Misc Lyrica taper

[Ninjacandy]

Hello guys

I really want to taper off of lyrica, which i have been prescriped for maybe 1 or two years, but I have only taken them every day for around a year.
I am on 300mg 2x a day. So that comes up to 600 mg a day.
I am very scared.. I live in Denmark, and it seems like we don't have a lot of info or knowledge about the drug over here. This is why i cant fint a doctor who knows enough for me to trust completely with a good way of getting off of lyrica. I was even the one who asked specifically for it (i didnt know about the risks, i just knew people used it against anxiety with success, but i would rather try and get through it without meds)

I feel so scared that this will be horribly hard, because i did a google-search on the subject and just found a bunch of people who said that it was the hardest thing they had done, worse than opiate withdrawal. and that it was the worst thing ever... Having gone through opiate withdrawals many times, i want to be through with all of that. I thought lyrica would be the easy one..

I switched to methadone for a few weeks from subutex because i had some side-effects, and we wanted to see if it was the subutex. But I am switching back to subutex next week, and will be tapering from that as well.

I really would love to have someone to talk to when i begin the taper (I will begin as soon as i can get a hold of my doctor, so he can prescribe smaller dosage-pills of lyrica)

Do any of you guys have any experience with quitting lyrica? if so, let me know.

I feel so alone in this. My mom 'can't' listen to too much of this, because she gets very upset, and she has a small child with her new husband. If it wasnt so, i would be moving back in with them. im really scared of having a seizure, because i know that there is a possbility of getting one, whilst getting off lyrica..

can i be sure that i won't have a seizure, if i taper?
I know that my anxiety regarding getting a seizure, is holding me back from stopping Lyrica.

thank you SO much in advance, ill be waiting eagerly

**Kisses**
Ninjacandy

 

[DaddyPhatSax]

I take Lyrica too. I have a tendency to take too much though and run out each month. The wuthdrawls are not that bad for me however. I get a little restless, have some trouble sleeping , feel a little "off", and for some reason I get pretty nauseous... don't know why. I don't know about the risk of seizure though, can't answer on that one.
One thing I have noticed is the withdrawals don't seem to last very long. The way I have noticed is that drugs whose tolerance raises quickly, its as though their tolerance drops quickly and withdrawals don't last long either......just something I've noticed. N

Now I think as long as you work out some sort of taper, which I think you can taper pretty fast, you will be okay. When I'm running low, I can usually go from 600 mgs., down to 200 in one day and feel just fine throughout the day. If your doctor gives you easier to manage pills(I.e.; 50 or 100 mg pills) then I would say.....just take 50 or 100 mgs off on her 1st day, and if u feel okay, try it again the next day......that's what I would do anyway.

 

[Ninjacandy]

Oh okay!
I actually have some promethazine (phenergan) which is a anti-nausea medicine that i have used against drug-induced nausea. I will be using that! :D

I'd like to ask you- You say you have trouble sleeping.. Does that mean that you actually CAN sleep? And how many days have you gone without lyrica since you got addicted? Could you sleep at the time you went the longest without?

I did read that, after tapering down, the jump off of the small dose is the hardest part.
And well, the seizure risk is very scary to me

 

[bronson]

This simply is not true that a drug with a short half life produces shorter or weaker withdrawal effects.

@ the OP, I've not had personal experience coming off the medication you are discussing, but have had to quit clonazepam. Put simply, it was not pleasant. The best you can really do with a benzo or something in a similar family is to tapper as slowly as possible to maintain some comfort level.

For me, the hardest aspect was the mind fuck of it, where you're actually no longer taking the medication, and yet you still don't feel normal. Just know that with time it does improve, slow and steady.

Best of luck to you, keep us informed on your situation, and always feel free to PM if you think it might help.

P.S.

With a slow tapper the seizure risk is very minimal. Nothing to stress over.

 

[Ninjacandy]

So, If i taper by 25 mg every week (I have read that you are supposed to taper lyrica over a minimum of a week, so that would be quite slow)
would that be good? And then maybe swtching to gabapentin for a few weeks and then stop completely..
That was the plan i could figure out, what do you guys think?

I'll begin if i can get a hold of my doctor the 27th, i'll ask him to prescribe me 25 mg pills, and then gabapentin afterwards.

Aww I am glad i can pm you, that means a LOT to me I will probably need someone to talk to, since my family wont talk to me about the problems i am having with quitting my meds. It is too hard for them.
And i love your name here.. Bronson is such an awesome movie! x)

 

[bronson]

That seems like a reasonably slow tapper to me which should probably work just fine. That said I would consult with your Dr first as I've no personal experience with this particular medication, and a well versed medical professional should be able to offer you the safest path possible and put your mind at ease.