Aa
In Lyrica hell - please help me I'm desperate
I know this topic has been brought up before, and I know this is long, but please read my post, I am really desperate and scared...!
I have been on Lyrica 600 mg per day (300 morning / 300 night) for approx 8-9 years due to my strong anxiety. I feel after so many years, the drug has lost its effectiveness and I wanted to see what I would feel like if I could stop the drug. I have tried to quit cold turkey one time in the past and got the most horrible withdrawal effects imaginable (throwing up, hot / cold flashes, and so on). Also missed a dose here and there over the years and ended up the same way.
Recently, I discussed with my doctor tapering off Lyrica -25 mg per week. He told me to lower my intake by -25mg per week, until I reach 200 mg / day, and stay at that level for a few months. The tapering was doing surprisingly well, just minor headaches and a tiny bit of dizzyness. Then, two days ago when I lowered my intake to 250 (after being on 275 for a week), hell broke loose. I started having a real bad dizzyness, to the point where it's hard to actually walk around. I figured if I just suffer through it, it will get better in a day or so. By the afternoon, the dizzyness was even worse, and I also had developed a nauseous feeling to my stomach. I had no appetite at all, but forced myself to eat diet food suggested on websites and tried to drink water best I could. By the evening I also started having horrible feverish feelings, not as bad as when I tried to quit cold turkey, but still horrible.
I think I was tapering off too fast, I should have allowed my body more than a week at a time to adjust to the new lower intake of the drug. So, despite that the doctor had told me to not go back up in the daily intake, once I had gone down, I decided this was too much for me and I increased my night dose with +25mg hoping I would feel better by the time I woke up. Well, I just woke up 2 hours ago, and the horrible dizzyness persists. I now increased my morning dose with +25 mg, ending me at 300mg per day. I figured, if that is what it takes to escape the horrible withdrawal effects for now, it's worth it. I can taper off the drug more later this year.
NOW ON TO MY REAL PROBLEM, AND THE REASON FOR WRITING THIS POST. Even though increasing the drug back to the level I was at when I was not suffering any strong withdrawals, I am still having the dizzyness! To be honest, it's just as bad as yesterday. I don't have the nausea stomach sensations yet, because it's still only 10.30 am in the morning, and the nausea did not start until having been awake for 10 hours or so. I am now scared to death that tonight will be as horrible as yesterday. why is my body still giving me these horrible feelings even though i am feeding it the 300 mg lyrica, obviously it was fine for a whole week getting only 275 mg. Now it's getting MORE than that and it's still not happy. Please what do I need to do? Should I keep increasing it until I am back to 600 mg or what?? There is no way I can go through these withdrawals, it's making me feel utterly depressed and I spent most yesterday crying and I felt useless. I also read people who has been eating high dosages for many years will experience more severe withdrawal sensations and they may last for months.
I guess what I am trying to say is, if I can not taper off Lyrica without going through these withdrawals (especially if we're talking months) it's not worth it to me, I rather eat it for the rest of my life.
Please, anyone who has been in my situation and decided to increase the intake back up because they couldn't take the withdrawals, how long did it take for the body to adjust back to the higher intake?
Also, any experts or people who have talked to patients / people who was on the drug, please please explain to me why my body is not satisfied when it's once again getting MORE than it previously was getting and was fine with.
I really need to know how to get through this as it's causing me to feel worse mentally and I just cry all the time.
Any suggestions greatly appreciated.
I have been on Lyrica 600 mg per day (300 morning / 300 night) for approx 8-9 years due to my strong anxiety. I feel after so many years, the drug has lost its effectiveness and I wanted to see what I would feel like if I could stop the drug. I have tried to quit cold turkey one time in the past and got the most horrible withdrawal effects imaginable (throwing up, hot / cold flashes, and so on). Also missed a dose here and there over the years and ended up the same way.
Recently, I discussed with my doctor tapering off Lyrica -25 mg per week. He told me to lower my intake by -25mg per week, until I reach 200 mg / day, and stay at that level for a few months. The tapering was doing surprisingly well, just minor headaches and a tiny bit of dizzyness. Then, two days ago when I lowered my intake to 250 (after being on 275 for a week), hell broke loose. I started having a real bad dizzyness, to the point where it's hard to actually walk around. I figured if I just suffer through it, it will get better in a day or so. By the afternoon, the dizzyness was even worse, and I also had developed a nauseous feeling to my stomach. I had no appetite at all, but forced myself to eat diet food suggested on websites and tried to drink water best I could. By the evening I also started having horrible feverish feelings, not as bad as when I tried to quit cold turkey, but still horrible.
