Pregabalin for neuropathic pain: balancing benefits and harms

In this blog, Sarah Chapman looks at the latest Cochrane evidence on the benefits and harms of pregabalin for neuropathic pain and reflects on her husband’s experience of finding a balance between them.

Page updated 21 December 2022

Take-home points

Pregabalin is an anti-epileptic drug that can be effective for relief of neuropathic pain but the potential benefits and harms need to be weighed up. Cochrane evidence shows that pregabalin at daily oral doses of 300mg to 600mg probably gives good levels of pain relief for some people with postherpetic neuralgia and painful diabetic neuropathy. Evidence for other types of neuropathic pain is very limited. There is reliable evidence that serious side effects were rare and not different between those taking pregabalin and those taking placebo tablets. Less serious side effects were common, particularly dizziness and sleepiness.   What matters to each of us differs and this can be crucial in decisions about treatments.

I suspect that people who live with chronic health conditions know a lot about balance. About the trade-offs that need to be considered when it comes to activities, perhaps; about adjustments made to diet, rest or medication to keep things level, or at least within the realms of what feels acceptable. Adding a new treatment threatens that balance. There is the hope it will bring benefits, but it might cause unwelcome side-effects. Here’s a new thing to juggle.

I’ve seen this up close over the past year, as my husband Tim has been living with neuropathic pain. Neuropathic pain comes from nerve damage, from a variety of causes and sometimes an unknown cause. It may not respond well to what we think of as ‘painkillers’ and other types of drugs may be tried. When Tim found no relief with various painkillers, his GP suggested pregabalin, an anti-epileptic drug that can be effective for relief of neuropathic pain. Can be. It’s also associated with side-effects, especially dizziness and sleepiness, and Tim has had rather too much experience of dizziness as a result of another condition. Yet he was willing to chance it. “At this point, I was awake for much of the night in intense pain, too tired to stand up and in too much pain to lie down. I was in a very difficult place. I was prepared to take anything that was offered, and I’d heard good things about pregabalin from health professional colleagues. I was warned by my GP about side-effects but I’d have taken bigger risks to get rid of the pain.”

So began a period of juggling, trying to find the right balance. Months down the line, we were very interested to see the publication of a Cochrane Review Pregabalin for neuropathic pain in adults (January 2019). What information would this offer for others making decisions about taking it?

New Cochrane evidence on pregabalin

The review includes 45 studies (lasting two to 16 weeks) with almost 12000 adults. Most people had postherpetic neuralgia (pain after shingles), diabetic neuropathy or mixed neuropathic pain and the review looks at the evidence for people grouped by condition and also altogether. Oral pregabalin at daily doses of 150mg, 300mg and 600mg were compared with placebo.

Pain reduction for some

The bottom line of the review is that oral pregabalin is probably helpful for some people with chronic neuropathic pain, but it isn’t possible to know who will benefit and who won’t. At doses of 300mg and 600mg, it probably has an important effect in some people with moderate or severe neuropathic pain after shingles or due to diabetes, and it may be effective for some after trauma due to stroke or spinal cord injury. It is probably not effective for pain in people with HIV. There isn’t reliable evidence on the effects of pregabalin on other types of neuropathic pain.

How much pain reduction is worthwhile?

A very personal consideration perhaps, but pain intensity reduction of at least 50% has been identified as a useful treatment outcome by people with chronic neuropathic pain and is associated with important benefits for sleep, fatigue, depression, work and quality of life. The evidence in the review suggests that more than half of those taking pregabalin won’t get this much pain relief: around three or four people out of ten, compared with one or two taking placebo.

Possible harms

The review has high-certainty evidence about harms, so the review authors feel confident that future research is not likely to paint a very different picture, although they note that the effects of pregabalin on sexual function may not be well represented in the trials and nor was the issue of substance abuse with pregabalin addressed.

Serious side effects were rare and were not different between those taking pregabalin and those taking placebo tablets. However, less serious adverse events were common, particularly dizziness and sleepiness. Out of ten people taking pregabalin, six or seven will experience one or more adverse event, though so will five or six out of ten people taking placebo.

Taking all the neuropathic pain conditions together, the results show a minimal increase in the rate of adverse events at a daily dose of 600mg compared with 300mg, while in general the 150mg dose did not produce an excess of adverse events, except sleepiness in people with neuropathic pain following shingles.

The challenges for future research include providing information about who is likely to benefit and how the drug can be titrated to minimize adverse events.

Benefits and harms: a personal balancing act

 Tim increased his pregabalin dose slowly, as advised, but it took some experimentation to get the dose ‘right’ for him. “At 200mg it got rid of the pain and allowed me to sleep at night, but I was falling asleep all the time during the day. Going down to 100mg I had pain in the night again. Settling at 150mg a day it’s debatable whether I’ve got the best or the worst of both worlds – I’m still sleepy during the day but I’m not too sleepy to work, and I still have some pain but it’s manageable.”

But that’s not all. Tim explains: “I’m enjoying the trippy dreams and I’m feeling more relaxed than I’ve felt in my life – which is really great! These side effects are benefits for me! What’s less good is that I sometimes lose bits of time; I can find it hard to remember what I did earlier in the day or the day before. Yet I am also thinking more clearly; when I’m working, being more relaxed seems to mean that my recall of systems and activities is sharper. How much is down to the pregabalin I don’t know – but don’t take it away!”

A complex reality

Of course, it’s complicated. Neuropathic pain is only one facet of Tim’s health profile and pregabalin one treatment among several. As he acknowledged, it’s not certain that everything he describes is down to the pregabalin. There’s guesswork, trial and error, in the mix, even with this new evidence providing more information than was previously available.

