Gabapentinoids The Lyrica (Pregabalin) Mega Thread v 2.0

[D.pharm]

Weight gain is commonly reported with pregabalin

 

[D.pharm]

That is gold, thanks Squeaky.
I love that kind of reference material.

 

[Gary Ballbag]

I've not read all of the posts on this megathread but just a point about pregabalin capsules... I wouldn't think of IVing them, better things to do that with but I tried snorting (insufflating) them and it works if you like pregabalin, opinions seem to vary widely on it's recreational value but I think it's fairly useful occasionally. I only snorted it because after reading that there's all sorts of other crap in them so bad idea to inject or bother snorting I emptied out a capsule onto some fairly accurate scales and the 300mg capsule emptied out weighed in at 0.35g or roughly 350mg so there's not much else in there if anything. So I'd say snorting isn't the worst idea if you like the drug but if you want to IV then get something else that's meant for Iving IMO... don't how much of this has already been covered so sorry if going over points already mentioned... stay safe and enjoy life x

 

[Rafayte]

I will be two days of Ritalin withdrawal and I have a lot of 50mg pregabalin caps. What can I get if I snort it? How is the effects of snorted pregabalin? And can I get high of pregabalin taking a very high dose orally? In this way, how is the effects? Thanks

 

[The Hypnotist]

Forgot to talk about effects...
There can be a wide range og effects depending dosage and other factors, can be quite unpredictable sometimes. Low doses are more activating and almost stimulant-like sometimes, while the higher you go the more opiod-like or even dissociative-like it can get. In any case those are vast comparations and pregabalin has its own personality and many faces. It is quite a drug!

 

[Squeaky]

Great advice from The Hypnotist. 150-250 mg w no previous tolerance is great. Will make you extra social if you are up on your feet. Make you sleep like a baby all night if you lie down. Takes about 2 hours to start. Feels a bit like alcohol for me. Tolerance builds the first time you take it, but also drops to near zero once off it for a few days.

Dont get greedy. Twice as much does not equal twice as high. Dont take more than 400 mg the first time - first day- or you will only be wasting it and setting yourself up for a dirty hangover (feels like your whole body is covered with bug spray on the inside). You wont get to enjoy it if you pass out, unless sleep is your goal.

If this is to help withdrawals, spread out your dose through the day. I like to do it on an empty stomach so I can feel it start to work. Maybe 100 mg every 8 hours. If this is for fun then take it all at once, around 1 1/2 hours before the party.

 

[LozVegas]

Yes

 

[nosliw]

I started taking lyrica for nerve pain about 6 months ago on low doses. Fixed my pain but then read u can get high with larger doses. I started taking 300 mg in the afternoon it kicked about 2 hours later and felt very relaxed and peaceful. I am now taking 900mg in one dose to get the same effect. The tolerance built up really fast. I want to stop but am scared about the side effects. I have depression and anxiety and am taking lexapro and lithium for that. I don't want to get more anxiety and paranoia. Should i confess to my doctor what i have been doing and will they give me something to help withdrawals. What drugs would help withdrawal. I need help, i'm fucked up.

 

[yubacity]

I started taking lyrica for nerve pain about 6 months ago on low doses. Fixed my pain but then read u can get high with larger doses. I started taking 300 mg in the afternoon it kicked about 2 hours later and felt very relaxed and peaceful. I am now taking 900mg in one dose to get the same effect. The tolerance built up really fast. I want to stop but am scared about the side effects. I have depression and anxiety and am taking lexapro and lithium for that. I don't want to get more anxiety and paranoia. Should i confess to my doctor what i have been doing and will they give me something to help withdrawals. What drugs would help withdrawal. I need help, i'm fucked up.