I think I was tapering off too fast, I should have allowed my body more than a week at a time to adjust to the new lower intake of the drug. So, despite that the doctor had told me to not go back up in the daily intake, once I had gone down, I decided this was too much for me and I increased my night dose with +25mg hoping I would feel better by the time I woke up. Well, I just woke up 2 hours ago, and the horrible dizzyness persists. I now increased my morning dose with +25 mg, ending me at 300mg per day. I figured, if that is what it takes to escape the horrible withdrawal effects for now, it's worth it. I can taper off the drug more later this year.
NOW ON TO MY REAL PROBLEM, AND THE REASON FOR WRITING THIS POST. Even though increasing the drug back to the level I was at when I was not suffering any strong withdrawals, I am still having the dizzyness! To be honest, it's just as bad as yesterday. I don't have the nausea stomach sensations yet, because it's still only 10.30 am in the morning, and the nausea did not start until having been awake for 10 hours or so. I am now scared to death that tonight will be as horrible as yesterday. why is my body still giving me these horrible feelings even though i am feeding it the 300 mg lyrica, obviously it was fine for a whole week getting only 275 mg. Now it's getting MORE than that and it's still not happy. Please what do I need to do? Should I keep increasing it until I am back to 600 mg or what?? There is no way I can go through these withdrawals, it's making me feel utterly depressed and I spent most yesterday crying and I felt useless. I also read people who has been eating high dosages for many years will experience more severe withdrawal sensations and they may last for months.
I guess what I am trying to say is, if I can not taper off Lyrica without going through these withdrawals (especially if we're talking months) it's not worth it to me, I rather eat it for the rest of my life.
Please, anyone who has been in my situation and decided to increase the intake back up because they couldn't take the withdrawals, how long did it take for the body to adjust back to the higher intake?
Also, any experts or people who have talked to patients / people who was on the drug, please please explain to me why my body is not satisfied when it's once again getting MORE than it previously was getting and was fine with.
I really need to know how to get through this as it's causing me to feel worse mentally and I just cry all the time.
Any suggestions greatly appreciated.
Thank you both for your replies. It's 5pm now and so far I have only had the dizzyness. Thank god the nausea did not return (yet anyway). I forgot to mention, yesterday I would go to the bathroom no more than 30 minutes after each time I tried to eat a real small meal of diet food, and the stool had a really strange look and consistence (not really diarrhea), however today the stomach has not been upset after I ate, and like I said the nausea have not shown itself.
The dizzyness is hard too, but at least it's manageable as long as I just lay all the time, but it would be nice if I knew how long I could expect it to stay. When I forgot Lyrica doses in the past and was hit by real bad withdrawals, my body got back to normal after just less than a day after getting the drug back in the system, I don't understand why it's different now.
I'm sorry, I forgot to mention that I am in Europe, and I know Lyrica is not licensed for treating anxiety in the States. I believe when I first started taking it, using it to treat anxiety was fairly new in my country, and the doctors had little experience with it, so I guess I was one of their many guinea pigs. I remember the drug did wonders for my anxiety at first, and since it was working my doctor (different one at the time) just kept increasing the daily dosage until we got to 600 (max). She also put me on other medications that she claimed would be effective together with Lyrica, I have forgotten how many different ones I've been on over the years, but the one that worked best was one called Venlafaxine (exists also under brand names such as Effexor, Lanvexin, Viepax etc) and I'm still on it today. It will be my next battle after stopping Lyrica, if I ever get that far. Unfortunately I hear that one is even more difficult to stop, and even my current doctor has said he thinks I might not be able to stop that one.
I know they helped me at the time I started them, but I can feel both the drugs have lost their effect and my body is too used to them, perhaps that is the reason I feel so depressed these days.
I am calling the doctor monday to discuss what to do next about Lyrica and something to help battle the nausea if that was to return.
PS: Thank you essdipity for the suggestion about the compounding pharmacy, I will ask the doctor about this (have no idea if it's possible over here, but I am surely prepared to pay for it).
And thank you both for responding and your concern and support, I was happy someone wrote me back.
The dizzyness is hard too, but at least it's manageable as long as I just lay all the time, but it would be nice if I knew how long I could expect it to stay. When I forgot Lyrica doses in the past and was hit by real bad withdrawals, my body got back to normal after just less than a day after getting the drug back in the system, I don't understand why it's different now.
I'm sorry, I forgot to mention that I am in Europe, and I know Lyrica is not licensed for treating anxiety in the States. I believe when I first started taking it, using it to treat anxiety was fairly new in my country, and the doctors had little experience with it, so I guess I was one of their many guinea pigs. I remember the drug did wonders for my anxiety at first, and since it was working my doctor (different one at the time) just kept increasing the daily dosage until we got to 600 (max). She also put me on other medications that she claimed would be effective together with Lyrica, I have forgotten how many different ones I've been on over the years, but the one that worked best was one called Venlafaxine (exists also under brand names such as Effexor, Lanvexin, Viepax etc) and I'm still on it today. It will be my next battle after stopping Lyrica, if I ever get that far. Unfortunately I hear that one is even more difficult to stop, and even my current doctor has said he thinks I might not be able to stop that one.
