Anyone tried Lyrica?

[lizbestill]

Hi guys! I just got back from the dr. office and she decided to take me off the Mirapex, which had lost effectiveness anyway, she gave me some samples of Lyrica. Has anyone tried that? I am supposed to cut my mirapex doseage in half to come off of it and then start the Lyrica and she also gave me samples of Rozerem to help with sleep since Ambien doesn't work. I'm kind of nervous about tonight!! She also said I would need to go back to my primary for iron iv's. Elizabeth

[SquirmingSusan]

Liz, do a search of the forum - there has been a lot of discussion about Lyrica. A lot of us have tried it at one point or another. There are a few people in the forum who are still taking it, and it helps them.

Lyrica is an anticonvulsant, similar to Neurontin. I take Neurontin at bedtime for PLMs, and it helps me sleep. When I tried Lyrica, I felt seriously stoned. And I have no idea if it's supposed to help with periodic limb movements.

As for Rozerem, I don't people have had much luck with it, but you could be the one it works for. Charlene has mentioned recently that she was trying Rozerem. It's a melatonin agonist; the others like Ambien work on the benzodiazepine receptors. When I tried it it made me very sleepy, but I still couldn't sleep. But it's supposed to get more effective after about a week of taking it every night.

Good luck with it all. I hope you get some sleep![/list]

[Rachel]

Liz,

I read somewhere recently that Lyrica was being used for Periodic Limb Movements successfully, BUT its side effect of sleepiness is very strong. Do you work? Could you try it for a few days or on the weekends?

Good luck,
Rachel

[Neco]

I started taking Lyrica recently.. It is important not to overdo it, or you will end up sleeping into and maybe through the next day. Once I got used to it, I could take around 150mg or so.

Although I noticed a few days later that my RLS was coming back. I didn't have time to try upping the dose as I had to work over the next few days and didn't want to end up messed up.

I think it has short term potential, when rotated back and forth with another drug every few days

[jumpy]

I've waited a couple of weeks before I said anything..My dr upped my dose of Lyrica from 75 mg 2Xs a day to 150 2Xs a day. I am slowly getting used to the sleepy high. And as long as I stay busy, I don't notice it..maybe you body gets over it?? But the good news is the leg pain is going away. Sooo, either I have a neuropathy (like my dr has been telling me) or Lyrica works for the pain of RLS. I retract my earlier statement about Lyrica not working..Let's see how long it works and lets h ope I don't drive my car into a tree...Oh and I do still need the Requip for the jumpies...Pat

[coaster]

I was prescribed Lyrica for my fibromyalgia and after taking it for a while I discovered it was also quite effective at dampening my RLS symptoms. I was able to cut my dosage of Mirapex in half. Unfortunately, the dosage level of Lyrica needed to produce even a modestly helpful effect on my FMS symptoms also caused extreme sleepiness any time I wasn't being physically active, for example, sitting at the computer or sitting down to read or watch television I often "zoned out." So I had to discontinue Lyrica, and re-up the Mirapex. I'm really PO'ed about the sleepiness, because here's a medication that helps me with two different syndromes at the same time!!

[Pairodocs]

I've just been put on Neurontin for PHN, but am hoping it will help the RLS. at 300 mg I'm having side effects of mild headaches when I wake up that last until late afternoon. Is this a normal side effect?

Background: I'm on 2 mg Requip for RLS for 18 months and am augmenting badly. But my primary care doesn't want to take me off it, gave my 7.5 hydrocodone to take care of the afternoon jumps. Problem is they are now occassionally starting at 11 am.
I also have hand pain and numbness, but the original CT test by my OS was negative, so I was sent to a neurologist. I had a cervical MRI last Friday, if that is neg, then the CT test will be run again.

At the same time I have shingles PHN, and the neuro switched my low dose noratryptiline to Neurotin. He gave me 600 mg, said try half a pill at first, go to full dose if I needed to. The 300 didn't quite relieve all the symptoms, so I went to the 600. It does seem to be relieving the PHN and some of the hand pain.

