Lyrica (pregabalin)

[mkultra]

Starting for GAD 150-300 mg/day. You sure gonna feel spacey the first time but side effect are short. But excellent anxiolytic.
I've been above 450 mg i had tremors, lightheadness, floating and a week euphoria. You walk and you speak like a drunk! But 300 mg is for sure social lubricant and anxiolytic. No misuse.
Stay safe.-

[basuraeuropea]

i'd been prescribed doses varying from 75mg to 600mg/day as an adjunct and as a monotherapy. for the vast majority of the time on the drug i was taking 150mg/day.

it was an excellent anxiolytic, but it had a host of side effects that were undesirable - extreme generalized edema, constipation, urinary hesitation, diplopia, amnesia, depression, altered endocrine functioning, greatly impaired cognitive functioning, total sexual dysfunction - this medication effectively chemically castrated me.

when i tapered off of it i went through the most hellish experience EVER. worst experience of my life and i was still trying to pull myself out of the hole this med left me in some eight months later.

edit: after some ten months of protracted withdrawal, i have recovered. i hate pregabalin with a passion.

[Darrenlogan56]

I've tried many medications and many of us will agree that the Benzodiazepines (Valium, Xanax, Clonezepam etc) are the gold standard Anxiolytics.
Lyrica, would probably be as close to any kind of noticable anxiolytic effect your gonna get. I've taken it for 3-4 years in doses of 25mg x3, 75 x3 100mg x 2, and now I'm on 50mg x 2. I got in trouble before for taking too much of it to try and combat some of my Anxiety as you really need to be on a high dose in order to feel much relief (for me anyway). the withdrawal from it was a nightmare, tight stomach pains, aching muscles, insomnia, cramps, flu like feeling - the whole shebang! I take it responsibly now and recommend it for anyone suffering GAD!

[Pingu]

300mg of Lyrica is effective for anxiety and lasts 7/8 hours. The effect is like a mild 'stoned' feeling but with increased motivation and energy. I am prescribed 600mg and take 300mg in the morning and 150/300mg late afternoon.

An issue is tolerance builds quickly - after one month 300mg was no longer having sufficient effect. I increased to 450mg in the morning and this is as effective as before. If tolerance continues to develop this could become an issue.

[boke0402]

[QUOTE=SAS;1279517](Copied over from old review system)

Posted by gjloh

Social Anxiety Background
In the past my anxiety has been so severe that I lived in a unibomber style shack in the rural countryside. From there I successfully came to an equilibrium with anxiety until severe illness, a major car accident and a divorce in 9 months. I am nearing a nice recovery from a short fall from grace.

Other Treatments
Topamax, klonopin

Treatment Experience
Lyrica has been a very positive addition to the meds which I already take for both anxiety pain and very mild absence seizures(which are extremely rare)(topamax,klonopin). I take 150mg Lyrica 2xdaily.

In my personal experience the addition of lyrica has slowed the sudden rise in anxiety I experienced. giving me a brief period of time while the intensity grew more slowly greater to more effectively choose to either change the situation with immediate action or, take dose of klonopin. The dosage at which and how often I need to take klonopin has also been greatly reduced.

[I agree with you that it does make a positive adjustment. I was hesitant to try Lyrica, but after reading through a lot and a lot of reviews and forums, I decided to give it a whirl. It makes me happy, and generally keeps my anxiety under control. I sleep soooo much better on this medication as well.]

[Ash10105]

I'd rate this drug 4/5. It's certainly not an answer to all anxiety issues but compared to all the other crap i've been prescribed it's the only thing that's effective

Pros:
Fast acting (<1 hour)
Immediately decreased anxiety and lifted mood
A good sort term solution. It's not an answer to all your problems in my opinion.

Cons:
Expensive
Weight gain
Makes me feel dumber and spaced out

In short if you need a quick fix I'd recommend giving it a try. I currently take 150mg X 2 daily. I'm on the hunt for something better but Lycria is okay. The side effects are much more tolerable than I experienced with the SSRI's TCA's and SNRIs

[wound2tite]

I am just starting week #3, tapering from 150mg once a day to three times a day. Feel pretty good so far with minimal side effects. I plan to post as I progress further with this medication. So far, it looks quite promising. Cost is high even with insurance, but insomnia is gone and I would pay just about anything for that alone.

