Misc Taking Pregabalin Whilst on Several Things it MAY Interact With? What to Expect?

[alex_anders_8]

(Skip the next paragraph if you don't care about my back-story to this topic)

I was an addict for a few years and my doctor still does not trust me with anything with even the teeniest abuse potential, even after 3 years of abstinence. Because I have numerous conditions (inc. severe pancreatic pain, severe chronic back pain, BPD and serious depression/anxiety) I have been getting some of my own meds via the internet.
Due to an extremely traumatic childhood I became severely bulimic and soon after alcohol dependant, too. I was given IV morphine for 10 weeks in hospital due to acute alcoholic pancreatitis, which immediately cured my alcoholism but caused me to develop an addiction to morphine and oxycodone.
I am currently in the process of registering with a new GP.


I'm just about to start taking Pregabalin today and I found out which of my meds it may interact with but I haven't been able to find out HOW it'll interact. I'm hoping it's just that they may potentiate each other but want to make sure I'm not doing anything too dangerous either.

(I'm only including meds that could interact)

PRESCRIBED:
Sertraline, 100mg - 1 x daily
Sertraline, 50mg - 1 x daily
Methadone, 50mg - 1 x daily
Co-Dydramol, 500/10mg - 4 x daily

NON-PRESCRIBED:
Diphenhydramine, 50mg - 3 x daily, plus 100mg at night
Lithium Orotate, 10mg - 3 x daily
Melatonin, 10mg - 1 x nightly
Doxylamine, 25mg - 4 x daily
Kavalactones, 1000mg - 3 x daily
Amphetamine Sulphate, 100-200mg - 3 x daily
Xanax, 1mg - 3 x daily

The Pregabalin (Lyrica) are 150mg and I plan to take one pill, three times per day.
Sorry for the long post. I would very much appreciate any help or suggestions .

 

[Keif' Richards]

I don't mean to give you a hard time buddy, but I think you're flying into semi-uncharted territory mixing pregabalin with all of these other substances. It's been on the market for a few years, but compared to mainstays like methadone (1930's) or amphetamine (late 1800's) we just don't have as much empirical knowledge. I've experimented pretty extensively with pregabalin over the past year and have become familiar with some of the unpleasantries of the drug. The other day I combined about 800mg pregabalin with my usual recreational dose of methadone (50mg - 70mg) and had what was described by medical personnel as a fit of "pseudoseizures", causing me to fall violently and suffer a concussion. Bear in mind, that I'm quite familiar with both drugs, but some of the more esoteric combinations are still new to me.

With that said, start small - as you apparently intend to - with the pregabalin and don't go above 600mg max. I and a select few I've spoken to, have suffered the same convulsive/dangerous reaction with pregabalin, either in its own right, or in poly-drug combinations.

 

[Mad Dash]

I was an addict for a few years and my doctor still does not trust me with anything with even the teeniest abuse potential, even after 3 years of abstinence.


PRESCRIBED:
Sertraline, 100mg - 1 x daily
Sertraline, 50mg - 1 x daily
Methadone, 50mg - 1 x daily
Co-Dydramol, 500/10mg - 4 x daily

NON-PRESCRIBED:
Diphenhydramine, 50mg - 3 x daily, plus 100mg at night
Lithium Orotate, 10mg - 3 x daily
Melatonin, 10mg - 1 x nightly
Doxylamine, 25mg - 4 x daily
Kavalactones, 1000mg - 3 x daily
Amphetamine Sulphate, 100-200mg - 3 x daily
Xanax, 1mg - 3 x daily

Contradictions all OVER the place. First you say doc doesnt trust you with anything with teeniest abuse potential and you are on two scheduled medications. Then you say you USE to be and addict and that you abstained for 3 years but you are self medicating with TWO scheduled medications. Not only that but you are self medicating with fucking LITHIUM. Don't fool yourself you are by no means clean and to make matters worse you justify this by medicating yourself. I feel bad for your new GP he has no idea what he is getting himself into. All those medications he doesn't know about is going to make it so hard for him to properly treat you.

