Aa
Aa
A
A
A
Close
Avatar universal

Will Lyrica help at full dosge?

I have an L1 burst fracture from several years ago that is about completely gone now as well as 2 tumors on spinal cord and some other things all messed up in there. I will be having surgery fairly soon and have been referred to a new neurosurgeon for this. He has started me on Lyrica. The pain has been very bad for almost a year as the vertebra crumbled and I have taken Lortabs and Percocets now and again but they do not sit well on my stomach and most times I would rather just lay here and moan, lol. My prescription for the Lyrica is to start with  50mg once a day for 2 weeks and then go to 2 a day. Tomorrow is the end of my first week. I have to say, the pain is just overwhelming me now and I just don't know what to think, My question is will the Lyrica work better than this when I get to the full dosage or do I need to say something to someone? I'm pretty tough but man, I rescue cats and am responsible for 23 of them at the moment. It is getting very hard to get everything done for them each morning. There are other volunteers who will be caring for them when I have my surgery and I don't want to call on them too early. I HAVE to keep going. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
13 Responses
Sort by: Helpful Oldest Newest
198154 tn?1337787265
Lyrica only worked for me at 300mg.  But it did work VERY well !  I have taken almost every pain med there is and 300mg Lyrica worked as well or better than anything!

Good Luck!
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Thank you Mellie. I am so hoping I can absorb the side affects easily. I was told I would be very drowsy after taking them and so far that hasn't happened. I have very low blood pressure and in fact sometimes they can't find it, lol, so I don't think the high blood pressure will get me. Losing my concentration will be a bummer if I do when I get to full dosage. I just hope I will not be on it long enough to have any really bad things happen. Neurosurgeons seem to move at their own speed though and it looks an awful lot like a tortoise.

Thank you for sharing your experience and the good wishes. I send them right back to you in hopes you too find relief.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I know a lot of people find relief with Lyrica, but I couldn't tolerate Lyrica or neurontin, though they both did help with my nerve pain.  WIth the Lyrica I gained about 15 pounds in less than 3 weeks without changing my diet.  It killed me, as I had worked so hard to get my weight off (and after being on high blood pressure pills for eight years, I was able to go off them!)

The worst for me, though, was the cognitive issues I had with both.  I had trouble word finding and staying on topic.  I'd be in the middle of a conversation and mid-sentence I would completely forget what we were talking about.  The memory issues were causing huge problems.  (For me, all the medications I take give me memory problems but the Lyrica and Neurontin memory issues were off the chart for me.)

Good luck with getting everything resolved.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
No, I haven't tried it but if you recommend it I will ask my Dr. He really does get on to me and maybe if I can take it he'll not think I am such a ninny. I've written it down so I won't forget. And yes you certainly do need to get straightened out. :) I hope they get to you soon. I know how spooked I am, I hate hearing that crunchy noise and feeling it grate at times. Knowing it is bone on bone and all disconnected in there gives me the creeps. You have been very nice and knowing you are all crunchy in there too makes me wish I could speed them up for you. Every day I spend down in the bed is a day I miss working in the garden or sewing. I've pretty much missed this whole year now, but I'm laughing as I type that. It could always be worse and I do believe in miracles and better days just around the corner. I am wishing them for you, too.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Oops, I got things a bit wrong- the disintegrated one is L2/L3.  L3/L4 has stenosis but the disk is fine.  Got to get these things right ;)
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Have you tried Tramadol though?  It is not a narcotic, although it has narcotic-like activities.  I did well on that for a long time until things got bad (my latest scans show why- the disk below the fracture- my fracture is L2, so in this case L3/L4- completely disintegrated.  L4/L5 developed a small bulge and a retrolisthesis.  L4/L5 has a large bulge.  I really need to get everything straightened out!)
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Thank you mummy :) I am not on the full dosage and yet I can really tell a difference but the past few days have been horrid. I am thinking perhaps it is the weather changing and other pain besides the spinal injury. The cost is very high and I'm working on trying to get it from Pfizer on a low cost or no cost plan. And good luck to you!

Happymom we are in the same back boat! I would say yeah! but that would be rather stupid. lol. And I do know that my aversion to narcotics is my own devil to wrestle with. :(  I get terribly depressed when I break down and take the Percocets or Lortabs they keep giving me. I can lay in bed and cry as long and hard about that as when I am in very bad pain. I know it is in my own head but I can't seem to shake it. My primary Dr just lectures me like I were 10 but it doesn't seem to do any good. I nod my head and say I will be good and take my pills like I am supposed to to manage the pain, but then I get home and stare at the bottle and hate it. I admire folks who are able to do what I can't seem to.

