Gabapentinoids The Lyrica (Pregabalin) Mega Thread v 2.0

[xxxyyy]

i've taken that dose over the course of the day. your tolerance to this stuff really grows incredibly quick. today i plugged 2100mgs, to see if it would maybe kick in faster since i hate how long it takes for the effects to take hold, and can safely say that plugging pregabalin in a waste of drugs.

 

[worriedworried]

Be careful though, the interpretation of this kind of research is most important. The website has decided to interpret this as an indication that AED's can reduce brain plasticity by reducing thrombospondin binding. In reality, this may not be the case and a reduction in binding may not be associated with any noticeable effects. Note that thrombospondin is involved in the creation of novel connections and for someone who is well into adulthood, this may not be as detrimental as it would be in a younger individual. I would like to see this topic assessed with a validated cognitive functioning measure, which would be more definitive than the study you have cited.

This article has made its rounds in this thread and has been highly criticized. I would withhold judgement until more research has been done.

I know this is conjecture at this point, but what about for someone who is in adulthood (mid to late twenties) but is in graduate school where continual learning of new information is required? Do you think Lyrica, or AEDs (was not even aware that Lyrica counted as an AED, but I guess it does work on glutamate, like Lamictal), at a moderate therapeutic dose of 150 mg 2x a day, would interfere with the learning process?

I suppose anecdotal evidence might be more useful at this point. Anyone in a rigorous grad program and taking Lyrica? Have you noticed any effects?

 

[xxxyyy]

in my opinion this is all supreme bullshit, not that i would put it past pfizer or any other pharma company to sell something straight up poisonous (see thalidomide) but i highly doubt that that research is accurate.

 

[AlphaMethylPhenyl]

I know this is conjecture at this point, but what about for someone who is in adulthood (mid to late twenties) but is in graduate school where continual learning of new information is required? Do you think Lyrica, or AEDs (was not even aware that Lyrica counted as an AED, but I guess it does work on glutamate, like Lamictal), at a moderate therapeutic dose of 150 mg 2x a day, would interfere with the learning process?

I suppose anecdotal evidence might be more useful at this point. Anyone in a rigorous grad program and taking Lyrica? Have you noticed any effects?

Its impossible to say without trying, though is quite likely at least on a subtle level.

 

[APerc]

Can Lyrica be snorted?

 

[syntheticbreakfast]

I suppose anecdotal evidence might be more useful at this point. Anyone in a rigorous grad program and taking Lyrica? Have you noticed any effects?

A lot of users of pregabalin and gabapentin claim to have noticed a "mind-numbing" or "brain-fogging" effect from taking it as prescribed. I don't take PGN every day, and I haven't really noticed a detriment from taking it 2-4 times per month at high doses. But gabapentin has been dubbed morontin by some users, and there's your anecdotal evidence.

I wouldn't recommend taking it every day unless you absolutely need it to function (for pain). I wouldn't recommend taking it at all for anxiety, because it isn't a solution. It's like drinking ethanol for anxiety. Why treat the symptoms instead of the cause?

 

[Mercc96]

I have definetly noticed myself being dumbed or numbed down , it maybe the well known "fibrofog" but I am unsure.

 

[lurching]

Can Lyrica be snorted?

General consesus seems to be: Yes, faster onset than normal (15 min until effect), same potency.

It's a lot of powder to snort (soft on the nose though), depending on what type of capsules you have.


The effects last shorter when snorted, in my experience. It feels different too, less relaxing (?). I've seen some other user on bluelight compare snorted Lyrica to "a bad speed buzz" or some such.


fwiw, I prefer to drop the capsules on an empty stomach, onset is almost as quick as snorting and the effect lasts longer.

 

[lurching]

I often see 600mg mentioned as an upper-limit dose p/day.

Can I read more about the negative effects that appear above this limit (for example, 2x 600mg daily)? "Megathread" is chaotic and hard to search thru, can someone point me to medical or anecdotal reports or such?

I'm taking Lyrica daily for two months now, and went up from 2x 150mg per day to 1x 600 or 2x 450mg. I'm thinking about either increasing my dose, or having a tolerance break.

 

[syntheticbreakfast]

Tell me more about this dosage thing? What's the difference between, let's say 1500 and 300? But 3000 (!), isn't that a bit crazy? How does that feel?

I've taken doses as high as 3600 mg. In my experience, after you reach around 2100 mg, there is a bit of a ceiling. At that point, you probably won't feel a difference if you re-dose. But it probably isn't necessary to even take that much. 1200-1500 mg is enough for me, and even less works well in combination with other CNS depressants (I'm talking like 600-900 mg).

 

[Transcendence]

I wouldn't recommend taking it at all for anxiety, because it isn't a solution. It's like drinking ethanol for anxiety. Why treat the symptoms instead of the cause?

How do you treat the cause of physical anxiety without drugs? Not everyone experiences anxiety as rumination. I don't excessively worry about things, I just feel physically uncomfortable all day. There's no talk therapy that's going to verbalize that away.

 

[syntheticbreakfast]

How do you treat the cause of physical anxiety without drugs? Not everyone experiences anxiety as rumination. I don't excessively worry about things, I just feel physically uncomfortable all day. There's no talk therapy that's going to verbalize that away.

I'm not a psychologist or a psychiatrist, but I'll still give this question a try. First of all, what is physical anxiety? Is it an entirely separate problem from "mental anxiety"? If so, where does it come from? Why would the body be creating symptoms of anxiety without any influence from the brain/mind? I think that the mind/body link says that there must be some connection, even if you experience anxiety primarily as physical symptoms and not thoughts. I think it is much more common for at least some level of thought to accompany physical anxiety, but I'm not saying I don't believe you. Did you, at any point, have "mental" symptoms of anxiety? I wonder if there could be some kind of subconscious notion influencing the anxiety. That's a difficult area to comment on for a non-psychologist.