What matters to each of us differs and that could be crucial in decisions about treatments. A side effect that is intolerable to me might not bother you. It’s complicated. Once recommendations and decisions about a treatment have been made, hopefully informed by the best available evidence, collecting a drug from the pharmacy may be just the beginning of a long and complex relationship, as we discover what it does for and to us, and how it fits (or doesn’t) in the day-to-day business of managing our health.

You can read more and find lots of useful resources in the blog Making health decisions: things that can help.

Join in the conversation on Twitter with @SarahChapman30 @CochraneUK @CochranePaPaS or leave a comment on the blog.

Please note, we cannot give specific medical advice and do not publish comments that link to individual pages requesting donations or to commercial sites, or appear to endorse commercial products. We welcome diverse views and encourage discussion but we ask that comments are respectful and reserve the right to not publish any we consider offensive. Cochrane UK does not fact check – or endorse – readers’ comments, including any treatments mentioned.

Reference: Derry  S, Bell  RF, Straube  S, Wiffen  PJ, Aldington  D, Moore  RA. Pregabalin for neuropathic pain in adults. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2019, Issue 1. Art. No.: CD007076. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD007076.pub3.

Sarah Chapman has nothing to disclose.



Pregabalin for neuropathic pain: balancing benefits and harms by Sarah Chapman

is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

105 Comments on this post

  1. nice info……

    Chitaranjan das / Reply
  2. Ben 12 yıldır depresyon ve anksiyete teşhisiyle ilaç tedavisi görüyorum.üç kez hastane yatışım oldu.ekt tedaviler denendi.bir çok ilaç kullandım bir çok profesörün hastası oldum.bir türlü iyileşemedim en son pregabalini deneyelim dedi doktorum.ve ben artık çok rahat ve sakin hissediyorum.
    Pregabalin farklı ,değerli bir ilaç

    Yunus Emre Alkan / Reply
  3. Thank you for sharing your journey and being a source of inspiration to others.

  4. Hello I have nerve pain down my legs numbness etc doc put me on 25g x2 a day I feel no relief atall I’m taking more pain killers to try help the pain .. currently I hope my nxt vist on Tuesday he ups my dose to work for me it’s so painful to try to work walk or just be still
    Wishing u all love

    Catherine / Reply
    • I have neuropathic pain due to a spinal cord injury. Pregabalin at 100 mg three times a day has been a game changer.

      George / (in reply to Catherine) Reply
  5. I have been taking 150mg of Lyrica for cervical radiculopathy now for 9 months. I have several herniated discs in my neck. One is causing severe right sided foraminal stenosis at c5-6. The pain in my neck was a lvl 10 and radiated into my right shoulder at lvl 10 and down my right arm and forearm, all lvl 10 pain. Pain turned into weakness. The pain was unbearable. I could not focus on anything but the pain. Pain made me angry all the time. After taking a single 150mg Lyrica each night before bed my pain was reduced to ZERO. However, the pain has begun to return as of about a month ago, at a lvl of maybe 1 or 2. I’m going to ride it out until my next appt with the pain doc in about 3 months and probably request a small increase to see if it can eliminate the pain again. Being pain free feels so good. Chronic pain is so debilitating. It causes desperation for relief. As far as I know, I don’t have any side effects from the Lyrica at all. I will continue taking it until I have no choice. Injections and surgery are too scary for me and I feel like there is a greater risk with invasive procedures.

    Adam / Reply
    • I’ve been there. The arm pain used to make me want to amputate my arm. Find a great neurosurgeon (not orthopedic surgeon for this!!), and have it fixed. I had two levels done and my arm pain and tingling fingers were all better the next day!, before I even left the hospital! That was in 2002 and I am still pain free with no complications and no limitations to my neck movement.

      Ann / (in reply to Adam) Reply
      • I’ve been on pregaballin for years. I am also prescribed zopiclone.

        I was prescribed pregaballin to help my anxiety and sleep because I was taking too many zopiclone at the time. I have ON and TN amongst other nerver pain issues arising likely from anxiety and posture habits.

        I take 900mg of pregaballin a night and up to 30mg of zopiclone. Both well ovee the recommended doseages. I can easily come off zopiclone but trying to come off pregaballin is worse.

        Gordie / (in reply to Ann) Reply
    • I just called my pain dr I just got it filled again and I just got it filled only prescription that was filled again

      Mary / (in reply to Adam) Reply
  6. It’s the first time I have commented on anything like this, however, as I’ve got a trip to my doctors coming up which will centre around the usage and effeciveness of pregabalin on neuropathic pain, I hope I can provide some useful comments.

    First of all, I substance abused with alcohol over a number of years which has left me with liver damage. All of this time I ran a business, and still do, and am also a solid family man. The damage was done over a long period of time, exacerbated by the lock down period. I need to continue to work to maintain a healthy schedule and balance in my life, and for our income..

    I noticed whilst I was still drinking that I had severe pains in my feet. These would go away after a few drinks, problem temporarilty solved, in completely the wrong way. Eventually, I was told that I would need to stop drinking alcohol forever, which has been really good for me. I never used to go to the doctors, and they uncovered that I’d had type 2 diabetes for a very long time, and these are what the pains were caused by. If I thought they were severe beforehand, goodness me, they took my breath away, all day and all night.

    After a period of recovery of around 3 months, to get back on my feet and start doing menial tasks around the house, cooking, cleaning, parenting etc I went back to the doctor and said, look, these pains are debilitating. She put me on 75mg Pregabalin twice per day. I had one in the morning, and one in the evening before my evening meal. This was in conjunction with ongoing liver tests to make sure I could metabolise it without causing further damage, which thankfully turned out to be OK. The dosage didn’t work for me, so we went up to 150mg two per day (300 total), same timings. Liver tests were okay so we decided on that.

