Gabapentinoids Beware of Lyrica (Pregabalin)

[Lyricarma]

I wanted to post this in case someone is seeking information regarding withdrawing from Lyrica, especially if you plan to do it cold turkey.

I have been abusing Lyrica for two years at doses beyond 900 mg. I went from over 900 mg per day to 300 mg per day within a one-week period, subsequently attempting to quit cold turkey.

I want to quickly compare my experience to other withdrawals. I’ve withdrawn from codeine, Endone, morphine, Tramal and Suboxone. All cold turkey at different times. I would unfortunately start abusing a medication until I knew it was time to let it go, and I rarely if ever combined medications. Usually I just stuck to one or another for extended periods.

I feel that I have gone through enough to share my experiences in the hope that it helps others going through this particular withdrawal.

Firstly, I applaud you for getting to this point. You can make it through this; however, do consult with a doctor because your approach to this withdrawal could be life-threatening.

As previously stated, I went from over 900 mg to 300 mg within one week, then quit cold turkey. The first three days were surprisingly tolerable. In fact, stupidly, I was cocky in thinking that I was over the worst of it when I woke on day 3 feeling tolerable. On day 3 at approximately 7 pm I fell asleep and noticed, like the experience in opiate withdrawal, I was constantly tossing and turning, and I would wake in pools of sweat. My legs felt painful, and my skin was extremely sensitive. I also noticed a slight headache. This continued until I woke again at around 3 am, so I showered and slept until around 8 am. Waking on day 4 was horrific. I mean in regards to withdrawal symptoms; there is nothing in my withdrawal experiences that comes close.

I am not trying to frighten anyone here. This is a warning from the heart; from one human to another. The experience of withdrawal on this medication will differ depending on your dosage, pain tolerance, duration of dependence, whether you are abusing the medication, or if you plan to taper off or quit cold turkey — there are so many variables that will affect the severity of the withdrawal. And the reason I joined this group and why I am making this post is because I nearly died withdrawing from this Lyrica POS.

Continuing on with my withdrawal experience, the worst of the symptoms all came at once when I woke on day 4. Every symptom that has been reported online I experienced in varying forms on days 4–7. Including:

Withdrawal symptoms can vary in severity and may include:

• Anxiety
• Insomnia
• Nausea
• Headaches
• Mood changes
• Sweating
• Diarrhoea
• Cravings

In addition to:

• Pain all over the body
• Extreme skin sensitivity
• Sensitivity to light
• Depression
• Irritability
• Anger
• Intolerance to life in general
• Avoidant/ARFID

This continued until day 7 when, unfortunately, later that night I collapsed in the bathroom and experienced a seizure. My partner said it sounded as if a car crashed through the house. I nearly bit my tongue off. My partner said it lasted about five minutes. I must have dozed off or something because I don’t remember going from the bathroom to the ambulance. In the ambulance I remember the paramedic was shining a light in my eyes and asking me who I was, what I had taken and other general questions, but I couldn’t answer because he had gauze in my mouth trying to soak up the blood from biting my tongue. I don’t remember what happened next, but again I was being woken by the paramedic telling me I experienced a second seizure. That’s two within the time frame of one and a half hours. I recall him saying, “Focus here, buddy…,” but I couldn’t get my eyelids to open. I heard him but I was paralysed.

I woke hours later in the ER. By this time they had done bloods, tests, etc. They said multiple times they tried to wake me up. I was having arrhythmia, snoring extremely loudly, then my breathing would cut off completely — like some kind of serious sleep apnea. A specialist doctor and pain management specialist came and saw me and said they spoke with my partner, and she informed them of what I was going through. I remember him looking me directly in the eyes and saying, “You nearly died this night.” It is never recommended to cold turkey from medications like this one. “NEVER,” he reiterated. Anyway, they ended up providing a script for the medication: four of the 75 mg and 56 of the 25 mg. I ended up tapering off and getting through it.

I sincerely thought I was doing well off the opiates, and I foolishly underestimated the withdrawal from Lyrica. In fact, I underestimated the medication altogether. I thought that taking Lyrica instead of opiates meant I was doing better, and that I could quickly stop it and be well again. Yet there I was… closer to death than ever before.

Hope this information helps someone out there.

 

[Tronica]

Hi there.. just checking - you've posted this to australian/asian drug discussion. Maybe you are from here and this happened here but just wanting to understand, given you are new, whether you meant to put this in this part of the site, otherwise we could move it to Other Drugs where the whole site discusses a range of drugs including this one.

 

[Lyricarma]

Hi there.. just checking - you've posted this to australian/asian drug discussion. Maybe you are from here and this happened here but just wanting to understand, given you are new, whether you meant to put this in this part of the site, otherwise we could move it to Other Drugs where the whole site discusses a range of drugs including this one.

Hi Tronica,

My apologies. I am Australian, and yes this happened in Australia. You may move this to wherever you feel it may reach more folks. My aim here is to inform those seeking information regarding withdrawing from Lyrica. I have read posts here regarding peoples experiences but couldn't find many in relation to abusing the medication at higher doses, and the consequences that come with that.

Thank you.

 

[Tronica]

All good, happy for it to remain here from an Australian perspective... I imagine the kinds of help and care you can get would be different by jurisdiction, too.

