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Opioids Lyrica and opiate withdrawal

thisisabsurd

thisisabsurd

Bluelighter
Joined
Apr 7, 2010
Messages
69
Location
Diva Plavalaguna
Hi all!

I am VERY new here so please direct me to the proper place if I have mis-posted. This post will be long as it has some background info on me. :)

I am a chronic pain patient who was diagnosed with arthritis, impingement syndrome and a torn rotator cuff 3 years ago. I was prescribed hydro and now I take about 4 x 10 mg each day (please don't laugh - I know it sounds low but everyone is different). I go through hydro wd every month around the same time because I use more pills than I'm prescribed. It is mostly psychological wd like thinking about the pills constantly (which makes for a REALLY long day), and of course the physical pain that existed before ever using them comes back. My doctor refuses to give anymore so I will just leave it at that.

Anyway, yesterday, in a desperate attempt to feel better I took some Lyrica from samples I was given a couple years ago (they don't expire until 12/10). And I am happy to report that it is helping me function pretty much normally without my hydro!

My question is - why did Lyrica help with wd? Does it also bind to opiate receptors? And...is it a really bad idea to take the Lyrica while wd from hydro...is it just replacing one dependence with another?
 
I recall in rehab everyone got gabapentin, more or less the same thing just less potent. It's apparently been proven to help with multiple withdrawals: cocaine, alcohol, benzodiazepines,
opiates, and pentazocine as far as I could find. I don't know the specifics of why but I'll drag rath's ass over here he's in the same situation and a chemist.

However, I do know it does not bind to opiate receptors nor is it a really bad idea to take the lyrica for withdrawal management in regards to your concern about replacing one addiction with another. I'm sure you can get mild wd's from lyrica but is it even close to opiate wd's? Hell no.
 
I go through the same thing. It's just lyrica can feel narcotic like and you forget about them. I don't know if you understand pharmcology alot. If you want me to go into detail I'll send you a pm.
 
Thanks for the reply! You'd think I would be smart enough to just get off the damn pills and do something else since I put myself through this EVERY MONTH, but nope! Not only do the pills help with the pain, but they definitely have a dual effect of taking away my anxiety.
 
Oops - I think I posted this response incorrectly the first time...

Hi Rath - thank you, yes, please send me a pm. I don't really know anything about pharmacology.
 
i find that it doesn't do much unless i take it and sleep for a little while, first.

you usually end up waking up feeling pretty decent. in my experience, anyway. and i wish i knew why this is. but fuck, i'm not going to complain.
 
thisisabsurd said:
It is mostly psychological wd like thinking about the pills constantly (which makes for a REALLY long day)
Click to expand...

Slightly off topic, but I know exactly what you mean there. I count it down in my head when i'm close to running out of my medications and when I've got none left, it's almost like its all I think of! It's so frustrating when your mind just keeps going around and around about almost running out or waiting for the next lot!

I don't have alot of experience with Lyrica, but a friend uses it for major back issues, but sometimes mixes it with tramadol that she is prescribed by another doctor. It worries me a little because I thought it would be quite unsafe but I'm not fantastic with understanding how the two work and the interaction of the different medications.
 
It works on the GABA receptors just like benzodiazepans and can be very usefull for people with nerve damage/nerve pain and Fibromyalgya (spelling?) -Mikeavelli
 
Old post....... new comment:) Lyrica works wonders for opiate/opioid withdrawal, I use it monthly for just that reason. I get prescribed fentanyl patches and Roxicodone pills every month and instead and abuse the living shit out of these things! Anyway, I always run out of my opioid scripts early and thus feel like shit. I get prescribed 30, 300mg, and 60, 200mg Lyrica's a month and take them when I run out of my pain stuff, and within an hour of taking roughly 900 - 1200mg of Lyrica I'm up and about. I can functune like a normal human being, not think about when my new pain scripts will be ready for pick up, etc. For me it works wonders, you build up a tolerance to the Lyrica really quick, so taking the same dose of Lyrica on day 2 or 3 you will not feel the "high" like day one, but you will feel normal. Downside...... coming off a really high dose of Lyrica really sucks as well. Anxiety through the roof, diarhea (sic), insomnia, maybe similar to benzo withdrawal?? I never had a benzo withdrawal before but I've read enough about it. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it!
Up the Irons!
Kidcontin
 
Yeah I wish I could get some lyrica. I have gabapentin, the old school lyrica, and it is great as a tool to help myself taper down my dose of suboxone, but unfortunately I hate the side effects that it gives me.