    Liver damage causes some horrendous symptoms, and I would urge anyone not to do it to themselves in the first place, and I don’t look for sympathy for my stupidity either. These tablets. I said to my Wife at the time, are strong. I am unfamiliar with pharmaceutical painkillers or remedies before that, apart from OTC Paracetemol or Ibuprofen. The main side effects were excessive tiredness and brain fog. I need to think quickly for work, mental maths, and I need to stay sharp. This drug was not conducive to that at first, but it got better the more I got used to it, or built up tolerances, etc The main thing was, largely, it worked to stop the worst of the pain.

    So now, eight months in. My diabetes is being monitored and I take medication along with dietary changes. My liver is stable, and I’m trying to get myself ‘right’. Pregabalin is being sold as a street drug, the information is out there. There are other names for it. It is being abused by people. Due to my history, I’m careful about things like this.

    This is what I’ve noticed… with a disclaimer that everyone is different. This drug at higher doses, and for some including an NHS professional that takes it at a lower dose, does make you sleepy. When I first started with it, my reaction times were definitely affected. These have become far less of an issue as my body has become used to it. 6 hour drive back from holiday last week, no longer a problem. So that effect reduces. I have never taken more than the doctor has said. Not by accident, or design, regardless of how much pain I am in. It’s very dangerous to do that, the information is out there, Google is your friend.

    I walked a lot for a week on holiday trying to keep up with my Wife, who is fit as a fiddle, and two kids under ten that are wild. Today. I can’t even put pressure on one of my feet at all. Moral of this paragraph, it doesn’t fix the underlying problem, it helps the pain only.

    My body has got used to the effects of the drug, so therefore, it’s only sensible to say, yes, the drowsiness has reduced, but also it seems, so has it’s effectiveness with my pains.

    I have to take the tablets at the same time every day or it causes havoc. This is at about 6.30-or 7am after my breakfast. After my morning duties, if I dare sit on that settee at 10am, my legs will rise up on to that couch, and at my worst I’e slept until 1pm. This is also because people with a dodgy liver struggle with circadian rhythm, but even so… nothing else makes me do this. If I make myself busy, it doesn’t happen though, and I’m still largely pain free all day.

    If I miss my 4.30pm timing of the second 150mg dose, the pains come back, and I experience feelings of upset for no good reason. If allowed to sleep, this then means I can’t sleep at night. By 7pm I am ok, both from the artificial emotional state and from a pain management perspective.

    As you can see from the above, the tablets have become a critical part of my day, with the pain management, along with the timings, managing the effects, working my job and parenting two challenging kids (aren’t they all?).

    So recently, I became aware of the pains coming back, and to be fair, I’ve probably overdone it in on holiday because I can barely walk. Today I’m going to see my GP, I’ve managed to get an appointment just at the right time to assess it all with them.

    Have the pains got worse underneath the mask that the drug provides? How can I find that out without stopping the drug? Stopping the drug suddenly is not recommended. The information is out there about this.

    I am absolutely not taking a higher dose under any circumstances, so what is recommended? I’m all for attacking the root causes, and looking at non-pharmaceutical remedies too.

    My ongoing concern is that I feel, whilst it has worked on my pain, there have been side effects that I’ve also had to manage. I’m also pretty convinced there are withdrawal effects too. On balance, I think yes, I should be using it if nothing else works, because the pains can be horrendous, and they can get me down. However, I’m also swayed that I think that the actual true usage of the drug had a side effect, it didn’t just treat the other conditions at the top of the list (like epilepsy), it treated neuropathic pain as well. I don’t have any of the other conditions that it purports to treat, so are these things doing me harm in other areas?

    I’ll post again when I get the chance, if anyone is interested. .
    .

    Chris / Reply
    • Hi Chris I am interested in your comment that it only hides the pain. I am back on Lyrica due to a new onset of neuropathic pain and the doctor has suggested nerve root injection for the culprit… but the Lyrica has now reduced the pain to survivable. So do I still do the injection? The nerve is still angry under there. I worry if hiding the pain means we do unintentional damage as we aren’t aware of activites that may make us worse (like your LLLLOOONGGG walk). I don’t know. So hard to get clear guidance. I kn ow you aren’t a doctor, just liked your comment.

      Kate / (in reply to Chris) Reply
      • I don’t have pain but do have neck and shoulder nerve compresión, My arms feel weak and My legs too. Can I take pregabaline and duloxetine combinación I am 80 years old and am male.

        Yolanda / (in reply to Kate) Reply
        • Hello, I’m afraid we can’t give medical advice. Do ask your doctor or pharmacist.
          Best wishes
          Sarah Chapman [Editor]

          Sarah Chapman / (in reply to Yolanda) Reply
      • I’m reading this thread with interest. I hope Time has been on your side and you’re feeling better. I am in the same position as you were 2 years ago. Taking Pregabalin to mask nerve pain to get myself moving and wondering if I’m doing more damage rather than making myself better. I’ve had spinal surgery 4 months ago but it’s not touched the nerve issues and I’m frightened there’s something else going on that they’ve missed. On the other hand nerves can take a long time to recover and I’m ‘only 4 months’ post surgery. Can you share anything from your own experiences please?

        Sally Greenwood / (in reply to Kate) Reply
    • I had a hip replacement 8 months ago for arthritis of the hip how I have nerve damage I 450 mg capsules pregabalin, now my leg swells up my hip replacement hurts have you had problems like this your self.

      Terry / (in reply to Chris) Reply
    • Hey guys, so here I am in October 2023. Thank you so much for the responses to my post. I kind of ‘cracked on’ with it, 300mg a day in 2 x servings. The pains have been so much better. Sometimes I get them if I eat a lot of sugar, which I shouldn’t really be doing anyway, but I like cake and chocolate.

      What I have noticed and the reason for doing a cursory search and finding my own post (oh yeah, I remember writing that!!!), is that my toes on both feet have steadily gone more numb. I’ve explained this to a GP and she just said ‘oh the medication must be doing it’s job then’. Who knows whether they are going to drop off, or it means that the medication is doing it?