If this post was just about you wanting to know about drug interactions I would not have jumped on you like this. But to come in talking down about your current doc for not trusting you WHEN HE IS 100% correct and then using that to justify your drug abuse whilst still maintaining you are sober is a slap in the face to people out there REALLY trying to get clean. I mean 1 mg xanax 3X a day along with 50 mg methadone and Co-dydramol 4X a day? No wonder you need the amp... you are probably nodding out all day long with that fucking list. Get help... this kind of lying to yourself is going to make matters so much worse for your addiction on down the road especially since you found a way to internally justify it. God bless, stay safe, and get clean.

 

[alex_anders_8]

I don't mean to give you a hard time buddy, but I think you're flying into semi-uncharted territory mixing pregabalin with all of these other substances. It's been on the market for a few years, but compared to mainstays like methadone (1930's) or amphetamine (late 1800's) we just don't have as much empirical knowledge. I've experimented pretty extensively with pregabalin over the past year and have become familiar with some of the unpleasantries of the drug. The other day I combined about 800mg pregabalin with my usual recreational dose of methadone (50mg - 70mg) and had what was described by medical personnel as a fit of "pseudoseizures", causing me to fall violently and suffer a concussion. Bear in mind, that I'm quite familiar with both drugs, but some of the more esoteric combinations are still new to me.

With that said, start small - as you apparently intend to - with the pregabalin and don't go above 600mg max. I and a select few I've spoken to, have suffered the same convulsive/dangerous reaction with pregabalin, either in its own right, or in poly-drug combinations.

Wow, thanks for the warning, man! I will definitely be careful. I might actually open the capsule, pour about half of it out and then re-seal it and see how I do with just one 75mg dose in a 24-hour period. I always forget that prescription meds can be dangerous, too. I tend to assume it's safe is it's widely available from medical practitioners.

 

[alex_anders_8]

I have had very severe depression since I was 11 (25 now) so the Sertraline is very much needed. It was also prescribed 7 years ago, before I had even experimented with alcohol, let alone drugs. The Methadone I am prescribed because I was addicted to Morphine and Oxycodone.

Just to be clear, Lithium Orotate is NOT a prescription drug and is not the same as Lithium Carbonate (which tends to be prescribed at more than 10 times the doses I have in a whole day). It is meant to help stabilise your mood, so I take it to help with my Borderline Personality Disorder. It is available from many mainstream health food/supplement stores. It is nothing like Lithium as you know it (a serious, strong, prescription only med for Bipolar I and Mania).

I say I USED to be an addict because I drank 4-6 bottles of wine every day for nearly 5 years and experienced severe seizures and other alcohol withdrawals if I ever went more than a few hours without a drink. I eventually went to rehab a couple of years ago and now remain completely abstinent from alcohol.
I was addicted to opiates due to the ten weeks of IV morphine in hospital (and subsequent oxycodone/OxyContin prescription) and I ended up buying large amounts of morphine, oxy and fentanyl on top of my prescription Oxy. I was detoxed from that during the same time as I was for alcohol, but I was put on Methadone rather than being weaned off with Buprenorphine because I will always need to be on an opiate due to my pancreatitis and two badly slipped disks in my spine (which I received during one of the alcohol withdrawal seizures).

I am taking the amphetamine - admittedly, in a very unorthodox way - in an attempt to "cure" myself of the bulimia that has plagued me for 14 years. Trust me, I have tried EVERYTHING out there to recover from it, but always quickly relapse. The amphetamine sulphate has worked perfectly and I have not binged or purged one single time in the weeks that I have been on it. I am now gradually weaning myself off of it (the amphetamine) and am incorporating eating (healthy foods) back into my life.

My GP knows about all of what I am taking apart from the amphetamine and the xanax.