I still think that CBT can help people with "physical anxiety", and here's why: Even if you're not having anxious thoughts now, if you had positive and relaxing/reassuring thoughts (do you have these already?) then I'd imagine that those thoughts would result in a decrease in your physical symptoms, especially if you actually believed in those thoughts. Maybe not, but it does make sense if thought can influence how you feel (and that has been proven).

Drugs are very effective at stopping the physical symptoms of anxiety. But tolerance develops to everything eventually, downregulation happens and there are other side effects. My psychiatrist always asks me if the "side effects" of the anxiety are worse than the side effects from the drug, and I think he has an excellent point. Some people may be better off on a medication, but if they're going that route, perhaps they should be on some kind of rotation of substances in order to prevent tolerance and dependence. An antidepressant might also be more worthwhile than a drug that offers immediate relief. There is a reason why benzodiazepines are not recommended to be prescribed for the long-term. And pregabalin isn't any better, in my opinion.

I don't know, these are hard questions to answer. I personally would not take any drug that can also be used recreationally (gabaergics) daily, but that's because in my opinion it's not that far off from taking ethanol every day for anxiety.

 

[psychodead]

has anyone taken this legitimately for fibromyalgia? if so is it an effective medication? my doctor has offered to prescribe me this or pregabalin but im just not sure about it. also im a university student so i dont want to take anything that will affect my ability to concentrate. should i be concerned about this?

 

[syntheticbreakfast]

has anyone taken this legitimately for fibromyalgia? if so is it an effective medication? my doctor has offered to prescribe me this or pregabalin but im just not sure about it. also im a university student so i dont want to take anything that will affect my ability to concentrate. should i be concerned about this?

I can't comment on the first part of your post, but I can about whether or not if affects focus and your ability to think clearly. For me, the acute effects of pregabalin do slightly limit my ability to think effectively, and it slows down my processing speed. I wouldn't go to school on pregabalin if I had to take an exam or something like that, because it also effects my memory when I'm on it. I also wouldn't care as much, because it's quite euphoric for me. I haven't taken PGN for more than four consecutive days, so I'm not sure what it would be like in chronic administration. But quite a few users report cognitive detriment from using it as prescribed. I think the only way to know for sure is to try it out for yourself, you should be able to tell if it's going to work out or not after being on it for two weeks (but that may be dose dependant). Good luck!

 

[Back to life]

Really, I started out with 600 mgs, but preferred using 1500 when I was using it (or 3000). The dosage makes all the difference. Also tolerance and stomach content, and it doesn't work two consecutive days. 300 mgs is a good anti-depressant.

In 2 years I've been on it, I do 2 days(800-1400mg/day) on 1 or 2 days off. For me at least, it works 2 days in a row.

 

[Mercc96]

How long does it take you to start feeling shitty from not taken your prescription in the morning? Like say if I wake up and don't take my meds after about half an hour I am just feeling so goddamn shit.

 

[Back to life]

How long does it take you to start feeling shitty from not taken your prescription in the morning? Like say if I wake up and don't take my meds after about half an hour I am just feeling so goddamn shit.

I'm also curious as to how long it'd take for lyrica withdraw to kick in, hours, days, a week?

 

[BigKahoona]

The multi-purpose drug!

I'm also curious as to how long it'd take for lyrica withdraw to kick in, hours, days, a week?

I have been taking pregaplin for almost a year now, along with Diclofenac, amitriptyline, and oxycodone. I was shot in the back during my time in Iraq by a 7.62x39mm round from a AK-47. It never penetrated as it skimmed off my back sappy plate, but the force of the impact crushed my L4/L5 vertebrae. I am to have my first "major" surgery in a few weeks to repair the damage that was done over a year ago.

Anyways I usually never run out of oxycodone, or my diclofenac, but i do tend to take more of the pregaplin than prescribed as it seams to help take away the nerve pain better than the oxy and diclofenac. The withdrawls are painful if you run out of lyrica. Not so much mentally, but physically you experience two-fold the nerve pain you had prior to taking it. I recommend to NEVER run of of this stuff, especially if you have been taking it non-stop for over a long period of time. Weening yourself down would be my recommendation. I have taken so much lyrica in one day it would prolly put down an elephant, just to get me thru another day. Thank god that most of you will never have to go through what I am experiencing. Suicide has crossed my mind just to excape the agony of nerve pain!

Amen to whomever discovered this drug! Its one of those "miracle drugs" IMOP. Its treats pain, anxiety, sleep, ect...

 

[ErgicMergic]

^ Great first post, man, welcome to Bluelight! Thanks for your service.

I agree, Lyrica is the best medication for neuropathic pain. Only muscoskeletal pain is treated with opioids (Lyrica does very little for non-neuropathic-joint-pain), but opioids do next to nothing for neuropathy, which tends to make opioid addicts keep raising their doses higher and higher in Pain Management, since it's not helping, instead of trying legitimate adjuncts like Gabapentin/Pregabalin, the gold standards for neuropathy.

Hell, even L-Theanine (similar to pregs/gabapentin) works better for neuropathy versus opioids.

 

[Choosing_Positive]

I have found the CEV's on Lyrica (such as incredibly complex buildings, structures, and machinery) to be very enveloping in a dissociative-esqe way.

Has anyone else had similar experiences?

Yes