Lyrica

[sleeplessnights]

Hi everyone
My question is..anyone taking lyrica. I started a few days ago. How long before i should feel rellief... Its making me a bit dizzy and sleepy but i guess my body will get use to the medication..
Is it a good med? Worried about side effect

[plmokn]

I have been Lyrica for about three years now. I weaned onto it January through February 2008. It took about a month for it to truly start helping but it helped tremendously!!!!!!!!! I went from a constant 5-6 pain level to more like a 3. Upon addition of some other medications I usually have almost no pain, except for the occasional flares that happen due to stress, food, allergy season etc...

I was on 150 mg for about 2.5 years with celebrex but I was having a lot of breakthrough pain all the time so I upped my dosage to 300 mg. At 150 mg I got a little fatigued at first and I did gain about 10 lbs but it evened out eventually and for me painlessness is totally worth 10 lbs. At 300 mg though I was tired all the time and I gained a lot more weight. In addition I experienced hand and feet swelling. But in spite of all that I was still better off than I had been because fall 2009 was absolutely miserable while fall 2010 was drowsy but fine.

Now that allergy season is over I have down to 200 mg for the past two months. I am, however, just now starting to have a lot of pain again and am debating about going back up. I guess it comes down to what you can tolerate better, pain or the side effects.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

[ginaaa22]

I see you go to school in ohio? Anywhere close to toledo? That is where I live.. Where do you go to the dr at? Anyones to recomend? Did u develope dependancy on lyrica? How expensive is it compared to neurotin? Did you try neurotin first?

[plmokn]

I go to school just east of columbus. I am from Michigan though and I see a urologist at University of Michigan, Dr. Oldendorf, who I love. I guess you could say that I am dependent on Lyrica to make my pain bearable and manageable, and at this point I have no intention of going off of it. I would ask your doctor if you have questions about dependency.

I can, however, say that Lyrica is VERY expensive. My insurance will not cover it because it is so new and I have not tried Neurotin first. I decided not to because my doctor did not recommend it. She felt that the Neurotin was not as powerful in treating patients with IC and she had seen more improvement with Lyrica in her patients. In addition, Neurotin she told me has more prevalent side effects. Because my parents still support me and I am on their insurance, we are able to pay the medication bills with the flex dollars on their plan.

These are just my personal experiences with Lyrica and I would talk to your doctor about all of these issues.

[ginaaa22]

I see dr oldendorf too!!!! That is crazy! I just started seeing her this year and she is wonderful. She is one of the best dr I have seen... How long have u been seeing her for? I just had a cystoscopy w/ hydro in feb with her...started PT and she changed all my meds.. She wants me to take lyrica but I'm scared I will get dependant on it

[plmokn]

Wow small world I have been seeing here since Jan 2008 so a little longer than 3 years. I am honestly not sure about the dependancy thing, I have never thought about it. I do not want to live my life in the type of pain I was in without the medicine so to me the risks are worth it and since I take the medicine because I need it for treatment I do not worry about dependency. But again I would talk with Dr. O about your concerns.

I have a prescription for vicodin for break through pain and I am always so nervous about taking it for fear of the same type of dependency thing. But after talking with Dr. O and with the pharmist, who both told me it was better to take a vicodin than the amount of tylenol and advil I was taking for break through pain I felt much better. I think if you voice your concerns she will take them seriously and help you come to a decision.

[ginaaa22]

Yes it is a very small world. I'm still not sure about the lyrica, although I've been taking neurotin for 3 years with no help and I was on the maximum dose a day. Lyrica might be my only other option and it is approved for the treatment of fibromyalgia, and I have that too. What are you going to school for? I graduate in 4 semesters as a RN then I'm going to graduate school to be a nurse practitioner in uro-gyn so I can help people like me who have IC, vulvodynia and lots of other things. I pray my disease never debilitates me enough that I can't work.

[plmokn]

I graduate at the end of this semester. I am pre-med and still waiting to hear from a couple medical schools on whether I get in or not. I am also a history major.

As for Lyrica it really saved my life and made a huge a difference. I still get flares and sometimes its better or worse than at others but if you can afford it or your insurance will cover it because you went on neurotin first I would definitely give it a shot. To me, it can't really hurt if you are already in pain all the time and your current medication is not working.

[madi]

Hello Hope this helps
Lyrica (pre gablin) is an increasing medication..you would have to increase with the help of your doctor before it really starts to work...remember to find your suitable amount..What strenght are you on and for how long so far?
It is a drug mainly used for nerve pain actually blocking messages of pain getting to the brain (clever stuff) it is a bummer to come off ot and must be done slowly... oh and a downer on it is it puts weight on ..seriously, so what is more important? I'll leave that with you.
best wishes Madi

[leelee88]

I have been on Lyrica for 2 years and am on NO other IC meds..I am on a very low dose and that does the trick. It also has helped with my PFD, and Vulvodynia..If you find a dose that works then you do not have to titrate up..

[SoCalJen]

Good luck

I don't mean to hijack your thread, but I just started Lyrica last Monday. I'm at 150 mg/day and scheduled to bump up to 300 mg/day this coming week. I just wanted to wish you luck with the drug. It's still early for me and so far, the sensation is still constant. Ugh. So frustrating. But, I've resolved to stick this out for a month. I am so INCREDIBLY FREAKED OUT about the weight gain side effect. I work really hard to stay fit (stopped running b/c of "I stupid C" but still walking every day). Seems like a lot of posters say the weight gain is inescapable. I wonder if that's because of the drug itself and NOT due to increased food intake or because the drug causes hunger that leads to more food intake which leads to weight gain. I guess I'll find out. Really struggling right now. Hope the Lyrica works for you!

[Jereme]

i was on lyrica for about a while. at first i thought it helped but looking back over my journal i concluded it was not as helpful as i thought. i stopped it due to too much weight gain. i was literally always starving. i hated that.