 

[placebonaut]

@Tronica imho there's not enough talked about pregab withdrawal on the site, it would get more eyes and help more people in a more mainstream sub

@Lyricarma hope you're doing ok now, seizures is a risk when going cold turkey from pregabalin/lyrica, pretty scary shit! how long ago was this?

recommendation is to do a longer taper, I was looking at this myself last week so here's the notes I made - if anyone is going to use this WARNING, I've not validated the info so worth checking it with a reliable source.

What I would say is that YMMV is a big factor here, I'm on my 3rd tolerance break from it, I only ever use it weekly in doses of 300-600mg and have always just gone cold turkey without any issue, but that doesn't mean it will be the same for you if you're using it.

Note the receptor % change over time here too, if you take it daily at 300mg after 12 months you're receptors will be 50% downregulated

Scenario (Dose)​	Frequency​	Receptor % away from baseline​	Time to Normalize After Stop​	Suggested Taper Duration​
-----------------​	-----------​	-----------------------------------------​	------------------------------​	--------------------------​
**300mg**​	Daily​	1mo: 15% , 3mo: 30% , 6mo: 40% , 12mo: 50%​	8–12 weeks (slow recovery due to chronic adaptation)​	4–6 weeks (reduce by 50mg every 5–7 days)​
​	3x/week​	1mo: 8% , 3mo: 18% , 6mo: 25% , 12mo: 30%​	4–6 weeks​	2–3 weeks (reduce by 75mg each dose)​
​	2x/week​	1mo: 5% ,: 10% , 6mo: 15% , 12mo: 18%​	3–4 weeks​	1–2 weeks (reduce by 100mg each dose)​
​	1x/week​	1mo: 2% , 3mo: 5% , 6mo: 8% , 12mo: 10%​	2 weeks​	None (can stop abruptly, mild withdrawal)​
​	1x/2weeks​	1mo: 1% , 3mo: 2% , 6mo: 3% , 12mo: 4%​	1 week​	None (minimal adaptation)​
​	1x/month​	1mo: <1% , 3mo: ~1% , 6mo: 1.5% , 12mo: 2%​	3–5 days​	None​
**600mg**​	Daily​	1mo: 25% , 3mo: 45% , 6mo: 55% , 12mo: 65%​	12–16 weeks (significant upregulation of GABAergic compensation may occur)​	8–10 weeks (reduce by 50mg every 3–4 days, then slower near end)​
​	3x/week​	1mo: 12% , 3mo: 25% , 6mo: 35% , 12mo: 40%​	6–8 weeks​	4–6 weeks (reduce by 100mg per dose per week)​
​	2x/week​	1mo: 8% , 3mo: 15% , 6mo: 20% , 12mo: 25%​	4–6 weeks​	2–4 weeks (reduce by 150mg per dose per week)​
​	1x/week​	1mo: 4% , 3mo: 8% , 6mo: 12% , 12mo: 15%​	3–4 weeks​	1–2 weeks (reduce by 200mg per dose)​
​	1x/2weeks​	1mo: 2% , 3mo: 4% , 6mo: 6% , 12mo: 8%​	2 weeks​	None (taper optional, 1–2 dose reductions)​
​	1x/month​	1mo: 1% , 3mo: 2% , 6mo: 3% , 12mo: 4%​	1 week​	None​

I asked AI about withdrawal intensity and siezure risk

**Key modifiers that increase seizure risk:**
- **Prior seizure history** (even remote)
- **Concurrent or recent GABAergic drug use** – you have a history of GBL, benzodiazepines, phenibut, and soma. That means your seizure threshold is likely already lower than normal.
- **Abrupt cessation** or too-fast tapering
- **Higher dose** (e.g., 600mg/day)
- **Renal impairment** (pregabalin clears slower – withdrawal can be delayed but worse)
- **Alcohol misuse**

**Bottom line:** The longer you stay on pregabalin, the deeper the neuroadaptation, the worse the rebound hyperexcitability, and the higher the seizure risk. If you need to stop after sustained use, do a slow taper under medical guidance. Given your recent multi-drug GABAergic history, your threshold is not the same as a normal person’s – don’t test it with rapid discontinuation.

Duration of Usage​	Degree of Neuroadaptation (α2δ calcium channel dysregulation)​	Withdrawal Severity​	Seizure Risk​
---------------------------​	---------------------------------------------------------------​	------------------------------------------------------------------------------​	-------------------------------------------------​
**Acute / occasional** (≤2 weeks, e.g., 1–2 doses/week)​	Minimal – no lasting compensatory changes​	None to very mild: slight rebound anxiety, trouble sleeping for 1–2 nights​	**Extremely low** – negligible in otherwise healthy individuals​
**Short-term daily use** (1–3 months)​	Mild – some tolerance starts; calcium channels begin to upregulate​	Moderate: insomnia, agitation, anxiety, nausea, headache, sweating​	**Low but present** – seizures rare but reported after abrupt stop​
**Chronic use** (3–6 months)​	Significant – robust upregulation of excitatory pathways​	Severe: panic attacks, irritability, muscle twitches, confusion, depersonalization, GI distress, hypertension​	**Moderate** – abrupt withdrawal can trigger generalized seizures​
**Long-term high-dose use** (>6 months, especially >300mg/day)​	Marked – full neuroadaptation; pronounced tolerance​	Severe: profound depression, tremor, nightmares, tactile/visual hallucinations, rare encephalopathy​	**High** – seizure risk is clinically significant, especially with rapid discontinuation​