Gabapentinoids The Lyrica (Pregabalin) Mega Thread v 2.0

[higherconciousness]

Ugh I really don’t like how lyrica interferes with cognition. Long term memory doesn’t seem to be effected all that much, but my short term memory is severely compromised. Just now I opened my backpack to retrieve something and then totally forgot what I was looking for. Earlier I walked into a room and couldnt remember why. Definitely not the best substance to use all the time while attending school. For this reason I try to limit my usage to twice a week. Otherwise it’s a great tool to have around.

 

[fastandbulbous]

Pregabalin is reasonable for treating neuropathic pain (I get prescribed 450mg a day, for phantom limb pain), but when it flares up, the only thing that works is an NMDA antagonist (eg ketamine). My wife has a friend who has diabetes induced peripheral neuropathy, who was getting frankly ridiculous amounts of oramorph (120mg of morphine a day), and it didn't work that well (the only opiates that work are those with some NMDA antagonism eg dihydrocodeine, tramadol, oxycodone or methadone. There are others that work, but that's all you can get on the NHS).
Anyway, after telling her exactly what to say to her GP and pain specialist, she got prescribed transdermal ketamine patches. Unfortunately, one patch isn't enough, so she increased it until she got proper pain relief (rotating patch sites for 4 patches is a pain in the arse itself). Pain specialist wasn't too pleased, but it meant that she got down to 20mg of morphine a day. Yet to see her since, but I bet that shut him up pdq!

 

[fastandbulbous]

Damn, even after a 2 month break tolerance seems to still be there a little bit. Though It may be due to the fact that I take 600-900mg of gabapentin daily. I get the 300mg pills so It’s easy to over do it. I need about 450-600mg to really experience it’s effects.

I work at a crisis stabilization unit that treats the mentally ill a couple days a week. Needless to say this job can be extremely stressful as many patients are prone to fits of violence induced by delusions. Lyrica has been very helpful in dealing with such an environment. I already have issues with incapacitating anxiety, so I’m glad I have these around to alleviate those dysfunctional symptoms.

I don’t know how Ken Kesey dropped acid at a psych ward. From what I’ve experienced here there is no way I could endure such an event and maintain my sanity.

Try using cannabis (orally, to avoid being obvious from the smell) and 4-FMPH, while actually a patient on a psyche ward. Then again, for the few weeks I was in there, I mostly just kept to my room, either reading or watching videos, on my laptop, mostly only going out for meals, walks outside (wasn't sectioned), or occasional times I had to talk to psychiatrists (since then, I mostly have no time for the self opinionated, experts in absolutely everything, even if they'd just been questioned about things 10 mins earlier. Except for one, arseholes who seemed to have more psychological problems than most of their patients). Best thing was someone I made friends with, who had a Ph.D. in psychology, who hated psychiatrists (he was bipolar, but when on form, was funny as fuck), who had copies of letters he'd written to various psychiatrists, including one of the funnest things I've ever seen - a photoshopped picture of the picture on the box of 'Connect 4', with a line underneath, "Connect 1, a game for psychiatrists everywhere". Reduced me to uncontrollable laughter, for a good 15-20 mins. Was certain my room was going to get searched, but it's amazing how many people are so uncomfortable asking me to take my prosthetic limb off, for examination...

 

[Nas47]

Damn, even after a 2 month break tolerance seems to still be there a little bit. Though It may be due to the fact that I take 600-900mg of gabapentin daily. I get the 300mg pills so It’s easy to over do it. I need about 450-600mg to really experience it’s effects.

I work at a crisis stabilization unit that treats the mentally ill a couple days a week. Needless to say this job can be extremely stressful as many patients are prone to fits of violence induced by delusions. Lyrica has been very helpful in dealing with such an environment. I already have issues with incapacitating anxiety, so I’m glad I have these around to alleviate those dysfunctional symptoms.

I don’t know how Ken Kesey dropped acid at a psych ward. From what I’ve experienced here there is no way I could endure such an event and maintain my sanity.

Not only drops acid Ken Kessey,but his favourite book"One flew over cuckoos nest",was written through influece of acid and presents his own job like sanitar(nurse) in psych.warden.One of my favouritesYes!

