Desperate Pregabalin / lyrica withdrawal

[DD1146]

Hi - I have been using pregabalin heavily for past 3 years. I was using over 1000mg(over a gram) daily until last September where I started tapering down aggressively. I got down to 100mg daily and then jumped off. It's been almost 3 weeks since then. My issue is im not getting any better, I only get a couple of hours sleep, I have no energy, no appetite, I can't focus my mind on anything, just getting up is a mission. I have brain fog, I sweat profusely if I try to do anything, even climbing a flight of stairs has me soaking with sweat. Can anyone advise me on this? How long until I start picking up? Are there any supplements or herbs or anything I can take to lessen this? I previously came off benzos (10 years ago) that was awful, I was sick for months. I'm terrified that this could be like that, I had a seizure coming off benzos along with the worst feelings and mental state I have ever been in. As I said this is feeling as though its going the same way. If anyone could shed some light on this, I'd really appreciate it. Thanks

 

[HeadphonesandLSD]

Probably 2-3 more months. Thinking about it will prolong it. You were taking a substance for over a year in high doses that hit a lot of different areas in the brain. It will take some time before your brain and body find a baseline. If you've been off for 3 weeks you're probably through the worst of it and you'll notice little improvements everyday going forward. This isn't unique to this one substance it's like this when you quit anything you've been taking for a long time. It takes your brain some time before it starts making the natural endorphins again and for your receptors to starting functioning normally.

For the sleep issue you need to get out and move around. Wear yourself out in the afternoon/evening everyday a few hours before you attempt to sleep.

There isn't a magical supplement or anything you can take to make this process go faster. The best thing you can do is try and eat a good diet and do enough physical activity to help your body heal faster. Push yourself a little and work up a sweat once a day. Try to do stuff to keep your mind off of it instead of sitting in a room all day by yourself worrying about it. In a month or two from now you'll be going through your day and realize you haven't thought about it all day. Then you'll know that you've gotten over the hump.

If you start taking a different drug to mask the withdrawal symptoms you'll only end up in the same situation as you were before only with a different substance. That's how a lot of people addicted to things like opioids, alcohol and benzos end up. You'll quit something like oxycodone and replace it with methadone or bupe. You're still an addict feeding an addiction you're just doing it with a different substance deemed more palatable by the general population. Lots of folks have made their problem worse that way. Plenty of people have gone from a mild addiction to a short acting opioid up to something like methadone which is hell to quit with a much longer period of acute withdrawal.

Something that has helped me in the past is fasting. Go 3-7 days without food and only water. Force your body to burn some of its fat and allow it time to sweat out all the bad stuff you've been feeding it. I'm not sure if lyrica stores in fat cells like some of the substances I've used in the past. I try to go on a short fast at least once a year. You can tell it does something positive because you'll start to reek when your body starts to burn fat cells and all that bad stuff starts coming out of your pores. After 3-7 days with no food and only water I start eating again slowly. Usually stuff that's easy on the stomach like yogurt, chicken soup and oatmeal. Introduce food back slowly then after a few days return to eating a normal diet. Try to stick to whole foods and cooking your own meals instead of eating processed junk and fast food.

No matter how you decide to go about this time is the only thing that helps. It sucks but that's how it is. It takes awhile for your body to adjust after you've spent so much time feeding it substances it wouldn't normally be exposed to. The brain and body down regulated its own production of chemicals and hormones to adjust to you feeding it chemicals all of the time. Time heals all wounds.

 

[DD1146]

Probably 2-3 more months. Thinking about it will prolong it. You were taking a substance for over a year in high doses that hit a lot of different areas in the brain. It will take some time before your brain and body find a baseline. If you've been off for 3 weeks you're probably through the worst of it and you'll notice little improvements everyday going forward. This isn't unique to this one substance it's like this when you quit anything you've been taking for a long time. It takes your brain some time before it starts making the natural endorphins again and for your receptors to starting functioning normally.

For the sleep issue you need to get out and move around. Wear yourself out in the afternoon/evening everyday a few hours before you attempt to sleep.

There isn't a magical supplement or anything you can take to make this process go faster. The best thing you can do is try and eat a good diet and do enough physical activity to help your body heal faster. Push yourself a little and work up a sweat once a day. Try to do stuff to keep your mind off of it instead of sitting in a room all day by yourself worrying about it. In a month or two from now you'll be going through your day and realize you haven't thought about it all day. Then you'll know that you've gotten over the hump.

If you start taking a different drug to mask the withdrawal symptoms you'll only end up in the same situation as you were before only with a different substance. That's how a lot of people addicted to things like opioids, alcohol and benzos end up. You'll quit something like oxycodone and replace it with methadone or bupe. You're still an addict feeding an addiction you're just doing it with a different substance deemed more palatable by the general population. Lots of folks have made their problem worse that way. Plenty of people have gone from a mild addiction to a short acting opioid up to something like methadone which is hell to quit with a much longer period of acute withdrawal.

