Lyrica dosage

[SquirmingSusan]

Sometime Lyrica works with RLS, but I haven't heard of many people who take it successfully for this, at least on its own. I tried it but 25 mg. knocked me out for days. And sometimes it takes huge doses for it to work - I heard of one gal not getting relief from her RLS until she got up to something like 650mg a day. That was on another forum.

There has been a fair amount of discussion about Lyrica, and its older counterpart Neurontin, in this forum. It seems like a lot of us use one or the other as an add-on to our main treatment. I take Neurontin because it helps me sleep, but in addition to my other meds.

[bharrod]

Okay, I used to take Neurontin and it worked for a while, but I kept having to up my doses constantly (like Vicadin) in order for it to work, and finally my dose got so high, and it still wouldn't work and it was causing me to be so drowsy the next day that I quit the Neurontin, is Lyrica the same type of drug as Neurontin?

thanks
Mia

Sometime Lyrica works with RLS, but I haven't heard of many people who take it successfully for this, at least on its own. I tried it but 25 mg. knocked me out for days. And sometimes it takes huge doses for it to work - I heard of one gal not getting relief from her RLS until she got up to something like 650mg a day. That was on another forum.

There has been a fair amount of discussion about Lyrica, and its older counterpart Neurontin, in this forum. It seems like a lot of us use one or the other as an add-on to our main treatment. I take Neurontin because it helps me sleep, but in addition to my other meds.

[ed2008]

[quote="bharrod"]is Lyrica the same type of drug as Neurontin?

thanks
Mia
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
mia

yes, pregabalin (Lyrica) seems to work the same way as gabapentin (Neurontin). sometimes the "pre" prefix in a name implies the drug is metabolized to it's root name.



Mechanism of Action
LYRICA (pregabalin) binds with high affinity to the alpha2-delta site (an auxiliary subunit of voltage-gated calcium channels) in central nervous system tissues. Although the mechanism of action of pregabalin is unknown, results with genetically modified mice and with compounds structurally related to pregabalin (such as gabapentin) suggest that binding to the alpha2-delta subunit may be involved in pregabalin's antinociceptive and antiseizure effects in animal models.


HTH

Ed

[zombie76]

I'm now a few weeks into the combo of Lyrica 150mg 2x and Hydro/APAP 7.5-325 and I don't think it is making a difference. The Lyrica doesn't seem to alleviate the leg pain and even with the Hydro I don't seem to be sleeping any better or waking up refreshed.

Not sure where to go from here.

I will mention that my insurance wouldn't cover Lyrica and it ran about $200 for a 60 day supply.

[ViewsAskew]

zombie, I have no idea if this is true or if there are any studies to validate this, but the following is simply based on what I and several other here experienced after augmentation.

I think it may depend on the severity of the augmentation. It may depend on the person. It may depend on the person's brain chemistry.

BUT, some of us, post-augmentation, have needed much stronger medication that per-augmentation. I heard Dr B say that people should have "persistent" worsening of symptoms after augmentation, but several of us have. It may not be clinically recognized, but, I live it every day. So.

For me, pre-augmentation, something like hydrocodone would have worked. Not after. Not a chance. Only the 'big gun' opioids made a dent in the RLS. In fact, it seems that no medications help on their own except the stronger opioids.

Again, this is just me (and a few others) and my experience. What I had to do what just keep trying them. I tried Neurontin and Lyrica. I tried three benzos. I'd already tried three dopaminergics and that's what worsened it, so there was no going back to those. I tried some of these in combination together. Nothing worked.

Then we tried the mildest opioid. Nothing. Then the next one. I was allergic. That's when the doctor agreed that we had to try a strong opioid. It worked. Thankfully. By this time, the doctor HAD to agree that this was the only option. Of course, I was miserable and had a pharmacy in my bathroom, but I never had to worry again that anyone would question what I was taking and if it was needed.

Sorry to be long-winded. Again, just keep in mind that this is not everyone's experience. But, it just might be yours and this info may offer some insight. Then again, it may not, so, as my signature says, take what you need and leave the rest.