It is really strange that lyrica and gabapentin work so well for opioid withdrawals, far better IMO than benzos do. What it really does for me is curb the anxiety and allows me to sleep pretty well without waking up a hundred times a night. It also takes care of those nasty cold/hot flashes and RLS
 
I am prescribed Hydrocodone 10/325 #180 per mo.(3 yrs.) and I run out before the next script is due...sad but true. I was going through severe wd symptoms (Thousand of ants crawling under my skin, RLS, sneezing, mind warp, severe anxiety, diarrhea etc.) and btw, I do not believe there is ANYTHING that can be worse (I've had 3 major 9 hr. surgeries...no comparison ) and would DO anything for relief from this living HELL from opiates....seriously!!! I tried cough syrup (3 btls.) because I read that it had some derivative of opiates in it...that fucked me up bad and made me delirious. I found this forum (thank you) and LUCKILY...I HAD Lyrica...which is prescribed for my neuropathy. I immediately took two of my 100mg caps and within one hour took two more...I felt G-R-E-A-T...I mean holy crap, I finally had relief from 24 hrs. of a living HELL...my body "liked" me once again. I was sooo freakin' happy that if someone asked me to donate $1000 to a shit pitchin' contest featuring John Tesh singing Lynyrd Skynard...I was in. I DO NOT know why it works other than what was posted on here...and really don't care as long as it worked...and IT WORKED!!! P.S. I hope this helps others going through opiate wd's that don't have a clue about "Lyrica" as I didn't...that is my intent.
 
Last edited:
Just saw this "new" comment to my old post from back in 2010. I am sooooooo happy that others seem to have gotten some relief from this too.

These days I am down to 2 x 10 mg hydros prescribed and I now only run out 1 or 2 days early, and not even every month! I think my strong aversion to the wd symptoms finally conditioned me to reduce my dose and deal with the breakthrough physical pain. Best of luck to anyone else who happens to stumble upon this. :)
 
OK, so Lyrica works great for opiate wds...but, would it work this way, if it was on my script and take it everyday with the opiates? I mean, i've a tolerance (450 mgs a day), would it work, at higher amounts, or what?..If anybody knows things about, i would be appreciate..Thanks:)


MartinFn
 
MartinFn said:
OK, so Lyrica works great for opiate wds...but, would it work this way, if it was on my script and take it everyday with the opiates? I mean, i've a tolerance (450 mgs a day), would it work, at higher amounts, or what?..If anybody knows things about, i would be appreciate..Thanks:)


MartinFn
Click to expand...

I found it detracted from the opiate experience, as the Lyrica seemed to just overpower the opiate rather than enhance it. YMMV of course.
 
old thread. lyrica and gabapentin do help during WD, they aint no jesus though, you will still feel like shit probably and crave dope, but you w/ gabapentin you wont feel as bad. lyrica works better. basically what i am saying is that it is worth your while to take either gabapentin and/or lyrica when you experience opiate withdrawal
 
I've taken 600-900 mg of gabapentin while in the throes of oxymorphone withdrawal and, unfortunately, I didn't experience any relief whatsoever from it. I think it's one of those drugs that helps some people quite a bit, and others not at all. I believe it most likely depends on one's personal chemistry. But I wouldn't count on it being a sure thing. IMHO.
 
Hmmm...not so sure about that MartinFn. I personally noticed that the couple of times I used my Lyrica samples to bridge the gap between running out of Hydros my tolerance to Lyrica built quickly. And I only ever needed to take them for 3-4 days then my Hydro script was ready. I did not take Lyrica daily so not sure it would work the same in that case. Like others said, it's worth a try and ymmv. Hang in there. :)
 
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