 

[higherconciousness]

It appears I may be experiencing benzo withdrawal. At first I thought it was just rebound symptoms, but I think taking etizolam 1-2 times a week has finally caught up with me. It's been 3 days and my whole body is aching unbearably. I also have this fever, my anxiety is through the roof, and my cognition is severely impaired. I thought I wouldn't be at risk if I limited my use to once or twice a week, but alas here we are.

I was trying to get through the day without consuming anything, but I have an organic chem exam coming up so I felt compelled to take the edge off. 300 mg down the hatch and 2 hours later most of my symptoms have been reduced minus the cognition as lyrica seems to make that worse. Not great for studying, but at least I don't feel like hanging myself.

 

[higherconciousness]

Made it two weeks without etizolam. Felt terrible up until day 13. It definitely wasn't full blown withdrawal, but I was suffering quite a bit. Lyrica is a godsend for alleviating issues associated with benzo discontinuation. It didn't resolve all discomfort, but it helped a lot with anxiety.

The only drawback with lyrica is it's insanely long onset. I don't really feel anything until roughly 2 hours goes by. At least it's overall duration is extremely long.

A few hours ago I took 60mg of amphetamines, 600mg of lyrica, and treated myself to 1mg of etizolam. Absolutely love this combo. Pure bliss.

 

[JTemperance]

Made it two weeks without etizolam. Felt terrible up until day 13. It definitely wasn't full blown withdrawal, but I was suffering quite a bit. Lyrica is a godsend for alleviating issues associated with benzo discontinuation. It didn't resolve all discomfort, but it helped a lot with anxiety.

The only drawback with lyrica is it's insanely long onset. I don't really feel anything until roughly 2 hours goes by. At least it's overall duration is extremely long.

A few hours ago I took 60mg of amphetamines, 600mg of lyrica, and treated myself to 1mg of etizolam. Absolutely love this combo. Pure bliss.

How much etizolam were you taking on those 1-2 days a week, if you don't mind?

I'm curious because I gave up benzos as a drug of addiction years ago but came back to them eventually, with a more pragmatic attitude this time. But I've still have had periods when I used them up to 3x in a week for several weeks in a row and it never seemed to bring back W/Ds, not even when skipping them for a couple of weeks. However, my dosing was usually pretty low (like 0.3-0.5mg etizolam or equivalent).

I also concur whole-heartedly on the 60mg amphet + 600mg pregab combo + 1mg etiz for 8h later.

 

[higherconciousness]

How much etizolam were you taking on those 1-2 days a week, if you don't mind?

I'm curious because I gave up benzos as a drug of addiction years ago but came back to them eventually, with a more pragmatic attitude this time. But I've still have had periods when I used them up to 3x in a week for several weeks in a row and it never seemed to bring back W/Ds, not even when skipping them for a couple of weeks. However, my dosing was usually pretty low (like 0.3-0.5mg etizolam or equivalent).

I also concur whole-heartedly on the 60mg amphet + 600mg pregab combo + 1mg etiz for 8h later.

I have a similar situation. From age 18-26 I had an atrocious benzo problem. Going through grams of etizolam and other benzos at an extremely high rate. Hell I was even IV'ng etizolam dissolved in propylene glycol. Wreckless behavior that I'm still paying for. I've had countless seizures and I feel like I'll never be quite right as if I caused irreparable damage.

Fast forward a bit. I'm now 31 years old and after about a 4 years of abstaining from benzos I started cautiously using them again. For the past year I've been taking 2-3 mg of etiz usually 1-2 times a week. There have been some weeks where I'll do it 3 times, but rarely. The days in between using etiz started to become more difficult as time went on. 2-3 days after a dose I notice I'm extremely anxious and agitated. My body aches and I have trouble concentrating. And the nightmares... oh man they are absolutely horrid. Vivid and lucid projections of all my fears and insecurities accompanied by sleep paralysis.

I truly believe my past benzo abuse permanently altered my brain chemistry which makes occasional usage difficult to do without experiencing intense rebound symptoms.

I wish I didn't love this god damn class of drugs. They just work so well. Insidious little fuckers.

 

[higherconciousness]

How much etizolam were you taking on those 1-2 days a week, if you don't mind?