      I’ve been on two holidays since, one of which included a five mile hike over some rough terrain – I am much better than I was. Whether this is me getting my diet under control, or the ongoing use of Pregabalin I’ll never know unless I stop the meds. Which unfortunately, I’m too busy to do a trial run on.

      I’ve probably had the best 18 month run of work in my life which has been phenomenal, and the mental and physical strength to adopt a change of career too, and parent my adopted children, both under 10, and both with autism. I don’t get tired anymore, but I wake and start work around 5am, and then at 6pm, I’m useless apart from doing homework and reading to the kids.

      It does affect memory function when I’m tired, but this has got better. Try climbing a stepladder… yes, you will get off balance. Keep the feet on terra-firma!

      Chris / (in reply to Chris) Reply
  7. I have had Seizures as a child and border Seizures as an adult. I was nit I n meds for Seizures for 35 years.

    Recently I battled breast cancer Hr2 Protein positive. My yearly EEG showed abnormalities. And my right brain mri showed abnormalities. Plus I showed neuropathy pain in my left leg.

    In addition I had retina attached on both eyes 10 years ago. Surgery on the left to repair damage. The right detached itself without damage. My left is distorted peripheral. I cannot see the center.

    After just 2 days on the med pregabalin 50mg my left is seeing clear. My right vision is now normal too. The tingling from the neuropathy had cease.

    The doctor ruled out stroke and diabetics as the cause of my neuropathy. The are doing more tests to figure what other 7 things that may be causing it.

    Such as Cancer, MS, Seizures, osteoporosis.

    Top of my list I had not been able to sleep thru the night since they stopped my epileptic meds stopped. I now sleep thru the night. My meds will be 100mg on day 7. Love it so far.

    Gail N Huggins / Reply
  8. I have neuropathy. Autonomic (heart,kidneys), motor, large and small fiber neuropathy. I do not have diabetes but have rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, dystonia, and autoimmune immogloblin deficiency.
    I am allergic to lyrica, neurotin, Cymbalta and can not take elavil due to the bradycardia and tachycardia from nerve damage. I have to say I dislike doctors that get on their high horse and try to tell me how they want to lower my pain medications. Yes I am on a high dose but it’s the only way to live with the neuropathy. I am allergic and quit breathing on morphine, fentanyl and I hallucinate on hydrocodone so I live on oxycontin and Oxycodone 15 mgs up to six pills a day and muscle relaxers for the muscle spasms and dystonia. One doctor tried to lower my dosage and it literally felt like a taser to the bottom of my foot. I just laid in bed crying.
    I pray these pain doctors that are so judgmental never have to live with this kind of pain. Since the neuropathy is in my heart and organs the doctors give me less than 9 years to live and it’s in my kidneys so I am in renal failure. The doctors need to be more understanding. I am currently under palliative pain management care.

    Sebastian / Reply
  9. Hi Babe,
    I am in a similar situation with chronic polyneuropathy which gives me intense pain. In the beginning they had me on gabapentin and hydrocodone which only lessened some pain level. Now I am on pregabalin (lyrica) and duloxetine (cymbalta) and this combination gives me more relief than the other combination. I suggest adding duloxetine to your mix. Good luck to you, I understand your pain completely.

    Marlene / Reply
    • Marlene thank you for your comment on pregabalin. I will try what you said thank you. Terry.all the best

      Terry / (in reply to Marlene) Reply
  10. I have been taking lyrica for 12 years due to 2 back surgeries. Over this time I have been titration up and down to find the correct dose to ease the pain. The lows have been 100mg/day and the highs of 300mg/day, all with the permission of my GP. I am confident that the medication has helped. During this period I have developed chemo induced peripheral neuropathy. The issue now is at night with serious discomfort in my foot. I will now increase my dose of lyrica up from !50mg at night to 200 or 250 to see if the pain subsides. I am also considering to eliminate the morning dose as I am not experiencing major problems during the day.

    Michael Kornecook / Reply
  11. I have been on Pregabalin for six months for the severe anxiety that caused me under constant stress paranoia and since I also suffer from Bipolar Affective Disorder I could hallucinate for weeks for being back at work and abused on the phones daily by service users for working for a Call Centre providing IT Services on the phone. For four years I was unaware of it all so could not even articulate what was wrong with me to Doctor for such a long time. I tried everything Antidepressants and also high dosage of Valium 15mg/Day for years. I am very surprised that Pregabalin placed an ed to Valium almost immediately and had never had to think about it ever since. I am lucky because the four year trauma could have lasted until I retired in 16 years from now. My Psychiatrist Consultant prescribed Pregabalin mid this year, 2021… Have been anxiety free for it stop the brain from releasing the chemicals that make you feel anxious. It gave my life back, I can now think and introspect although it causes some issues with recalling stuff. The twist is that I am fighting back against the abusive workplace by enforcing the Management to implement as required by Law measures to reduce the level of stress that was the source of the trauma that has been diagnosed as Complex PTSD. I tend to take 1200mg/Day so I am after advice as to the side effects for taking such high dose especially that I am now on route to take Pregabalin for the rest of my life. Many thanks and be safe. Trevor

    Trevor / Reply
  12. I was on Lyrica 75mg x 2 daily for 6 months and now my rheumy jacked it up to 150 x 2. 8 rheumies say I have UCTD and my Plantar Fasciitis have been on fire and so painful I cannot walk more than 500 yards per day for 4 years. Mayo clinic says I have small fiber peripheral neuropathy. Mayo put me on duloxitine in 2019 and when I quit it was bad. Gabapentin made me stupid. Evenings are the worst and I want to cut my feet off. Some days I am so bad I cried in my rheumy’s appointment. Now my rheumy wants me to start duloxitine with the pregablin……anyone try that combo?