You should talk to your doctor mate but the one th8ng most people say is taper of it don't stop suddenly.I can feel for you but chasing the lyrica high not worth it you will get to a point when no matter how much you take you won't get the high.I have wd from opiates and am just feeling better from lyrica wd but for me the lyrica wd was more of a headfuck wd but opiate wd was worse.Go to your doctor but don't just stop lyrica s7ddenly your anxiety will creep back.Saying that the first week the hardest with no noticable difference but then it eases.Dont get scared mate I was tak8ng shit loads of 300 mg capsules in binges untill it would stop work8ng then stop for a week.

 

[Squeaky]

No cold turkey off Lyrica. The depression will kill you. You can taper safely in a week or so. Come up with a plan for 7-10 days. Write down every dose. Stick to it. You will be fine.

 

[nosliw]

Thanks guys, have now been told i have to go to hospital for an op in 2 days time. So i took 600mg today instead 900mg will see what happens. Hopefully the pain meds at the hospital might ease the lyrica withdrawals. Gotta be careful not to get a dependance on them, been there done that before. I might try and make a resolution to myself not to go back to the lyrica after my week in hospital. Wish me luck 8(

 

[yubacity]

Thanks guys, have now been told i have to go to hospital for an op in 2 days time. So i took 600mg today instead 900mg will see what happens. Hopefully the pain meds at the hospital might ease the lyrica withdrawals. Gotta be careful not to get a dependance on them, been there done that before. I might try and make a resolution to myself not to go back to the lyrica after my week in hospital. Wish me luck 8(

If you in hospital for a week you be ok.Its different for everybody but by the time you get out the worst should be over.I took opium after day 6 of lyrica wd and it took away the anxiety and let me sleep.But if you had a addiction to them in the past I stay away.Im like you lyrica was just meant to be a help in detox but I loved the high.Its a lovely high but a cunt in wd because it's such q headfuck.Goodluck mate let me know how you get on.

 

[NoNeedles82]

Perhaps there weren?t trials for GAD because it doesn?t have FDA approval for anxiety. Doctors and patients just realized, ?Hey, this shit works for anxiety too!?

 

[Squeaky]

Its approved in Europe for Anxiety. Not in USA.

 

[Cyanoide]

Yes, it's approved for GAD here in Europe. I was prescribed Lyrica for GAD some 10 years ago, by time it was upped to 600 mg (2 x 300 mg) / day. It worked quite well (although I also was prescribed clonazepam and some SSRI I can't remember) but I quit it after some years because it seemed to affect my cognitive skills negatively a bit.

Nowadays I just use it for recreation, today I've taken 2400 mg. The tolerance you get to it is insane, and I have quite some tapering to do after abusing it for a few months. I seem to get these Lyrica binges that can last for days or weeks or like now for months. Every time I have to do the same taper to avoid the nasty withdrawal you get from this stuff. I just never learn. It's great fun every now and then but nasty when you get hooked on it.

 

[Squeaky]

Could you post your taper schedule here? I get horrible insomnia, depression, and some nausea. Unfortunately I got to using Lyrica for the last few months too and I want yo quit, but I havent because I dont want to deal with the wds.
Your experience might help me.

 

[Cyanoide]

Could you post your taper schedule here? I get horrible insomnia, depression, and some nausea. Unfortunately I got to using Lyrica for the last few months too and I want yo quit, but I havent because I don't want to deal with the wds.
Your experience might help me.

I get those symptoms too. Last winter I CT'd from a daily dose of around 1200-1800 mg (yes, my doses tend to grow quite extreme due to the tolerance building up heavily) because I ran out of supply. I got horrific anxiety and depression, alternated between complete and utter lethargy and complete overstimulation, complete insomnia, diarrhea, vomiting and nausea. Combined with a marked increase in heart rate and BP.

I can give advice regarding my tapers but please don't take this as some kind of medical advice, and we are all different and react differently.

When I've used such high amounts (like now) I usually start the taper from 900 mg. I haven't found any need to start the taper from something like 1500 mg or 1800 mg. 900 mg has always been enough to keep the worst WD at bay and sleep somewhat normally.