I'm curious because I gave up benzos as a drug of addiction years ago but came back to them eventually, with a more pragmatic attitude this time. But I've still have had periods when I used them up to 3x in a week for several weeks in a row and it never seemed to bring back W/Ds, not even when skipping them for a couple of weeks. However, my dosing was usually pretty low (like 0.3-0.5mg etizolam or equivalent).

I also concur whole-heartedly on the 60mg amphet + 600mg pregab combo + 1mg etiz for 8h later.

Oh boy, I just unnecessarily plugged another 20mg of adderall and it's 8:40pm. Perhaps I overdid it. My heart rate is quite high. Amphetamines destroy my ability to contain my compulsive behaviors. May not get any rest tonight but I know the lyrica and etiz will help.

Maybe it's because your doses are pretty low. Did you often give yourself 2 week breaks? I think that's crucial if you want to avoid benzo withdrawal or rebound. This was probably the first 2 week break I had in a year and it was pretty rough. From now on I have to reduce my intake down to once maybe twice every two weeks.

 

[Specified]

Is there a cross tolerance between lyrica and benzos

 

[Nas47]

May be.Benzos are stronger for me.Gabas are all over 100 mg like dayly dose-to hundreds mgs.Use in the past lyrica and quit diazepam for couple of months.Two of them work on Gaba transmission,but affect different receptors

 

[Cat2]

If by Junkies you mean addicts yes you are spot on, Ive lost 3 close friends in the past 2 years from Heroin OD's in each case they had also taken Pregabs

But the pregabs did not cause anyone to OD. I understand your pain, am sorry for your loss.

 

[headfuck123]

I seen this coming but what I find just as if not more scary is the fact that benzo dependant people are simply refused a script to taper off and are left to source their own BM benzos. I pushed my GP and local addicion clinic about this and no one will budge, same thing with others I know who are unfortunately in the same predicament. Im told to taper off slowly yet thats not possible if supply is all over the place with tons of fake benzos around. They have blood on their hands, as more and more people are stuck in this predicament leading to suicide, siezures or overdoses.

 

[PtahTek]

This will just increase the internet trade of drug sales from dubious (mostly) sources.
Banning a substance usually just has the opposite effect and causes more deaths.

 

[Phobos]

This will just increase the internet trade of drug sales from dubious (mostly) sources.
Banning a substance usually just has the opposite effect and causes more deaths.

Facts.
You can't really remove a drug from existence, you can only move it to the black market.

 

[higherconciousness]

Yee! Just got 60 300mg in the mail. Took a 3 week break so my tolerance should be relatively low. Initially I was concerned that my avid consumption, over the span of a few months or so, would lead to some withdrawal symptoms. For whatever reason abrupt discontinuation of Lyrica doesn’t leave me in a state of unbearable withdrawal. I may feel a little irritable or achy for a week, but nothing debilitating.

I’ve been trying to limit my benzo usage to twice a week, but even so I still experience rebound anxiety and other nasty effects in between my off days. Lyrica has been a perfect tool to mitigate these effects and doesn’t prolong or exacerbate benzo withdrawal.

I’m so glad to have these little guys in my arsenal. It’s the one thing I’ve been able to use without negatively effecting my life.

 

[ĐmantuNJofra]