Something that has helped me in the past is fasting. Go 3-7 days without food and only water. Force your body to burn some of its fat and allow it time to sweat out all the bad stuff you've been feeding it. I'm not sure if lyrica stores in fat cells like some of the substances I've used in the past. I try to go on a short fast at least once a year. You can tell it does something positive because you'll start to reek when your body starts to burn fat cells and all that bad stuff starts coming out of your pores. After 3-7 days with no food and only water I start eating again slowly. Usually stuff that's easy on the stomach like yogurt, chicken soup and oatmeal. Introduce food back slowly then after a few days return to eating a normal diet. Try to stick to whole foods and cooking your own meals instead of eating processed junk and fast food.

No matter how you decide to go about this time is the only thing that helps. It sucks but that's how it is. It takes awhile for your body to adjust after you've spent so much time feeding it substances it wouldn't normally be exposed to. The brain and body down regulated its own production of chemicals and hormones to adjust to you feeding it chemicals all of the time. Time heals all wounds.

Ok thank you for that, I appreciate the help.

 

[washingtonbound]

Hi - I have been using pregabalin heavily for past 3 years. I was using over 1000mg(over a gram) daily until last September where I started tapering down aggressively. I got down to 100mg daily and then jumped off. It's been almost 3 weeks since then. My issue is im not getting any better, I only get a couple of hours sleep, I have no energy, no appetite, I can't focus my mind on anything, just getting up is a mission. I have brain fog, I sweat profusely if I try to do anything, even climbing a flight of stairs has me soaking with sweat. Can anyone advise me on this? How long until I start picking up? Are there any supplements or herbs or anything I can take to lessen this? I previously came off benzos (10 years ago) that was awful, I was sick for months. I'm terrified that this could be like that, I had a seizure coming off benzos along with the worst feelings and mental state I have ever been in. As I said this is feeling as though its going the same way. If anyone could shed some light on this, I'd really appreciate it. Thanks

I took pregabalin every day for two weeks or so when I was in Mexico and could get it OTC. I absolutely felt psychological withdrawal symptoms when I stopped even in that short amount of time. The unfortunate thing is that the brain just has to return to baseline on its own. There’s supplements or whatever you can take but that doesn’t really help. I have some success with exercise (particularly swimming), that’s about it.

 

[DD1146]

I took pregabalin every day for two weeks or so when I was in Mexico and could get it OTC. I absolutely felt psychological withdrawal symptoms when I stopped even in that short amount of time. The unfortunate thing is that the brain just has to return to baseline on its own. There’s supplements or whatever you can take but that doesn’t really help. I have some success with exercise (particularly swimming), that’s about it.

Yes, I'm finding out the hard way that time looks to be the only way. Exercise is something I'm trying to push on with. Today I started with a 30 min walk. It was a struggle but I did it. I was foolish to use it for so long and at those doses. I was getting the powder form so just kept putting my dose higher and higher. Thanks for the reply.

 

[washingtonbound]

Yes, I'm finding out the hard way that time looks to be the only way. Exercise is something I'm trying to push on with. Today I started with a 30 min walk. It was a struggle but I did it. I was foolish to use it for so long and at those doses. I was getting the powder form so just kept putting my dose higher and higher. Thanks for the reply.

I also used Percocet briefly when traveling in Colombia because it was OTC over there. Lyrica ended up being trickier for me to stop than that. With Percocet there was still a degree of agitation and anxiety that I didn’t experience with Lyrica. It’s a very slippery slope with that substance. The combination of the anti anxiety effects and well being it induces, as well as the body high and even interesting visuals at high doses, made it uniquely hard to let go of. Only thing that stopped me was returning to the US where I couldn’t buy it easily anymore.

Like someone else mentioned, because it affects so many areas of the brain, makes it very difficult to go back to normal.

It’s like the more enjoyable the drug is, the harder it is to stop.

 

[Zopiclone bandit]

Hi - I have been using pregabalin heavily for past 3 years. I was using over 1000mg(over a gram) daily

What did you get from it at that dose?

I always found the first time I would do it I would be smashed, if I did it the next day the effect would be at the best half of what I felt the day before & if I did it 3 days on the run I would get nothing on the 3rd day.

Pre-gabs are imho best to be taken once a week at 600-700mg range, the ceiling on their nice effect comes on so fast.

 

[DD1146]

What did you get from it at that dose?

I always found the first time I would do it I would be smashed, if I did it the next day the effect would be at the best half of what I felt the day before & if I did it 3 days on the run I would get nothing on the 3rd day.

Pre-gabs are imho best to be taken once a week at 600-700mg range, the ceiling on their nice effect comes on so fast.