    CaptainofPain / Reply
  13. I haven’t started taking Lyrica because off all the negative comments. I have epilepsy and after starting Gabapentin is when the pins and needles started in my legs and anxiety and depression through the roof. I didn’t walk steady and cried most of the day. Are there any positive reviews? Should I see a foot doctor before going on Lyrica?

    Pam Zmolik / Reply
    • Pam, I had pins and needles all the time. I felt like I had bugs crawling on me and biting me, but it was just nerve pain. I have taken Gabapentin and haven’t had much relief, but Lyrica has helped a lot. It does say that you can take it without food, but I would not recommend it while you are getting used to it. The first few days I felt kind of out of it and impaired, but that got better quickly. I still get dizzy from time to time, but that could be unrelated. I think that it might be worth you trying. I started out on 75 MG twice daily and then doubled that. I think I may need to switch to 3 times a day though, because it feels like it is wearing off within 6 hours. Everyone is different though. I would recommend just trying to notice how you feel throughout the day.

      Maddison / (in reply to Pam Zmolik) Reply
  14. I have neuropathy over 80% of my body from having a reaction to tresiba insulin. I was an oxycodone 50 mg a day for months did not help the pain towards the end. Started taking pregabling 300 a day I’m at 600 a day now which is the max I’m allowed it worked for a few weeks but the last month the pain has come back. I’ve been in pain for a year I don’t know how much more I can take. Seeing my doctor about adding something with the pregabalin to help wish me good luck. My A1C is 5.4 wish everybody who has pain that they get some relief.

    Babe turkin / Reply
  15. I was put on pre gabs a small dose to start with but I never took them as I was scared of side effects,but now because I have osteoporosis osteo athritis and fibromyalgia I have been put up to 300mg twice a day and my CPN is coming up to see me take my medication, will I be ok taking this high dose

    Ena Findlay / Reply
    • Hello Ena, I am afraid that we cannot comment or give specific medical advice. It is best that you speak with your doctor or healthcare provider about possible side effects. Wishing you all the best, Selena [Editor].

      Selena Ryan-Vig / (in reply to Ena Findlay) Reply
  16. I have been taking Lyrica for two months now and have no relief at all from chronic back pain.
    I have a permanent headache cannot sleep of a night but feel sleepy during the day.
    Feeling very ill
    Just want to stop all medication.
    But only taking 75mg twice a day.
    Have read results about lyrica and not very reasurring

    Diana / Reply
  17. I have read all these reviews and worked out that all these pains are different. I have post stroke pain, it was a small stroke and I thought I had got off quite lightly but 3 months later post stroke pain began the whole of my left side shoulder to foot, I felt at time I could howl at the moon. I had many Drs and many different pills and electric systems, so I decided none of these work so came of all including opioids’. You do need something you don’t imagine the pain and no one else can feel it. I have just started pregabalin so we will see nothing else helped. At the moment the pain does seem less after 3 days, so very early yet. I take 150 mg over the day and have 2 nights sleep so far, what a relief!! I will do another report after 3 months. I was told by a phycologist to try Pregabalin so giving it a try, I also go to a Chiropractor so not replying on the NHS. I think if your are in pain keep seeking help, no the pain wont go away, unless your lucky but life might get better. You know even paracetamol has side effect but we don’t read the enclosed leaflet so we?

    Julia Larkin / Reply
  18. My doctor prescribe pregabalin for nerve pain 25mg,lm afraid od the side effect,you think l will get those side effe t for taking this pills,

    Carmen RAMOS / Reply
    • Im afraid of the side effect of pregabali n capsule 25mg

      Carmen RAMOS / (in reply to Carmen RAMOS) Reply
      • Hello dear you will be ok . Dont be afraid go for it 25mg is s very small dose. Been on 150 to 200mg daily for years . Just sleepiness sometimes especially when I hadn’t had enough night sleep.
        You will be alright .
        All the best
        Thx

        Elizabeth / (in reply to Carmen RAMOS) Reply
    • What about withdrawals when your without the medication ?

      Kate / (in reply to Carmen RAMOS) Reply
      • I have 3 broken disc’s in my back and arthritis top to bottom. I am diabetic, with no neuropathy. My back pain is ridiculous. I started Lyrica 10 days ago. I feel worse than before. I know it can take some time for results, but feeling loopy all day with the pain still there I think I might just call it a day

        Carola Jean Valenzuela / (in reply to Kate) Reply
  19. Hello all!
    I had back surgery in November 2019 for a removal of a synovial cyst, laminectomy and L4,L5 S1 back fusion. When I was in recovery I couldn’t feel my left leg. I’ve been able to get most feeling back.i have tingling and numbness on the outside of my left calf to my toes. My left big toe throbs so much and is so painful when I walk. I can’t walk barefoot either and have almost constant pain that is somewhat relieved with the hydrocodone, CBD edibles and a heating pad.
    I’m frustrated because before surgery I was walking 3 miles a day and lost 30 pounds. Since my surgery I’ve put the weight back on because I can’t walk very far or sit or stand for very long.
    I’m on 7.5 mg hydrocodone/325 Tylenol. My doctor suggested Lyrica, 50 mg twice daily.. I’ve taken 4 doses so far and feel much better. I’m not sure if it’s because the weather is warmer or if the Lyrica is working. Yesterday I actually walked for about 40 minutes and I walk barefoot now without pain.
    Has Lyrica worked this quickly for anyone? I’m a little sleepy but I have my energy back.I’m still taking my Hydrocodone to stay on top of the pain if it comes back. I appreciate any comments. 😁

    Carmen Juarez / Reply
  20. I have been on this medication for 4 months, today is my wurst day. I have pain in my hands my feet and my back. It takes me ten minutes to get out of bed and ten minutes to get off the toilet. I just don’t have the strength to get up. I am thinking after reading all this th as t I will go off them. I am only on 75 mg. They find I GG hard to give me pain killers as I am on zoloft which clashes with a lot of pain killers. So I am also in a hard place . But hold on there must be something I ng good out there.