[hack646]

I've been starting to dabble in this drug for the past week or so. I started off taking 50mg which didnt seem to do much except give me a horrible headache. A couple days latter I took 100 mg which seemed to give me a slight anxiolytic effect, but also some major dizziness. Couple days after that I took 150mg which gave an even stronger anxiolytic effect but made me feel almost inebriated. Finally just yesterday I took 200mg and found the effects to be very anxiolytic and even slightly euphoric. Paradoxically, the dizziness which one would think gets progressively worse with increase of dose wasnt all that noticeable. All in all, the 200mg was a very pleasant experience. This drug seems to have a lot of potential.

[baxman]

i have taken alot of gabapentin in the past and it worked well for boosting mood and decreasing anxiety so i figured id try lyrica out.sure enough it works very well for social anxiety but it comes with downsides.first off, my sexual ability and drive is crippled on this drug and my memory is foggy, thinking is greatly diminished.i wouldnt want to take a test of any sort on it.also, it can make me lethargic at times so overall not practical for me.

[Hamster12]

I started on Lyrica two weeks ago. I took 50mg at night for the first three days. When I woke up in the mornings I felt a bit lopsided. That seems to be going away a bit now. I've increased to 50mg twice a day and I've been on that dose for two weeks. It definitely helps with social and general anxiety. I'm not rerunning conversations hardly at all. I am much less anxious in general so I have some head space to devote to other things.

It is a bit like a mild benzo. So far I really like it.

I'll increase to 75mg twice a day soon as prescribed.

[hack646]

So I decided to try 300mg today just for the hell of it. Not the greatest idea. Started off feeling real nice, anxiety dissipated completely after an hour and I just enjoyed laying down and listening to music (lyrica seems to enhance the sound: the songs felt more full, more polished; whatever that means). Anyway that was nice for a while, but when I opened my eyes and got out of bed I was overwhelmed by dizziness and my vision was really blurry: just a very dysphoric feeling. Overall it wasn't a great experience and I think lower doses are much more practical.

[Juniorterris]

From 150 mg a day to work for social phobia, because it gets you talking and without social phobia though with a characteristic drunkenness.
The other day 75mg must increase in order to continue the effect, or have to go without for a while to take effect again.
Shall not use taking 2 times a day, but 3 hours before the phobic situation efrentar

[wound2tite]

Follow up to my post of 9/3....discontinuing Lyrica due to side effects. I was taking 450 mg per day in three doses of 150 each. I developed edema, severe constipation, weight gain ( 6 lbs in six weeks) and total loss of sexual ability. Everything seemed fine for the first three weeks, felt great, but then the side effects creeped in and that was it. It's a shame because the positive effects were there, but they did not outweigh the negative ones.

[Jay-Son]

I am at 25mg and it is enough of a boost. I have more energy and my appetite hasn't increased too much.

Probably the best meds I have been on in a while, glad I chose it as an alternative to benzos as these are way easier to withdraw off of.

Also I wonder how much it effects my intellectual abilities as i seem to have a hard time picking up the right words at times.

[ihateanxiety1]

My experience and suggestions on Lyrica. Over 6 months of taking pregablin (Lyrica). Currently taking parnate 60mg.


Side effects for me included:

• Europhia (Reduced over time, dose dependant)
• Dizziness (reduced over time, dose dependant)
• Slight weight gain (Not substainal, no raging food cravings)
• Slightly decreased physical sensations including sex
• Mental alertness decreased

What it felt like for me:

• A little high
• Quite social and confident
• Slightly like alcohol but gives you a bit of a buzz
• Slightly dumber

How effective is was for me:

• A good temporary fix for social anxiety
• Not a permanent solution. It didn't really feel like it fixed the problem but it helped mask the symptoms and has a very tolerable side effect profile when taken at a low 75mg + 75mg + 75mg dose.
• For me it was far more effective than any TCA or SSRI and was immediate acting with results improving over 2 weeks

Benefits for me included:

• It didn't change my personality as I found many SSRI, TCA's did
• It didn't blunt my emotions like many SSRI's did
• It didn't cause extreme tiredness as many TCA's did for me.
• It is not meant to cause tolerance/addiction. I did however, notice a slight tolerance as I took it over 6 months.
• I didn't experience withdrawal symptoms
• It was fast acting. Saw results in <1 hour increasing over 2 weeks
• Weight gain for me was not substainal. It didn't cause raging food cravings