That is one reason I am so hoping the Lyrica works for me. I am taking it just like I am supposed to and not feeling that sense of despair that I get when I take other pain meds

Man I hope they get you fixed soon! 90% is just too scary. Have a very good day!
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Lyrica will make hunting for your words worse, and make you feel a little dippy probably (I call them my "topamax moments.")  Regarding the other pain meds, addiction and dependence are not the same thing- I have been on narcotic pain meds for 3 years and although I will need to be slow about going off of them when the time comes, I have not had an issue with addiction (taking more than prescribed or in a manner other than prescribed, for example).  They are no different than my Cymbalta, which also has a significant discontinuation effect.

But if you can manage without, you're probably OK.

Mine lost 90% of its height toward the front.. so yeah, really not much there!  LOL!

Helpful - 0
1322157 tn?1279656681
Although my insurance would not cover Lyrica, I was given free samples to try from the Dr. It did work for my nerve pain. Although, It didn't touch the other pain. In the short time I took it (a few weeks) I had no adverse reactions at all. I hope it works well for you! If most of your pain is nerve related, it may just do that!

Good luck!!
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I wonder if that is what they will be doing to me. I have seen the stills from the last MRI and there really isn't much left of it at all. Maybe a 1/4 and bulges all over too :) After my accident they wanted to put in a rod but I wouldn't let them. Now I think that might not work. The brace really helps a lot when I have to ride in a car or work in the garden or something where I have to sit long or bend. Helps some with pain and feels more secure too. Sort of unstable in there and it 'crunches' sometimes just sitting down on the couch.

I don't know much about pain meds. I had a terrible fear when they told me I had broken my back of getting addicted. I have always asked for the least and lowest  when I couldn't take it any more. But even those upset my stomach. Lortabs make me break out in a sweat and throw up most of the time. After my accident they had me on morphine for a bit and I didn't like that much either. Family and friends get upset with me, they don't like to see me in pain, hard to explain to them how I feel about it. That is why I have great hopes for the Lyrica. I did read up on it when he prescribed it and saw that it is not addictive and won't make me loopy. :) I think if I were younger I wouldn't mind the loopy so much, but I now I am already finding myself hunting for the right words when I talk and forgetting where I put the bread in the kitchen. Feel like I need all the pistons I have left firing, lol.

I hope they get to your surgery soon and fix you up. Just takes them forever, doesn't it.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I would have stayed on too if my blood pressure and cholesterol hadn't shot up.  I went on topamax instead, it doesn't work nearly as well.

I never got a brace of any sort, even right after the fracture.  I only made it 3 years, and I'm hoping to get the surgery before my lower spine completely disintegrates (I already have bulges at almost ever level) due to the misalignment.  So he's going to go in and take out the fractured vertebrae and shore everything up and realign it.

I also take quite a bit of pain meds though.  I did without much (just tramadol and the occasional vicodin) for a long time, but this year things started getting much worse :(
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Oh thank goodness. :) Yes, the Dr said it was going to make me fat, lol. I said I didn't care if I could still walk. I am in a turtle shell brace now for the past I think 6 months. I don't know what they are going to do in there yet, I have to have another MRI in the next week to get a better idea, (my 3rd in 3 months) it is going fast now and my options are getting thin. I put it off far too long and am paying for it. :) Fought them tooth and nail for years saying ' As long as I can keep going, I'm going to keep going.' Man we stubborn old women just know everything, don't we? Thank you very much for giving me an answer, I was just getting desperate tonight.

I hope that you found something else to help you as much as the Lyrica did.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Oh my, finally someone in the same boat I am!

Yes, lyrica will help.  I found it so helpful, but unfortunately had to go off of it because of drastic weight gain combined with cardiovascular issues.

What surgery will you be getting?
Helpful - 0
Have an Answer?

You are reading content posted in the Pain Management Community

Top Pain Answerers
Avatar universal
st. louis, MO
317787 tn?1473358451
DC
Learn About Top Answerers
Didn't find the answer you were looking for?
Ask a question
Popular Resources
Find out how beta-blocker eye drops show promising results for acute migraine relief.
Could it be something you ate? Lack of sleep? Here are 11 migraine triggers to look out for.
Find out if PRP therapy right for you.
Tips for preventing one of the most common types of knee injury.
Here are 10 ways to stop headaches before they start.
Tips and moves to ease backaches