    Shirley Henstridge / Reply
  21. Use this technique. It has helped me over many years. I am NOT diabetic.Fill a square dish with ice and fill with enough water to leave ice blocks intact. Place each foot in the dish for 30 secs and repeat once only. As your feet do not “feel” normally this dwell time will not harm them.You will be suprised how long this natural anesthetic technique lasts.Do this just before sleeping (or at anytime)
    In addition you can do the following:
    Take a pair of ankle supports that are one size too large. Slit the heel opening wider if needed. The material sooths the nerves. Sleep in them if need be. Ankle wraps work as well but velcro wears out quickly.

    Ray / Reply
    • Ray, when my neuropathy is intolerable and medication struggles, I also sit my feet in ice water for a minute or two, which helps a lot. Most times it will work enough to help let me sleep. I think the ice actually shocks the nerves rather than just freezing them because the relief can work for a few hours. It’s a good fix sometimes and I would suggest others give it a go.

      Phill / (in reply to Ray) Reply
  22. I have been on pregabalin for over a year now for a chronic back condition which includes nerve damage. I have, with the support of my GP and Spinal Consultant, played around with the dose for many months to get the right balance. I have been as high as 300mg twice daily (when my pain was at its worst – I ended up having emergency spinal surgery to prevent catastrophic nerve damage), and since then have worked it down to as low as 75mg twice daily. It has taken a long time but I have finally got to a really good balance for me – 125mg in the morning and 150mg at night. I generally sleep through the night and although I wake in the morning in pain and a bit groggy this is manageable. During the day my pain is very manageable – I ensure that I get plenty of exercise which helps enormously. I am not as alert as I would like – I find myself a bit forgetful at times and my work performance is perhaps reduced by 10-20% (my employer is pretty supportive). I have been on this dosage for around 3 months now – I would love to reduce it a bit but, as the article correctly points out, it is a fine balancing act.

    Craig / Reply
    • Thanks for sharing your experiences here Craig. It’s good that you have been able to experiment with dosage with the support of your clinicians and have found something that feels about right for you.
      Best wishes,
      Sarah Chapman

      Sarah Chapman / (in reply to Craig) Reply
  23. Good post!

    JJ / Reply
    • In 1991 I was in a life threatening accident. My spin was crushed. I dropped from 6 foot tall to 5ft 9inces in a matter of moments. After three surgeries to my cervical spin and a lot of physical therapy and hard work I managed to start working again.
      Two years ago I began having pain down my legs, then extreme burning pain in my hips and chronic spams in my low back. I went back to physical therapy but nothing was helping. I had test after test, no heart problems, no diabetes. An MRI revealed I had spondylitis and herniated disc at L2,3 and L3,4, and L5, S1 At that time I was referred to a pain management clinic. Steroid shot did nothing the burning pain in my hip legs and feet are debilitating. Two doctors recommend Lyrica. It just made me sleepy. The second doctor wanted me to take two 75mg tablet in the afternoon and one before bedtime. I felt terrible. My mood became agitated and I was extremely grouchy.
      I stopped the medication all together. After reading this article I am going to adjust my medication to 150mg daily one in the morning and one before bedtime.
      I hope it gives me some relief. The Pain Clinic wants to do RFA to my spin and a spinal stimulator. Any thoughts on that subject?
      PS I do suffer from dyslexia so if my spelling and grammar suck, well.

      William / (in reply to JJ) Reply
      • Hi Kate, I have been on pregabalin for about 3 years, taking 300mg per day sometimes more depending on the pain, after shingles. This is a very good painkiller and works wonders for sleep. It does make me slower in terms of thinking, memory recall and spatial awareness. I make a lot of spelling errors (thankyou spell check) and struggle to find the word i want to use in a sentence when speaking. It also makes me eat the entire contents of my fridge, like it interfares with the signal which says you are full and everything seems to taste extraordinarily good.
        However, withdrawals are nasty. I have tried a number of times to go cold Turkey- big mistake. You will need to taper down. You are on a very low dose so it may not be as bad. But I have noticed by day 2, the nausea, vomiting, diahorrea, a dreadful sense of doom, anxiety, sweating a start. I feel like dying. So a tapering down system is by far best than to just stop taking it abruptly

        Libby / (in reply to William) Reply
    • Hi JJ.
      What happened with the scs? I had the nevro one. Which didn’t help me. I then had a drg put in which damaged my nerve. So please do not go near that one. Best, Lori

      Lori / (in reply to JJ) Reply
  24. I was recently prescribe Pregabain (50mg) 3x/day for a femoral nerve compression at my L3 and found immediate relief in the “electric” shooting/stabbing pain across my hip and down my leg. While it hasn’t fully removed the pain, it has made it so I can function well through-out the day and sleep “ok” at night. Pregabalin is only being used to help manage the pain until we determine the next step (Steroid Injection or surgery to open the femoral opening). I was on Hydrocodone-Acetominophen prior (prescribed by my G.P.) and it literally did nothing for my pain. Pregabalin has worked incredibly well for my nerve pain. I’ve been prescribed Pregablin by a Spinal Pain Specialist and not a General Practitioner. I’ve been fortunate enough not to have any side-effects. Prescriptions are “nasty” and vary in effectiveness. I felt it was important to write this post so people reading this could also understand that it isn’t all bad and that there are people using Pregablin well without issue.

    I am sorry the folks here are having issues and do believe that you may want to seek second opinions or see specialists if you don’t think your doctor has a full understanding of how to use the medications. My best to all of you I was in horrible constant pain for months on end trying my best every day to do basic functions with no sleep and it was the most difficult thing I’ve had to live with. Thank You.