Recommendations:

• Start with a low dose. Don't take 150mg all at once unless you really need too. Some doctors prescribe a dose this high and for me it was far too much. If you can spread the dose over the day. 150mg in one dose tended to make me very high and dizzy especially when first starting the drug. My ideal dose was 75 morning, 75 lunch, 75 if required at bed.
• Again a good temporary fix. I highly recommend it. Don't expect it to fix all your problems thou. A good addition to a treatment program.
• A little expensive but getting rid of anxiety and getting on with life is worth any cost in my opinion

How it works:

• I'm not a doctor but from my reading Lyrica works in a similar way to alcohol and a benzo by affecting the GABA channels. It is slightly different however, in that it blocks the calcium channels that transit GABA rather than affecting GABA directly. This is said to make it less addictive/tolerance developing. When taking the drug it is obvious that GABA is affected as the resulting feeling is similar to a benzo/alcohol.

What to tell your doctor:

• Lyrica is a new medicine for GAD + SA so isn't prescribed by many doctors and most will tell you that it is only for chronic pain
• Tell your doctor in Europe it is becoming a very prominent treatment for GAD + SA and that it has a much less addiction potential than benzoapines
• Tell him/her that you read a study which demonstrated its affectiveness for anxiety and also i'ts low side effect profile
• Tell him/her you don't mind the price. It's worth your mental sanity + wellbeing

[basuraeuropea]

Originally Posted by ihateanxiety1

It is not meant to cause tolerance/addiction.

This is said to make it less addictive/tolerance developing.

these are common misconceptions/fallacies held.

tolerance, physical dependence as well as psychological/physiological addiction and abuse have been reported with pregabalin/lyrica and neurontin/gabapentin more and more as their use is increasing. withdrawal from pregabalin and its cousin gabapentin can be horrific, and both drugs' withdrawal symptoms frequently mimic those associated with gabaergic drugs, particularly benzodiazepines and ethanol.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/1...200.x/abstract
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22822593
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21212719
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20595436
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22725618
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21068226
these are just a few clinical studies/case reports - if you google, you'll find a host of anecdotal information regarding the aforementioned issues.

[baxman]

i do have to say i have a good amount of experience with both neurontin and lyrica and ive never suffered from withdrawals of any kind when getting off.these were drugs i could just jump off and be fine.phenibut and others not so much

[jackbarrett]

Effexor XR 150mg cold turkey and started Lyrica 75mg twice a day. I fell asleep afternoon for 1 hour (was not able to sleep this nite). I woke up feeling like on 1 beer, I didn't have the pressure in my legs anymore and I felt so relaxed that I even went walking 1 hour in the city center. I didn't notice my anxiety as bad as it was. I was so happy finally, but i had mild headache. Next day I had problems with coordination for 1 hour after woke up and dizziness/vertigo all day. The next day was even worse. I felt like 3 fast hits in the head that make me feel very very dizzy and i was overall dizzy but this kept repeating on few seconds, then i realized its withdrawal from effexor so i took 75mg effexor and all the **** is gone. Today i feel so so good :-) will increase to 150mg lyrica 2x a day next week :-) i recommend it. Its superior to all SSRIs

[baxman]

good lord i took lyrica the other night, anxiety was diminished and i felt happier and more energetic but my mind was a jumbled mess.i tried to play the memory card game with my nephews.the game is where you lay cards down and try to match them.i cannot begin to describe how hard this game was under the influence of lyrica.i was not slurring my words at all, in fact i was more social but the brain scramble from this drug is just too much.if it wasnt for this side effect it would be a very effective drug against SA.

[thundercats]

Originally Posted by baxman

good lord i took lyrica the other night, anxiety was diminished and i felt happier and more energetic but my mind was a jumbled mess.i tried to play the memory card game with my nephews.the game is where you lay cards down and try to match them.i cannot begin to describe how hard this game was under the influence of lyrica.i was not slurring my words at all, in fact i was more social but the brain scramble from this drug is just too much.if it wasnt for this side effect it would be a very effective drug against SA.

Sounds like a really bad choice for students and all people who still need their brain. Too bad.

Is gabapentin the same?