I was excited to get the Neurontin, thought perhaps it would work for the rls augmentation (my primary wasn't thrilled to hear of the change, apparently hasn't had good luck with Neurontin). What dosage will do that? But these headaches are affecting my concentration at work. I'm also on celebrex so can't take NASAIDs to relieve it. Any suggestions?

[Neco]

If your hydrocodone is controlling your symptoms you may want to try removing the Requip from your regime for a day or two and see what happens.. If it clears up maybe you can ask about eliminating the Requip again and maintaining with the Hydrocodone instead.

[Sojourner]

Pairodocs, Not sure if I posted this reply to you previously or not but... with regards to headaches. When beginning my neurontin I developed an almost sinus like headache. This responded well to a claritin and a couple of ibuprofin. Took about 3 weeks or so and the headaches diminished and I typically do not have them anymore. When I do, I think they really are sinus headaches. Best of luck.

[Sojourner]

Is the sleep people get with Lyrica a good restorative sleep?

[lizbestill]

Mark, the Lyrica didn't work for me at all. Then she put me on amitryptilene,(not sure about the spelling) anyway, it put me in the ER with a terrible muscle reaction. It felt like every muscle in my body was about 2 inches long! Needless to say, I put that in my little brown bag labeled "Medicines I Refuse to Take". After all that, I finally got an iron infusion and have no longer needed any medication other than my blood pressure medicine. I have taken medications for RLS for over 7 years, it makes me angry that the iron was all my body needed.

[ViewsAskew]

Liz - valuable reminder. EVERYONE who comes here should have an iron test and try iron first. You may need drugs for awhile until the iron increases, but up to 60% of people will have some of complete reduction of symptoms. 60%!!!!!!!! Of course, that's 40% with no help, but, it's better than 50/50 and no drugs are involved.

[SquirmingSusan]

Liz, that drug reaction sounds horrible! But I'm so happy that you have responded to iron so well, even if it did take 7 years for the doctors to think of that.

Yet another reminder of the importance of educating ourselves about this condition, and advocating for the treatment we need.

[Pairodocs]

Mark,
Thanks for the headsup. That's exactly what's been happening. I was about to call for an environmental audit of my cubicle. There may be conflicting factors, but the sinus headache builds up when I'm in it and after about 15 min-30 min away, it starts to ease up. My sinuses drain on the way home.

I had to back off to 300 mg for the gabapentin from the 600 mg because of the general headache, so now that I know they can go away, maybe I can go back to the 600 in a while. The 300 does nothing for the RLS, and little for the hand pain.

The jumps have come on at 10:30-11 am the last 3 days and I called my primary today and said I HAD to have a drug holiday from Requip. His nurse misunderstood and left a message saying "fine, don't take it". Was she kidding!!!!! I had to call back and say I meant I wanted to change to something else and they finally agreed to Mirapex. I hope that works for a while anyway. It sounds like some on the list have been able to switch from one DA to another and then go back to the original later with some relief from the augmentation. If this doesn't work I'm going to have to find a specialist because I don't think he gets "it" for a severe case. My big worry for Mirapex is the weight gain, I've worked too hard to loose the few measy pounds I have.

[ViewsAskew]

Pairodocs, not sure that a change to Mirapex will work WHILE you are having augmentation. It might, but it doesn't for some of us. So, just be cautious - hopeful, but cautious. Nothing worse, to me, than to have your heart set on something working only to find out it doesn't

I was in your shoes a few years ago. Switching from Mirapex to Requip didn't help AT ALL. Switching from Mirapex to Neurontin didn't work. Switching from Mirapex to Sinemet didn't work. I had to get off of all DAs first, then reassess. You may be in a similar place. The only way to know is to try.

I hope it works. It should, however, work immediately. If your RLS is not improved right away, then call them right back. You can switch from Requip directly to Mirapex - no need to slowly increase your dose. That said, you need a lot less of Mirapex. If you are taking 1 mg of Requip, you only should need .33 mg or so of Mirapex (about 3:1).