Vaya
Bluelight Crew
Hello,
First things first - Should the moderators of OD feel my question ought to be included in the Lyrica megathread, by all means, do move it. However, using the search engine I was unable to find too much information on Lyrica and constipation.
My situation is this: I am prescribed Lyrica for GAD at a dose of 100mg twice daily (200mg/day).
I recently moved and the bag containing my prescription medications, including my Lyrica, was misplaced or lost during the process. Anyhow, I was forced to go approximately two weeks without taking any Lyrica whatsoever before I could refill it at the pharmacy. When I refilled my script this past friday, I began taking my normal dose again without titrating up to 200mg/day from a lower dose.
*Let it be noted that I've never had problems doing this before when other circumstances warranted an off-and-on-again Lyrica regimen.
I spent the 14th-18th in South Carolina visiting my girl's family - and they sure do like fantastically large meals down there. After four days of being exceedingly well-fed, I still hadn't produced any bowel movements. I didn't even feel constipated - as if the food had entered my mouth and vanished into thin air. But, of course, we all know that matter is neither created nor destroyed, only transformed. It was as if the smooth muscle of my GI tract went on vacation (although I was able to urinate normally. Four days is a long time to go; I began to get pretty worried and did some research.
I discovered that constipation is a documented side effect of pregabalin (although not necessarily a common one), with severe constipation occurring in around 5% of patients. The thing is, I'd never experienced this with pregabalin before, so its sudden impact on my life left me wondering whether or not others have experienced debilitating constipation from it or if this could have been caused by stopping the medication abruptly, living my life for two weeks without it, and then subjecting myself to 200mg daily dosages again.
From all that I understand about pregabalin, 200mg/day divided into 100mg doses separated by seven or eight hours is relatively small; many, many people report using 300-600mg twice to three times daily, both on these boards and in clinical trials of Lyrica, and a "standard" daily dose of pregabalin (as suggested by the medical literature) is ~150mg 2x/day - 100mg more than I take.
Anyhow, I stopped taking the Lyrica yesterday and drank a mixture of a strong fiber laxative powder with a bottle of magnesium citrate (also a laxative). And I DOMINATED the porcelain throne about nine hours later. The thing is, I cannot tell whether my sudden success was the result of my having stopped the medication or by the laxatives, or perhaps a combination of both, so I wanted to create this thread to gauge the extent to which others who have taken Lyrica (both recreational users and otherwise) may be able to relate.
Pregabalin has been the most miraculous medication I have ever been prescribed for general/social anxiety and irritability - leaps and bounds above gabapentin (Neurontin) and even benzodiazepines (of which I've had, and still have, my fair share). I would be destroyed if this were a side effect that would make it impossible for me to continue taking it. And in that vein, I am eager to read any and all thoughts people might have on the subject.
Thanks in advance guys'n'girls 8(
~ vaya
First things first - Should the moderators of OD feel my question ought to be included in the Lyrica megathread, by all means, do move it. However, using the search engine I was unable to find too much information on Lyrica and constipation.
My situation is this: I am prescribed Lyrica for GAD at a dose of 100mg twice daily (200mg/day).
I recently moved and the bag containing my prescription medications, including my Lyrica, was misplaced or lost during the process. Anyhow, I was forced to go approximately two weeks without taking any Lyrica whatsoever before I could refill it at the pharmacy. When I refilled my script this past friday, I began taking my normal dose again without titrating up to 200mg/day from a lower dose.
*Let it be noted that I've never had problems doing this before when other circumstances warranted an off-and-on-again Lyrica regimen.
I spent the 14th-18th in South Carolina visiting my girl's family - and they sure do like fantastically large meals down there. After four days of being exceedingly well-fed, I still hadn't produced any bowel movements. I didn't even feel constipated - as if the food had entered my mouth and vanished into thin air. But, of course, we all know that matter is neither created nor destroyed, only transformed. It was as if the smooth muscle of my GI tract went on vacation (although I was able to urinate normally. Four days is a long time to go; I began to get pretty worried and did some research.
I discovered that constipation is a documented side effect of pregabalin (although not necessarily a common one), with severe constipation occurring in around 5% of patients. The thing is, I'd never experienced this with pregabalin before, so its sudden impact on my life left me wondering whether or not others have experienced debilitating constipation from it or if this could have been caused by stopping the medication abruptly, living my life for two weeks without it, and then subjecting myself to 200mg daily dosages again.
From all that I understand about pregabalin, 200mg/day divided into 100mg doses separated by seven or eight hours is relatively small; many, many people report using 300-600mg twice to three times daily, both on these boards and in clinical trials of Lyrica, and a "standard" daily dose of pregabalin (as suggested by the medical literature) is ~150mg 2x/day - 100mg more than I take.
Anyhow, I stopped taking the Lyrica yesterday and drank a mixture of a strong fiber laxative powder with a bottle of magnesium citrate (also a laxative). And I DOMINATED the porcelain throne about nine hours later. The thing is, I cannot tell whether my sudden success was the result of my having stopped the medication or by the laxatives, or perhaps a combination of both, so I wanted to create this thread to gauge the extent to which others who have taken Lyrica (both recreational users and otherwise) may be able to relate.
Pregabalin has been the most miraculous medication I have ever been prescribed for general/social anxiety and irritability - leaps and bounds above gabapentin (Neurontin) and even benzodiazepines (of which I've had, and still have, my fair share). I would be destroyed if this were a side effect that would make it impossible for me to continue taking it. And in that vein, I am eager to read any and all thoughts people might have on the subject.
Thanks in advance guys'n'girls 8(
~ vaya