Yes once a week is best if you can stick to it. The doses kept escalating but I found that I could get the effect daily, obviously not as good as in the beginning but enough to keep me at a comfortable place. I never thought about how long I'd been on it until last summer, then I panicked and started tapering. I should have tapered more slowly in hindsight and maybe down to 25mg before jumping but I felt i was getting far too many side effects and wanted the stuff out of my mind and body as soon as possible. I've had enough of it now, I definitely won't be falling back on to it now I'm over 3 weeks in. I did find it a very pleasurable substance until the negatives started outweighing the positives with it

 

[DD1146]

I also used Percocet briefly when traveling in Colombia because it was OTC over there. Lyrica ended up being trickier for me to stop than that. With Percocet there was still a degree of agitation and anxiety that I didn’t experience with Lyrica. It’s a very slippery slope with that substance. The combination of the anti anxiety effects and well being it induces, as well as the body high and even interesting visuals at high doses, made it uniquely hard to let go of. Only thing that stopped me was returning to the US where I couldn’t buy it easily anymore.

Like someone else mentioned, because it affects so many areas of the brain, makes it very difficult to go back to normal.

It’s like the more enjoyable the drug is, the harder it is to stop.

Yes, i found that after being on it for so long, I was experiencing some quite negative side effects. I would forget things, I sometimes struggled to finish a sentence, I would get most of the sentence out and then find myself looking for a specific word and not being able to find it. I was dosing once a day so I was also getting interdose discomfort. I would have a vile taste in my mouth every morning, I couldn't get a deep breath either which was worrying.

I still find it hard to get a full breath but its improving as is my memory and my vocabulary. Its a strange substance but I got swept away by the way it made me feel. Like you said, we don't know how exactly this drug works on the brain.

 

[Zopiclone bandit]

I should have tapered more slowly in hindsight and maybe down to 25mg before jumping but I felt i was getting far too many side effects and wanted the stuff out of my mind and body as soon as possible.

I've been told by so many people the WD's off that stuff is so bad.
All of the homeless Heroin addicts I know have all said the sudden withdrawl from that stuff is horrific, they all swear they will never get another habit on pre-gab's again & I think that says it all. If a homeless Heroin addict is saying how bad it makes you feel that is a HUGE Red Flag to me.

I did find it a very pleasurable substance until the negatives started outweighing the positives with it

I can relate to that, I have had the same experience with several things in my past, the one that comes right to mind is MDPV.

I can understand 100% how a person may get an issue with Pre-gab & Gabapentin, the first time I had them I really didn't like the feeling, the 2nd time I took them it was different & I truly fell in love with them so much.

How are you feeling today?

 

[washingtonbound]

Yes, i found that after being on it for so long, I was experiencing some quite negative side effects. I would forget things, I sometimes struggled to finish a sentence, I would get most of the sentence out and then find myself looking for a specific word and not being able to find it. I was dosing once a day so I was also getting interdose discomfort. I would have a vile taste in my mouth every morning, I couldn't get a deep breath either which was worrying.

I still find it hard to get a full breath but its improving as is my memory and my vocabulary. Its a strange substance but I got swept away by the way it made me feel. Like you said, we don't know how exactly this drug works on the brain.

The memory issues probably had to do with its effects on gaba. Can induce a vegetative state after a while so good thing you got off. It had a weird appeal for me to and I’m glad my supply to it was cut off otherwise it probably wouldn’t have ended well

 

[DD1146]

I've been told by so many people the WD's off that stuff is so bad.
All of the homeless Heroin addicts I know have all said the sudden withdrawl from that stuff is horrific, they all swear they will never get another habit on pre-gab's again & I think that says it all. If a homeless Heroin addict is saying how bad it makes you feel that is a HUGE Red Flag to me.


I can relate to that, I have had the same experience with several things in my past, the one that comes right to mind is MDPV.

I can understand 100% how a person may get an issue with Pre-gab & Gabapentin, the first time I had them I really didn't like the feeling, the 2nd time I took them it was different & I truly fell in love with them so much.

How are you feeling today?

Im improving slowly, I'm still feeling done in from lack of sleep, I did get 4 hours in total last night which is a big plus as was only getting a couple of hours prior to that. It's going to be a while before I get back to normal but I am moving in the right direction.

Yes I wasn't expecting this kind of withdrawal and recovery. I thought I'd be done in a week or two, boy was I mistaken. It's definitely got some similarities to how I felt when I came off benzos but not quite as bad. I will live and learn this time. I really don't see myself ever touching this again. I know it's easy to say that now when I feel so rough but I didn't ever go back to benzos after I came off those so I think I'll make it.

 

[Zopiclone bandit]

Im improving slowly, I'm still feeling done in from lack of sleep, I did get 4 hours in total last night which is a big plus as was only getting a couple of hours prior to that. It's going to be a while before I get back to normal

Sounds 100% like when you come off Heroin.
I know how it feels 100%.