Hi dear lighters this will sound confusing but I'm dealing twice a month explaining this and it's manipulating which makes me hating myself and frustrating that pregabs are not only for my anxiety, pain,( 2 surgeries). It's addictive and hard to maintain( Rivotril-klonazepam was great but I'm somehow allergic)
I do not fear anything as this f...substance, as my familly doc is old and she's been helpfull in matter of thing that as I ran out earlier she was prescribeing me more cause Pregabs was tool that kicked benzos out. And that was on like for a year and now she just don't or wont understand that is addictive as hell, atleast I tried to say to make plan to taper to stable dose but then she prescribe me xanax or lorazepam to not feel wd symptoms. My psych which gave me termin in like a week and she prescribed me 750mg daily dose cause my benzo wd and that is higher than HDD., she understands. And psych is like big boss and we get allong as I'm clean every month
I dont drink alcohol only smoke cigs last 3 years.
I'm on 2mg bupe maintenance( tramadol, morphin, bupe)
750mg pregabalin
Lorazepam as needed.
I have some Concerta which helps me with fatigue and to focus but is on special presc. Which means it's expensive but I have it. Legally
The only thing what bothers me,
Why am I feeling scared and frustrated when I have couple pills of pregabs. I have 600mg Lyrica left for couple days, have a new job interview.
Obviously I have Xanax and Lorsilan( lorazepam), subutex, Concerta
Is it possiblle that Lyrica makes me miserable even near all those meds? Why?Is it possiblle because I need to repeat myself to my doc like I'm a new guy every time i come.?
I know it's vol.call.chann.blocker and not Gaba agonist,antagonist!?, Will mentioned meds can help me this week? As i dont wanna explain her again which was said and agreed.
I will definettely try to taper plan with psych but something about benzos makes me forgetfull, and I have rash from Xanax and Diazepam not big but weird.
Phenibut is out of the option.
Am I being scared for no reason?
Sorry for long post
Love, peace

 

[PtahTek]

Am I being scared for no reason?

Pregabalin (and other gabapentinoids) tend to really fuck with my mental state when withdrawing. Doesnt have to be a major wd. There is depression which brings a host of other woes like agitation, anxiety, poor appetite, no energy, thoughts of being the biggest fuck up on the planet and maybe I shouldnt be here kinda stuff. Cannot say why these states come on but if one has experience(s) these or other extreme downs maybe one is freakin out cause this is to be avoided at all costs. IDK. I have dropped every substance I am on to the point where they are effective but will offer the least crippling withdrawals if they suddenly are gone.
It seems that pregabalin (or the lack thereof) has been a major contributor to my lowest states of mental wellness. I do not want to go there as it scares me and I no longer fret unduly if they are low.
Maybe it's the fear of withdrawal from pregab that is causing the reaction...?
Peace

 

[ĐmantuNJofra]

thanks man it's exactly that. it's only thing in these couple years like 3-4 years never have I misplaced or took too much buprenorphine, xanax-yes but I wasn't happy with xanax and truly I never felt that euphoria only from loraz and that's small like trippy then fall asleep, but I never blacked out, no incarcerated, or even in E.R. And I was partying hard before and driving but never when f...up or even slightes( ok thats a lie but trust me or not I don't have a ticket) but that has to do with when we were going gome like in mid day after after-party)!
And like you say I'm not even feeling good when I had like stash for month cause of the tollerance, but man when I have those 3,4 pills left and I need to go to Groundhog day with my 80+ familly doc, I think i may be having PTSD just from going to her.8( (She actually prescribed me 75mg first time in 2 years) my dose is 750mg
I dunno will try again with L-theanine, maybe Kava, Taurine
If I order Phenibut by by me for a couple week till I burn stash, cannot control Phenibut but with all those years of pregabalin I think there is some cross.tollerance cause last time I needed like 6 grams to feel any warmth which lasted 2-3 hours then was puking(maybe was bad batch)
I would go to detox but they are not that good from others exp in that field and have a daughter, need to work and stuff...

 

[PtahTek]

with all those years of pregabalin I think there is some cross.tollerance

i would say there is but its not exact imo. although phenibut is considered a gabapentinoid; i feel it to be different than gabapentin or pregabalin. more subtle but also more enjoyable in public. problem is imone would have to at least tripple the dose of phenibut to keep pregab wds at bay and that is just the most it can do at this ratio. to stave off wds from 300mg pregab i would have to dose about a gram of phenibut not too bad. but if i am at 1g pregab it would require over 3g phenibut which is getting into doses of phenibut that i wouldnt feel healthy for me.
a t the below dose:

I needed like 6 grams

i would be seriously tired and ill.
i like phenibut but can only dose every few days and keep the magic. still at the same dose or lower than where i started about 4 or 5 yrs ago. as a matter of fact i had been dripping to 600mg the last month getting ready to give it a rest for a while but received a free package in the post (from manufacturer) of phenibut and know that when i dose the usual 1.5g again i will be in flight. lol
your dose is at 750mg or 75mg a day of pregab?
i use to dose up to 900mg over a few hours and eat valium. what a trip had to stop as shit was going sideways.