Misc Question about pregabalin and benzodiazepine taper

[katy1954]

PLEASE DO NOT MOVE THIS TO THE LYRICA THREAD ( WHERE i CANT FIND ANYTHING)

sorry sometimes have to type in caps so I can see.
I consider many of you experts on various drugs(yes I have a Doctor too) so any advice given is taken in stride.
1-I am a 57yr old female dependant on benzos 23yrs-10yrs valium and prozac-13yrs ativan present dose is 3.5mgs.
2-given lyrica (pregablin)3yrs ago for nuropathic pain(no dr seems to know why i have pain)
3-the combo of these is killing me ..I am swollen like a balloon,fat ,stupid and forgetful.
4-lyrica does a poor job of painkilling but it keeps me at least afloat.
5-horribly addictive lyrica.but I have to get off one of them because the two are like adding gasoline to a fire in my brain and body.

So here's my question how do i get off?someone said step down to gabapentin-but isnt that the same thing(sorta)?
I have a 2month plan to slowly get off..slowly?fast or slow?
But what to do about the pain?
and the depression when I stop the lyrica?(and i do get depressed when stopping it.)
CANNOT take ad's -dr has given me low dose bupe patch(kinda dopey on it)should I ask for low dose naltrextone?supposedly good for pain?I can have sativex anything i want.I just dont wanna be too messed up.
My body is so f'd up with swelling and its is just nasty ---hurts -and i know getting off this sht will hurt too.
it is causing lymphodema and i am getting really sick.
so any ideas for pain alternative?
my dr has left it up to me.for a painkiller-what will help w nuero pain.but you guys know a lot -
so thought i would ask.
Cannot tolerate ad's and oxy is NOT a place I dont wanna go.some ad's I can swallow like prozac,or something light,,,any ideas out there?
and what is the difference form bupe and suboxone?I tried the bupe patch and it took the edge off but I had a little trouble breathing.a morphine patch what?
please give me some ideas and if you have a way of getting off 3yr lyrica use ---other than my idea -I could sure use it.I know I have to deal w the benzos soon but lyrica first.
thanks so much

 

[Swimmingdancer]

Hi Katy,

For future reference I find I get more replies if I use a title that clearly describes what my questions are about - "Question about drugs" is really vague. Unfortunately I am not an expert in some of the drugs you are talking about but hopefully someone else will be along soon to help you out. Maybe Tricomb would be a good person to ask and can help you with the benzo taper.

I'll try to answer the questions I can:

If no doctors know what is causing your pain then it sounds to me like you have something more like fibromyalgia or clinical depression. Isn't true neuropathic pain traditionally caused by damage or disease of the nervous system? (like spinal cord or brain damage, multiple sclerosis, stroke).

Yes it's true that pregabalin (Lyrica) is quite similar to gabapentin, but it's possible some people might have better effects from one or the other so you could ask your doctor about it. You may want to seek out a doctor specialized in disorders like fibromyalgia and see what their recommendations are. You may have to try a few different meds to find what works the best for you. You may also want to look into "alternative" and traditional medicines, like naturopathy, yoga (yoga can be very helpful and you can start off with a very gentle type), etc, and also try some therapy to investigate if there are any mental health issues that could be contributing to your pain. Even read some good/unorthodox books on the subject. It really pays to think outside the box with hard to treat conditions like this. Your average Western medicine GP just isn't enough.

Anti-depressants can be very helpful for this type of pain as well. By "ADs" do you mean anti-depressants? Why can't you tolerate them? Have you tried them all? There are many different types.

The way low dose naltrexone is supposed to sometimes help with pain and depression is by making your body produce more of its own natural painkillers. I don't know a lot about it but personally I have heard better things about low dose naloxone which is very similar and works on the same principle.

Sativex could definitely be helpful, why not give it a try? It's nice that it is actually extracted from cannabis and not synthetic. Or you could give cannabis a try. A lot of people say the natural plant or extracts made from the natural plant (such as home-made extracts) are the best.

The only difference between buprenorphine and Suboxone is that Suboxone has naloxone in it in addition to the buprenorphine (which is supposed to reduce constipation and abuse potential) and Suboxone comes in way larger doses than buprenorphine patches or pills generally used for pain.

I would not go for opioids like morphine, and you can't take any if you take buprenorphine, naltrexone or naloxone. I don't find opioids all that helpful for this type of pain and they create a strong physical dependence and can make your pain much worse if you decide to stop taking them.


Good luck! I know very well how hard it can be dealing with chronic pain, especially when you don't know the cause.

 

[katy1954]

Thank you so much swimmingdancer,you were more than helpful.
I have no insurance and even if I did sativex and bupe patches are not covered.
I like the sativex idea.
and the natuaral pot messes with my head,but have tried sativex.
I will satay away from opiods but may have to do low dose bupe patch.Pain is much more than fibro-small fibre nueropathy.
I agree oxy and that they are no good.
The antidepressants are a long story.for some reason I cannot tolerate the anxiety from them and especially the snris.
I have adhd,perhaps thats why.
maybe whenI get lower on the lyrica I could tolerate an ssri?
the snri's actually make me stoned ....its horrific.
the tca's are sedating and rough too.
so I will talk with my dr
would like to go ad route but really struggling there.if you have ideas on whch ad's help I would like that.
sorry lyrica makes me a bit dyslexic.so spelling is rough.
ty for all your help ,please if you find out more let me know.
Katy

 

[Swimmingdancer]

Fibromyalgia is different from small fibre neuropathy. Small fibre neuropathy is a specific type of pain caused by nerve fibre damage. Fibromyalgia is chronic widespread pain and high sensitivity to pain, often with other symptoms like fatigue, insomnia, and joint stiffness/pain, with no known cause. It is often connected to depression, anxiety, ADHD and PTSD. It can be terrible and debilitating. Research suggests that the pain comes from abnormalities in the brain that may be from a combination of genetic and environmental factors, particularly people who are born sensitive undergoing stress, especially in childhood. I have it. It can be very difficult to get a proper diagnosis and even when you do most Western doctors are not very helpful because they don't understand the cause or how to heal the condition.

There are many different types of antidepressants and you may have to try a few to find out which one works best for you. There are a few main classes of antidepressants, including the MAOIs (monoamine oxidase inhibitors), SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors), SNRIs (serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors), TCAs (tricyclic antidepressants), TeCAs (tetracyclic antidepressants), and atypical antidepressants, which are ones that don't fit into any of those groups. Personally I have found atypical antidepressants, such as Wellbutrin (bupropion), most helpful and to have less side effects, but of course it totally varies from person to person. I have ADHD as well. You may want to talk to your doctor about what anti-depressants s/he would recommend. You usually have to give an antidepressant a couple months before deciding whether or not it is working.

I still highly recommend you try to find a more knowledgable doctor and try out some alternative medicine. Yoga has been extremely helpful for me.

I know what you mean about cannabis, I don't like the way it makes me feel either. But there are many different strains and some strains can be more suitable than others, plus using extremely low doses or taking it orally instead of smoking it can help.

 

[tricomb]

Hey there, so a few things.

By morphine patch I presume you meant fentanyl patch, as there aren't any actual transdermal delivery systems for morphine.

You're trying to get off just pregabalin right? Or are you trying to get off benzodiazepines too? I would not be getting off both at once if that can be avoided.

Sativex sounds like a great addition to a pain management regimen and if you are hesitant to go on full agonist opioid medication therapy then the buprenorphine transdermal delivery system sounds good but at the same time you have no control over your dosing so maybe generic buprenorphine tablets would be a better option or addition to that.