    Serena McKnight / Reply
    • Thank you ,
      i have being in constant lower back for months Then it went right down my right leg yo ankle cronic pain , I had to give up walking , I could not walk around supermarket i was such pain , my doc give me pain tablets , did not help ,, i asked for letter for scan , i was told i did not need it was. i keep asking. him , i got refer letter had scan , OH. dear i had bulging disc and 5 nerves hitting off , like two electric wires hitting of each other ,
      Well when he seen report he changed ,,
      give me 7 days relaxers for night and prescribed. pregablin twice a day for week ,,, all good , then went to 3 times a day 50m , like you not 100% pain free ,But 100% getting there ,,Waiting on other. scan. for upper back , But for me thank god for preablin ,,
      good luck with other tests ,,
      and hope the work for other people ,

      worth a try 👍👍

  25. I had Labrynthitis around four weeks ago, plus I had been suffering from lower back pain for around seven months for which I was prescribed Tramadol. My Dr prescibed 50mg Pregabalin and the Tramadol until I can get an MRI Scan. The Labrynthitis made me dizzy , strange loss of balance and lasted for a round two weeks until I felt maybe 50% back to noral though I am still deaf in my right ear. Then he increased my Pregabalin to 75mg twice daily as I could hardly move with my back pain nd I couldn’t sleep lying on either side or on my back or front so ended up fallin asleep in the chair after taking 2 Tramadol 50mg 2 Pragabalin 75mg and one diazepam 2mg to actually fall asleep then wake up to find no extreme back pain, but my left leg from the knee down was pins and needles and I was hardly able to stand on it. The longer I stood up the worse pain the left leg gave me. The Dr has now prescribed 100mg Pregabalin to attempt kill the pain from an expected trapped lower back nerve. So for me Pregabalin is a bit ofa saviour but if it had been prescribed 100mg at first I possibly would have not suffered the way I have with y back pain yet in saying that I feel the Dr has been correct in upping the does gradually until he finds I am able to control my back pain.

    Bob / Reply
    • My husband has been taking Lyrica for some time now . He is always sleepy , sometimes dizzy . Concentration is dreadful ( I don’t feel safe as a passenger with him whilst he is driving). His memory is dreadful . I feel in some ways I’ve lost my husband and I can pin point it to the time he started taking Lyrica ( it does help the nerve pain resulting from diabetes) , but I feel it has cost him his personality and fullness of life . He is reluctant to see doctor results same as he says he doesn’t want neuropathy to return . I get that , but I’m very concerned about him

      Hilary Turkington / (in reply to Bob) Reply
      • Hi Hilary, how old is your husband? I’m experiencing a very similar situation and am at a loss of what to do. We are expecting our second child and I feel like I’ve lost my partners help.

  26. Nerve pain can be caused by different illnesses including diabetes and shingles, or an injury. It says that Pregabalin works in different ways: in epilepsy it stops seizures by reducing the abnormal electrical activity in the brain.

    Samantha Scott / Reply
    • I’m having alot of the same side effects as Tim which are good I feel more relaxed at work not stressing calm. Which is great. I’m getting more done because I’m not in pain sleep hasn’t been great not sure if that has to do with meds …..I was stated on 25mg an the first day or so then move to 50mg in morning an the 50mg at night. Im being treated for cervical stenosis. I’m 41 an trying to avoid surgery.Just started my Lyrica so we will see where it goes so far I am very pleased with results. Especially no pain like I’m use too.

      Jennifer Robinson / (in reply to Samantha Scott) Reply
      • Hi my doctor is going to percribe lyrica to me soon I’ve had a bad back surgery that left me worse now iam in alot of pain from neck to lower back worried that it may not help my nerve pain can’t sleep well anyone have any advice

    • Nerve pain can also be caused by quinolones like cipro. I wonder how many of these patients have used quinolones which may have caused the symptoms.

      Nellie / (in reply to Samantha Scott) Reply
  27. Hi I have an elderly client who has early Alzheimers and was on Lyrica for neuropathic pain post shingles. She was always an anxious person however lately with changes happening in her life and circumstances she became more and more paranoid. To the point that it appeared her dementia was getting worse fast. Recently her GP took her off this medication and I am excited to see if the trippy dream she was having and the blanks in her memory were related to the medication.

    Yvonne / Reply
  28. i have been on Lyrica for 8 years now along with hydrocodone for the pain and the Lyrica is ridiculous, it is so difficult I have been trying to taper off of it for years and it seems like this stuff has to be the most addictive drug on the planet. when you reduce you literally should not reduce by more than 50 mg change per day and do that for at least a month, if you tolerated that then do another but even then it is very common to have migrains, worse pain, nervous limbs, back ache, and all over nervousness so you may just have to suffer through that for at least a week before you start to normalize. I literally lost the first 4 years I was on it because i was taking 300mg per day and i wouldnt remember where I was , couldn’t form words i know well. I am finally down to 100 mg per day and just started this week trying to cut 50 mg per day and still have a lot of the weirdness that comes with getting off of it. i actually came here because I was wondering if the Lyrica could CAUSE neuropathic pain because I am now on a spinal cord stimulator for pain and it has changed my life but i still have this 2-4 level pain i think might be because I am still on the Lyrica. Anyway, I am so sorry for all of you out there in pain but please hold on and don’t give up! Also it is very important to find a psychologist that can help you deal with pain because the mental becomes a huge part of your life when pain is a constant. God Bless you all and I wish you the best!

    Heith Foster / Reply
    • May I ask how the scs has changed your life please? I was due to have a trial last March, but it has been postponed due to the pandemic. 25 years of medication to treat nerve pain has left me brave enough to try this procedure, but I have not heard many accounts of the treatment. Many thanks.