I know they helped me at the time I started them, but I can feel both the drugs have lost their effect and my body is too used to them, perhaps that is the reason I feel so depressed these days.
I am calling the doctor monday to discuss what to do next about Lyrica and something to help battle the nausea if that was to return.
PS: Thank you essdipity for the suggestion about the compounding pharmacy, I will ask the doctor about this (have no idea if it's possible over here, but I am surely prepared to pay for it).
And thank you both for responding and your concern and support, I was happy someone wrote me back.
Thank You essdipity for responding to this post.
Maybe if you put another post in over at the Anxiety or Depression community some others can help. I will Bump this back to the top too in this community. I too, have never heard of this being prescribed for Anxiety but for nerve pain???
I do have a few friends who had been prescribed this med but could not handle due to the dizziness and anxiety/jitters it gave them. I would go back to the Dr and find out if there is another med you can add as needed during your drop off from this med. There are so many meds out here that have to be tapered slowly. So many meds affect the chemistry of the brain and affects the nervous system and body parts. I read some where that even a Benzo can turn on you and add more Anxiety in the long run. Plz go and talk with the Dr. I am SO sorry that you feel so bad and that you are crying. I sure hope for the best.
Maybe if you put another post in over at the Anxiety or Depression community some others can help. I will Bump this back to the top too in this community. I too, have never heard of this being prescribed for Anxiety but for nerve pain???
I do have a few friends who had been prescribed this med but could not handle due to the dizziness and anxiety/jitters it gave them. I would go back to the Dr and find out if there is another med you can add as needed during your drop off from this med. There are so many meds out here that have to be tapered slowly. So many meds affect the chemistry of the brain and affects the nervous system and body parts. I read some where that even a Benzo can turn on you and add more Anxiety in the long run. Plz go and talk with the Dr. I am SO sorry that you feel so bad and that you are crying. I sure hope for the best.
(Sorry, didn't mean to post at that point.)
Anyway, I switched to Neurontin (gabapentin) for nerve pain with greater success. I doubt this would work for anxiety. I do know that many people here find Neurontin addictive, which puzzles me as it doesn't give any sort of high or altered state, but whatever.
I do have some suggestions for you though. I think that in conjunction with your doctor you should go backwards and up your dose till your symptoms are relieved, and this does not necessarily mean 600. Your doctor doesn't want this, of course, but he hasn't seen you puking, so maybe you should let him :-(
That would be just to get you relief. Then, also in conjunction with your doctor, find another similar med that hits the same receptors, etc., but that also comes in a wide range of doses, so that tapering down would be much more gentle. If there is no such thing, you could try having Lyrica made up by a compounding pharmacy (special prescription needed), in capsules of small strength that you could take while tapering regular Lyrica. Maybe something halfway between the only doses available. For instance, if Lyrica only comes in 25 mg increments, have some made in 12.5 so that the taper is slower. This will cost you money, of course, but it might be well worth it.
I once had sudden and random vomiting when coming off a totally different med, and the compounding thing worked wonderfully.
Good luck to you.
Anyway, I switched to Neurontin (gabapentin) for nerve pain with greater success. I doubt this would work for anxiety. I do know that many people here find Neurontin addictive, which puzzles me as it doesn't give any sort of high or altered state, but whatever.
I do have some suggestions for you though. I think that in conjunction with your doctor you should go backwards and up your dose till your symptoms are relieved, and this does not necessarily mean 600. Your doctor doesn't want this, of course, but he hasn't seen you puking, so maybe you should let him :-(
That would be just to get you relief. Then, also in conjunction with your doctor, find another similar med that hits the same receptors, etc., but that also comes in a wide range of doses, so that tapering down would be much more gentle. If there is no such thing, you could try having Lyrica made up by a compounding pharmacy (special prescription needed), in capsules of small strength that you could take while tapering regular Lyrica. Maybe something halfway between the only doses available. For instance, if Lyrica only comes in 25 mg increments, have some made in 12.5 so that the taper is slower. This will cost you money, of course, but it might be well worth it.
I once had sudden and random vomiting when coming off a totally different med, and the compounding thing worked wonderfully.
Good luck to you.
Hi. I'm not an addict but I do have experience with nerve pain and Lyrica because I have MS. I've never heard of it being prescribed for anxiety. There are better meds out there for that.
I didn't like Lyrica because all I had to do was look at it and I'd gain weight, a common problem with this drug. Also, with the max daily dose at 600 mg, that doesn't give you much play to find the right level. I tapered down to prevent seizures and went off it with no problems.
,
I didn't like Lyrica because all I had to do was look at it and I'd gain weight, a common problem with this drug. Also, with the max daily dose at 600 mg, that doesn't give you much play to find the right level. I tapered down to prevent seizures and went off it with no problems.
,
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