Usually, I reduce the dose every 4th day by 150 mg, but for some every 7th day may be needed.

So from 900 mg, it would look like this
900 mg x 4 days
600 mg x 4 days (this step I usually cut the dose by 300 mg, for some it would be better to stay at 750 mg for 4-7 days).
450 mg x 4 days
300 mg x 4 days
150 mg x days (this is where it gets hard, so I sometimes stay at 150 mg for 7 days)
75 mg x 4 days
So this taper would take 24-27 days.

Some people even reduce from 75 mg -> 50 mg -> 25 mg but I have never found a need for that. 75 mg is such a small dose that you really don't get any severe withdrawal at that point anymore.
A more cautious version of my taper schedule is to reduce by increments of 75 mg; 750 mg -> 675mg -> 625 mg -> 575 -> 525 -> 475 -> 425 -> 375 -> 325 -> 275 -> 225 -> 175 -> 125 -> 75 (and from 75 with increments of 25 to 50 and then 25). This would obviously take considerably longer.

There are few remedies for pregablin withdrawal. Benzos alleviate some, but only some, symptoms. And if you do take benzos, take them vary sparingly. As you probably know, they are a completely different ballgame to withdraw from. Gabapentin most probably share a cross tolerance with pregabalin, as both are gabepentinoids with pretty much the same method of action. That's why I would avoid taking gabapentin. There is a study that says there is no cross tolerance between gabapentin and pregabalin (e.g. this study) https://patents.google.com/patent/EP1196160B1), IME they share a very high degree of cross tolerance. Although gabapentin is both less potent and weaker in just about every aspect, it might be easier to switch to it when you've reached a lower dose of Lyrica and then continue the taper with gabapentin. But I have to admit that trying to switch to gabapentin has failed every time; gabapentin helps somewhat with the insomnia but not for the anxiety and depression.

On another note, I've found Taurine to help quite a bit with the anxiety. It's a (very) weak GABA-A agonist and has a slight sedative effect in high doses. And it's very safe to take it. Other than that, there's not many other drugs that may help. For insomnia, a small dose of mirtazapine (7.5 mg) and a high dose of melatonin (6-10 mg) does also help somewhat for the insomnia. I'm not that familiar with antiemetics for the nausea, but there are certainly some ones (any idea anyone?) out there that helps. Maybe antihistamienes like hydroxyzine. If you have a raised BP or heart rate during withdrawal, a beta blocker like propranolol is helpful.

To be really honest, the thing that has helped the WD's most is alcohol. And that's pretty much the worst thing to start taking regularly. If you have a high degree of self control, taking a few beers every now and then is no big issue though. If you struggle with insomnia, I can't say that you can't take a few beers if the insomnia is really bad. You might get a few hours sleep until the alcohol wears off but that may be better than no sleep at all.

Edit: Squeaky, I tried to PM you but you have chosen not to receive PM's. If you don't mind I'd be glad to send you a message.

Pregabalin withdrawal is hard but perfectly achievable. I've detoxed from benzos 3 times (and has to do a 4th it seems...) and that was in a totally different league, you can't die from Lyrica withdrawal, it's just nasty but it also gets better somewhat quickly in my opinion. There's no PAWS like for benzos that lasts months to years. When WD'ing from pregabalin, you start feeling better within days to weeks. Again, some suffer considerably longer, but at least it may give you some hope that for all it's not the case.

 

[Inso]

Has anyone experienced profound weight gain from this drug? Did Gabapentin do the same thing? I have never tried Lyrica, but the name is nice imho.

Yes, I gained a couple stone over a year which promptly fell off when I stopped the stuff

 

[Cyanoide]

There might be some weight gain due to water retention, and also because pregabalin increases the appetite for most people (for me sugars, for some fatty foods).

 

[Squeaky]

Wow,that was a lot of information. That is exactly what I was hoping for. Thank you!