I mostly only use the Xanax to ward off the unpleasant side-effects from the amphetamine and I will be weaning myself off of the Xanax as soon as I am completely off the amphetamine. I have no psychological addiction or problem to either of them. Benzodiazepines are extremely hard to get prescribed here in the UK, and even when they ARE it is for less than a couple of weeks. So I do keep a small supply of Xanax on me because - although the Kavalactones and Sertraline help - the entirety of my teenage years were a living hell (I had daily panic attacks and attempted suicide more times than I can count) because of the severity of my anxiety. Like I said, I AM taking 3 x 1mg Xanax a day while on amphetamines, which will end soon. I normally take half of a 1mg tab (0.5mg) maybe one or twice a week at most. Sometimes just knowing that I have it on me should I really need it is actually enjoy to calm me down.

The Co-Dydramol is a very weak opiate (only 10mg of Dihydrocodeine per pill and with 500mg Paracetamol anyway to deter taking extra). I was prescribed it just 11 days ago, however, and I am hoping it means my GP is starting to relax a little with me.
I have seen a private doctor, three different doctors at a walk-in clinic, two doctors and a nurse at the Pain Management Clinic, and several doctors in A&E due to my back pain (which there are many x-rays of my spine that show the severity) and almost every single one of those doctors telephoned, or wrote to, my GP strongly suggesting I be prescribed either Gabapentin or Pregabalin. The Consultant at the pain clinic who specializes in back and neck pain even went so far as to accuse my GP of being "very unsympathetic and negligent" and many doctors have advised me to change GP clinics. The only reason I haven't is that I have had the same GP all my life and in MOST area's he has been very good to me.

 

[Speed King]

Contradictions all OVER the place. First you say doc doesnt trust you with anything with teeniest abuse potential and you are on two scheduled medications. Then you say you USE to be and addict and that you abstained for 3 years but you are self medicating with TWO scheduled medications. Not only that but you are self medicating with fucking LITHIUM. Don't fool yourself you are by no means clean and to make matters worse you justify this by medicating yourself. I feel bad for your new GP he has no idea what he is getting himself into. All those medications he doesn't know about is going to make it so hard for him to properly treat you.

If this post was just about you wanting to know about drug interactions I would not have jumped on you like this. But to come in talking down about your current doc for not trusting you WHEN HE IS 100% correct and then using that to justify your drug abuse whilst still maintaining you are sober is a slap in the face to people out there REALLY trying to get clean. I mean 1 mg xanax 3X a day along with 50 mg methadone and Co-dydramol 4X a day? No wonder you need the amp... you are probably nodding out all day long with that fucking list. Get help... this kind of lying to yourself is going to make matters so much worse for your addiction on down the road especially since you found a way to internally justify it. God bless, stay safe, and get clean.

Dude, fuck the Pregabalin. I think you need to sort out that ridiculous list of drugs. That's my opinion. I don't know why you need the Lyrica to begin with. I take it, prescribed by pain management. Okay, now I guess I can see why you might need it, but for Christ sake, with the amount of downers, and medicines that make the already strong downers stronger, I'm not sure you would even feel the Lyrica. The Lyrica will potentiate and synergize at least 3 meds for sure, possibly 5. If you just have to add Pregabalin to the mix, take a very low dose first, like half a capsule.

 

[Keif' Richards]

We don't need to judge the person or worse yet accuse them of "slapping others in the face" based upon their own self-analysis. Are we really berating others for drug addiction on Bluelight?

Denial is a hallmark of addiction.

 

[Mad Dash]

We don't need to judge the person or worse yet accuse them of "slapping others in the face" based upon their own self-analysis. Are we really berating others for drug addiction on Bluelight?

Denial is a hallmark of addiction.

Well, in truth it is different for everybody, HOWEVER, in my experience only BRUTAL honesty worked. I had to have it shoved in my face and showed that I had a problem. It may seem like I was badgering him, but my true purpose was to give him something to consider. And if you look carefully, his next post was not even defiant. He was not mad at me, he did not react on the defensive, instead he made excuses for every single contradiction he made. Very carefully and very purposefully. This means he heard what I said and somewhere inside of him he felt that instead of needing to defending his addiction he needed to justify his addiction, which is even more dangerous. At least when you are defensive you know there is a problem you just don't want to stop. But when you justify self-medication with research and talk about its benefits it is going to be VERY hard to get him to understand the depth of his addiction.