Lyrica (Pregabalin)

Post by **ViewsAskew** » Wed Aug 30, 2006 1:48 am

Em, it sounds like he really is staying on top of this. How frustrating for you to have to consider things you may not want or may have unwanted side effects.

Just curious; has anyone taken your ferritin levels yet? Would you be a candidate for the iron infusion therapy at Johns Hopkins? I've never done it because you have to be med free. Hazel is going there soon (may even be there now - not sure which studies she is doing, but do know she went off her meds).

Anonymous · Post by **Anonymous** » Wed Aug 30, 2006 2:23 am

Post by **ViewsAskew** » Wed Aug 30, 2006 5:35 am

Might be worth reminding him of that. Sounds like you've taken your iron religiously! I struggled to get mine over 30 (it was 8 I think). I just gave up at some point.

Anonymous · Post by **Anonymous** » Fri Sep 08, 2006 3:02 pm

BeanieLee · Post by **BeanieLee** » Tue Sep 12, 2006 7:12 pm

Lyrica is an anticonvulsant and has extensively been researched as to it's effects on RLS. I am taking it exclusively (well only in conjunction with pain killers) for RLS and it's working moderately well. You can read about clinical tests done with Lyrica on RLS in the Medical Bulletin found in the rls.org website. So, yes it's used to treat RLS. Yes it's an anticonvulsant. As to it's efficacy - I've only taken it a short time and haven't been thrilled with the results but I think my rls is kind of severe, as in I feel it all day and experience pain with it. Good luck with your treatment

Hoss · Post by **Hoss** » Tue Oct 17, 2006 5:02 am

My neurologist put me on Lyrica about a month ago to treat my RLS and PLMD. I have noticed that some things are beginning to get blurry (like my computer monitor). I also am very light headed and unsteady on the feet in the late evening and early morning following taking the meds at about 9pm each night. Anyone else have this problem?

rfishburn · Post by **rfishburn** » Tue Oct 17, 2006 1:57 pm

The blurry vision is commom and so is being clumsy, I sprained my foot pretty bad going to the bathroom. Have any weight gain as of yet?

BeanieLee · Post by **BeanieLee** » Tue Oct 17, 2006 3:16 pm

Hoss, what's your total daily dose? I started at 75mg twice a day and then went to 75mg once in the morning, once in the afternoon and then (2)75mg pills at bed time. Increasing my dose gradually like that helped with the unsteadiness and spacey headed feeling. I got used to it pretty quickly. Now I'll be ok but if I miss a dose I'll be pretty spaced out when I take one. Maybe you're taking too much too quickly. When do you go to bed? You may want to take your bedtime dose a little earlier if you can, that would help with the lightheadedness and unsteadiness in the morning. If you have lower strength pills you can space them out throughout the day to get your required daily dose, that may help you get used to the side effects and may be easier on your system. Good luck!

FidgetBoy · Post by **FidgetBoy** » Tue Oct 17, 2006 11:48 pm

wow, Beanie, you could be a pharmacist.... I couldn't of said it better myself!

steve · Post by **steve** » Wed Nov 08, 2006 2:07 am

I took it to replace gabapentin/neurontin which gave me pain in my quad's. it helps with sleep but due to my special sensitivity I get quad pain with it but less than with the gabapentin

I take 50mg prn

BeanieLee · Post by **BeanieLee** » Wed Nov 08, 2006 2:18 pm

I've been having strange experiences with Lyrica lately. My doctor ran out of 75mg pills so he gave me some 50mg pills. When I take the 75mg pills I get spacey and it's a little hard to get up in the morning but that's it. When I take the 50mg pills I seem to have horrible nightmares, it's not nearly as effective and it's impossible to get out of bed in the morning if I take one before bed. I can't imagine what the difference in the pills would be besides the dosage, and if anything you'd think the higher dose would have stronger effects. Maybe there's something else contributing to that stuff but I haven't changed anything else. It's strange and it's not effective on my legs really at all anymore while I'm awake, I just sleep longer. I had the most disturbing nightmare of my life shortly after taking a dose. If I didn't have dilaudid I'd be more miserable than ever.

cornelia · Post by **cornelia** » Thu Nov 09, 2006 10:03 am

BL, it is probably the fact hat you changed the dosis from 75 to 50mg, some sort of withdrawal, don't you think?

Corrie

BeanieLee · Post by **BeanieLee** » Thu Nov 09, 2006 2:25 pm

Good point Corrie, except that I don't take just 50mg or 75mg a day. I take that much in each dose. I take the pills 2-3 times a day though. So my body is being fed the Lyrica throughout the day and the overall dose probably isn't that much lower. If I went from 200mg to 50 or something I would assume that my body is just freaking out from less drug. I'm not sure that's the case since the difference is minimal. At any rate, the Lyrica is not very effective on the symptoms anymore and the Dilaudid or Hydrocodone are the only things that keep working. I'm considering trying Requip or Mirapex but I hear so many horror stories and lord knows what the long term effects of these drugs are for non-parkinsons patients. I need to call Ann's doctor soon and get in for a visit.

Post by **ViewsAskew** » Thu Nov 09, 2006 4:40 pm

Yeah, but remember that those of us here have skewed results! We are not the average, by a long shot. So, the DAs may work for you. Josh, I think, one time made a point that it seemed that those who take narcotics often "seem" to not have good luck with the DAs. There could be two reasons (or many more I haven't thought of). One could be that the narcotics change receptors, so the DAs can't work as effectively, or it could just be that some of us get better results from DAs and some from narcotics. It could also be nothing!

But, my point is that I'd try it. What's the worst that can happen? They don't work? Some people take them successfully for years with NO problems.

Walking After Midnight · Mon Dec 18, 2006 6:26 am

Hos....I just saw your post about Blurry vision and unsteady on your feet due to Lyrica.

I have the same problem and I looked it up a while ago on WebMD and it's a pretty common side effect...both of them.

My vision started going at the age of 45...two years ago...anyway. But this Lyrica is making my vision much much more blurry. Noticable. Even when i was only taking 150 mg. a day.
As far as unsteady...oh boy. I had to really watch it when I first started taking it. Especially on my motorcycle. I stopped at a stop light once, took my sunglasses off and wiped my eyes/forehead, with my eyes closed and came very close to falling off my bike.

I'll tell you something though. I just started taking 300 mgs a day, and I notice a huge difference in my RLS...it's much better for some reason. I started taking it for foot pain, not RLS, but a couple days now I haven't even needed my second Hydrocodone for the day. I've been quite comfortable at times. We'll see what happens, but I like it. I don't really have severe RLS most of the time, but I do have quite a bit of pain at times WITH my RLS. My legs stiffen up so they're hard to move and my feet hurt so bad at times I can't stand on them. It's really cut down my ability to work Overtime at the steel mill.

So far, this dosage of Lyrica is working really well.

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