitated for two weeks with panic, anxiety, nausea, stomach pain, chills, sweating, muscle aches, itching and crippling exhaustion. What was really terrible was that these symptoms never got better with time. I finally had to go back on the drug, just to survive. I started a very slow taper in January, removing 25 mg once a week if I could tolerate it. I'm now down to 75 mg every other day, and hope to be rid of this beast in a few weeks.

Forums are full of horror stories about lyrica withdrawal. I started lurking through this megathread and cringed every time someone talked about how much they loooooooved this drug. If you are trying to stop using lyrica, the key is a long slow taper. I also recommend magnesium, fish oil, pedialyte to replace electrolytes, benadryl and herbal tea to help you sleep.

 

[Chrranke]

I'm sorry for the horrors you had with withdrawal symptoms. For me the withdrawal symptoms were mild. but I never went over the maxium day dose as I notice many here have done. Apparently some have terrible withdrawal symptoms while others do not. Its like that with every drug.

 

[HRopiate]

I'm sorry for the horrors you had with withdrawal symptoms. For me the withdrawal symptoms were mild. but I never went over the maxium day dose as I notice many here have done. Apparently some have terrible withdrawal symptoms while others do not. Its like that with every drug.

Me too. Withdrawals were minimal. I know so many people that have been on this drug and stopped (older people 65+) and had no withdrawals. I think a fair amount have to do with the individual chemistry, and the psychosomatic effect of expected withdrawals due to excessive forum reading. Hospitals LOAD up patients with gabapentin when they discharge due to alcoholism to mitigate seizure risk. You would be surprised how many patients are on regular gabapentin and then have the doctors do a relatively quick taper (if they are lucky) and are fine.

This is HR, and this is the cold truth, reading the internet over and over trying to find every single detail is not a good thing. There is plenty of "street science" on how methadone is worse to be dependent on then heroin. Yet, time and time again, they don't realize that by dosing in a controlled environment and titrating down under the care of a doctor can make the withdrawals practically non-existent. Heck I have seen patients detoxed from 100 down 10mg a week and they are fine (that's not common but if it is requested by the patient it is done). Therefore, one's expectations and beliefs on what they can tolerate does likely have a strong correlation on how they feel the withdrawals to be.

I feel for any person in agony, but I am hoping this is one forum that isn't like many others where people all jump on the "horrors of any big Pharm" drug and let it proliferate with everyone.

Bottom line is that some people may have more withdrawal than others. I would venture to say that the one's expecting the worst withdrawals will indeed just have that...the worst. Mine weren't much at all and I went cold turkey from 2400mg daily for Neurontin and 4k on weekends. A few days later I was fine. YMMV.

 

[Sillyslick]

I felt compelled to register to share my experience with Lyrica.

I was initially prescribed 75mg twice a day for social anxiety. These didn't do much but I felt something. So I got the dose upped to two 150mg a day and really felt the kick. Definitely like being intoxicated and very enjoyable at that. However, as others have said after a few days those effects wore off and I just felt practically normal again and no different from before taking them. I will admit that I didn't give it enough time in this state to really determine if I may have benefited from other effects from the drug, but I stopped taking them because I was gutted at no longer having the buzz, which did seem to make me more talkative and sociable.

No problem coming off them as I had only been taking them for under a month. After a few days I took two 150mg together in the morning and that kick was back, and again very enjoyable. It really seems to 'fix' my anxiety too and fixes a lot of things. So at the moment i'm taking them in that capacity, so in essence rather like a party drug. I must admit the last few days i've been taking it every day and still getting the intoxication effect and the confidence, and if that wears off and I feel unable to handle social situations again then I will probably have to accept that I won't be able to take them every day and just use for times when i'm due to enter a social situation or to have fun when I go out. But i'm cool with that. I just don't want to become too addicted to something that when taken every day is not actually doing much. I don't see the point in that.

 

[HRopiate]

I felt compelled to register to share my experience with Lyrica.

I was initially prescribed 75mg twice a day for social anxiety. These didn't do much but I felt something. So I got the dose upped to two 150mg a day and really felt the kick. Definitely like being intoxicated and very enjoyable at that. However, as others have said after a few days those effects wore off and I just felt practically normal again and no different from before taking them. I will admit that I didn't give it enough time in this state to really determine if I may have benefited from other effects from the drug, but I stopped taking them because I was gutted at no longer having the buzz, which did seem to make me more talkative and sociable.

No problem coming off them as I had only been taking them for under a month. After a few days I took two 150mg together in the morning and that kick was back, and again very enjoyable. It really seems to 'fix' my anxiety too and fixes a lot of things. So at the moment i'm taking them in that capacity, so in essence rather like a party drug. I must admit the last few days i've been taking it every day and still getting the intoxication effect and the confidence, and if that wears off and I feel unable to handle social situations again then I will probably have to accept that I won't be able to take them every day and just use for times when i'm due to enter a social situation or to have fun when I go out. But i'm cool with that. I just don't want to become too addicted to something that when taken every day is not actually doing much. I don't see the point in that.

Well you said it yourself; you take it daily as prescribed and feel the effects. Some people, like me, do. Also, don't punish yourself for feeling good. If taken as prescribed daily, and you feel good, that's normal. You aren't addicted to them; only dependent. There's a huge difference between the two. You physically depend on them to get the anxiety relief but you aren't drug seeking, taking more and more to get the same effect and spending too much time obsessing about the drug. That's basically the difference between addiction and dependence...negative consequences. So hopefully you continue to feel more confident and relaxed. Be happy about it...

 

[progressive]

It can be very dangerous to cold turkey quit pregabalin. People have died because of respiratory issues after stop taking this medicine.

I notice a hugh drop in the release of scientific articles about pregabalin since one year. Does anybody know why? I read they are developing new VGCC's which are a 1000 times potent as pregabalin theoretically. Haven't been able to find any additional information about this, guess it's so confidential.

Btw, I am dependent on 600mg each day for neuropathic pain. Taking it for about 3 years now.

 

[Sillyslick]

Well you said it yourself; you take it daily as prescribed and feel the effects. Some people, like me, do. Also, don't punish yourself for feeling good. If taken as prescribed daily, and you feel good, that's normal. You aren't addicted to them; only dependent. There's a huge difference between the two. You physically depend on them to get the anxiety relief but you aren't drug seeking, taking more and more to get the same effect and spending too much time obsessing about the drug. That's basically the difference between addiction and dependence...negative consequences. So hopefully you continue to feel more confident and relaxed. Be happy about it...

I am indeed happy about it. Like I say i've tried many of the known anti-depressants and what not, and they've all made me feel like crap, whereas this appears to be the drug for me. I'll continue to take it regularly again for now and monitor how I am and if it keeps working in the way I need it to. I've also heard a lot about weight gain which I really do not need and another reason I've been apprehensive about becoming dependent. Has anybody here had this problem?

 

[Ninae]

It only worked every other day for me, but full effects only every 3 day. Both Lyrica and Gabapentin makes you put on weight. Mostly bloated waterweight so it's hard to avoid it.

 

[Sillyslick]

It only worked every other day for me, but full effects only every 3 day. Both Lyrica and Gabapentin makes you put on weight. Mostly bloated waterweight so it's hard to avoid it.

That's exactly the way it seems to work with me. Sometimes I stop for about 3 days, take them again and the full effect returns. It's a great drug but the body builds up a tolerance way too quickly.
Shame about the weight gain though. Yet another drug with great benefits but a huge down-side. So far I haven't put on weight but I do a lot of intermittent fasting which i'm hoping is counteracting it.