Lyrica

[lynn0713]

My daughter is taking Lyrica for nerve damage in her feet.  She just started this
last week she was taking 1 pill each day for one week and is taking 2 pills
each this week.  She still has not got relief.  Does anyone have any other suggestions
she could do to help this pain.  The pain is from the ankles down and burn and ache.  She
has had poor control in the past but is working hard to get things under control.  She is only
19 and this has been a wake up call for her.  Also are there any other parents out there that
get as upset and stressed out as I do.  I know no one who has a diabetic child.  Any advice
how to cope myself.  Thanks.

[torrem]

I have been diabetic for 39 years and have neuropathies.  I take neurontin, motrin and when it gets really bad, nortriptyline.  The latter makes you gain a lot of weight.  I have to take neurontin every 3-4 hours because I need to keep the levels of meds up in my system.  Otherwise, the pain starts.  If lyrica doesn't work she may want to change to neurontin--it works well.  Please tell your daughter not to blame herself.  It is not helpful or productive.  In terms of what you can do, be supportive and don't nag about what she should or should not do regarding the diabetes.  She has her own fears that she has to deal with.  She may want to seek psychological help during this time as she may be getting depressed.

I don't know what else to say.  Please take care and my best to all of you.

Marie

[Baseballfan75]

from what I know about those type of Meds they take a while to build up in the body, so dont give up, but keep an eye out because I had a build up in my chest it scared me , like I had a lump in my breast, and im a Male this cant be happen to me , so I slowly took myself off of them ( doc told me it was build up ).
what really helped me was water relaxing in the tub and having someone rub my legs, plus I got a foot massager, that helped out a lot. Hope things get better.
Peace
Ron

[Ablebuny]

I'm 27 years old. I'm on lyrica for pain. When I do get bad days when the barometer pressure affects me, my doctor has told me I'm allowed to take up to 4 spaced out throughout the day. Here are some suggestions to help with her ankle pain.

1. Orthotics- Will relieve pressure and distribute weight evenly
2. Make sure all her shoes have arches! It does make a difference
3. Compression hose or socks found in drugs stores
4. Diet and Excercise

The key thing when controlling diabetes and symptoms are diet and excercise. Small meals throughout the day to keep sugar levels normal. Make sure she has 3 of the food groups in each of her meals gives the body a balance diet from over eating. Keep away from any white flours and white rice. Wholegrains and brown rice only and checking labels to make sure there are not as many additives as enriched flour. Stick with less processed food as more processed foods digest way to fast which may spike her sugar levels. If you can, use organic foods.

Excercise one of the most important things when it comes to diabetes. If she can't do power walks right now because of too much pain, get her one of those big excercise balls.  They are great for resistant and low impact. So she can do things like for example.. rolling squat crunchies side to side, where her back is on the ball, feet on ground, rolling up and down side to side . Remember to get her heart level up to where she is huffing and sweating.

I hope this helps you and your daughter.

[JDRF Volunteer CB]

I would suggest that you go to www.jdrf.org, a website for Type 1 diabetics.  I think if you look on it you will find a lot of information.  Also if you look on the home page of the website you will find ODST.  Click on that and you will find information about your local chapter of JDRF, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, and they will be able to put you in contact with other families dealing with many issues or similar issues as yourself and your daughter.