      Anita Little / (in reply to Heith Foster) Reply
  29. I have been on lyrica for two years now I experience confusion memory loss depression bad anxiety and dizziness and trouble sleeping at night Iv gained weight thought to be caused by too much alcohol use now cause my doctor said I have fibromyalgia and degenerative disc disease in my back with out lyrica I would not be able to function with the pain but I also don’t like the side effects or long term effects that may never go away I don’t think I will be normal again I’m very blah I’m not sure what to do at this point I feel happier with a beer but I also suffer from severe depression and ptsd so I’m just messed up in every direction in my life and my sex life sucks I have no interest my poor husband I am confused and trying now to quite drinking and dealing with that is hard too so very afraid of with draw all from both lyrica and my alcohol my husband says I’m not the same person he used to know that hurts I have horrible mental depression anxiety ptsd Iv just had enough😢😢

    Lenore / Reply
    • So sorry…that all sounds really hard. So much to contend with.
      For anyone trying to quit drinking, it’s worth thinking about whether Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) can help (and they say they are for anyone “If you seem to be having trouble with your drinking, or if your drinking has reached the point of where it worries you”) https://www.alcoholics-anonymous.org.uk/Home A Cochrane Review published earlier this year on ‘Alcoholics Anonymous and other 12-step programmes for alcohol use disorder’ has high quality evidence that AA is more effective than other established treatments, such as cognitive behavioural therapy, for increasing abstinence from alcohol. The review is here https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD012880.pub2/full

      Wishing you all the very best and better times ahead
      Sarah (blogger and Editor)

      Sarah Chapman / (in reply to Lenore) Reply
  30. Thank you Sarah for this post and individuals should not rely upon pain-killers because at some point it will stop working.

    Dr. David Greene / Reply
    • I beg to differ, if you were in pain all of the time you would too. When your life is pain it is all consuming, you cant feel, you can’t love, you just exist for unending suffering. I am so tired of the medical community and worse politicians telling people in pain not to rely on the one thing that makes life live able. Precisely because you don’t understand what its like you think that saving people from overdose is more important than giving them relief from pain and that is an absolutely and completely false narrative put out by people that don’t care to know the truth. I am sorry to slam you but I have born the brunt of this political lie in my life trying to get medication that for me is saving my life. The truth that you and most politicians don’t care to know is that we who have unending pain welcome death from overdose. Maybe not every day but i have been there where you take just a little more than you are supposed to and maybe have a few drinks as well because even though you don’t necessarily want to die you welcome the peace from pain it would bring. if some day it stops working we dont care because we need to live in this moment of pain. If someday it kills us from liver failure or some other far off and distant fear normals might think about we don’t care because we are living in an unending agony that crowds out all thought except to make it stop. Why not instead of screwing with our ability to get pain meds you come up with some way for us to get free from the insanity that is pain. By the way i am not picking on you specifically but I have paid hundreds of well meaning idiots (doctors) that sit in their comfort and tell me what i ought to want and I will not listen to it anymore. If you are out there and in pain, dump your doctor if they don’t have a remedy other than to tell you what not to do.

      Chronic Neuropathic pain >8 years / (in reply to Dr. David Greene) Reply
      • You are absolutely right on every level. I’m 33 and have been on 1200mg per day for the past 11 years, upped from 600mg because it just wasn’t “cutting it”. I have peripheral neuropathy due to very poorly controlled diabetes as an older teen. I now twitch, have shocking short term memory loss, have gained 50kg in 4 years from always feeling hungry and tonight, I’m 900mg into an episode of burning hands and feet, without relief. It is an horrendous drug, to which there is no warning of the real long term side effects. You only discover them when it’s too effing late and can’t undo the years of damage its done, without causing yourself more emotional pain. I too, am done with the pain I go through constantly, both physical and mental, when every doctor gets all judgy and makes you feel like an addict. I start each morning with 17 tablets for neuropathy, arthritis, diabetes, digestion, cholesterol, reflux, osteoporosis, a damaged shoulder and fibromyalgia and have been told that a lot of it is to do with damaged internal organs, as a result of the drug designed to improve it all. Most days, my memory is so bad, I forget conversations which occurred only a few hours prior. I’m ALWAYS tired and moody, my sex drive is non-existent, I’m anxious as all hell and I can’t reduce the dose without being in unimaginable pain. If you can avoid Lyrica, please do!!

        Sally Cantarella / (in reply to Chronic Neuropathic pain >8 years) Reply
      • Well said Dr Greene

    • Thank you for telling the patients side. This persons statement on pain is spot-on. I am a 56 yr male and at 15 was told i had an ‘old mans back’. I’ve had to lie to just about every Dr. I’ve seen. I even had one tell me i had to take the knock-off T3’s to lower the ‘street value’. I EAT THEM……Why is it that a DR. takes what i say with a grain of salt and decides their treatment instead of ‘mine’ ? Pain in some people is a debilitating fact of life.

      Gord Rasmussen / (in reply to Dr. David Greene) Reply
      • Good day. I am experiencing burning sensation in body and hand and feet. My body aches. What can I take. Been to alot of doctor’s. No one seems to no the cure.

        Siven. Munsami / (in reply to Gord Rasmussen) Reply
        • I’m sorry but we can’t give clinical advice. I hope you can get some help from your doctor.
          Best wishes,
          Sarah Chapman (Editor)

          Sarah Chapman / (in reply to Siven. Munsami) Reply
    • How did you think such a comment would be received on here? What is your alternative, please doctor because I’ve yet to meet a level-headed individual, who likes taking pain medication. I’ve also yet to meet a doctor, genuinely prepared to take the time to assist, well after the 10 minutes spent in their office.

      Sally Cantarella / (in reply to Dr. David Greene) Reply
    • Please Dr Greene could you tell me why my Gp as stopped my lyrica prescription and put me on the cheaper pregabalin one, I was controlling the back and leg pain for three years with the lyrica, but since the change over two month ago I have been in complete agony. I have begged my gp to move me back onto the lyrica but to no avail. Am I within my rights to demand they prescribed it to me. I had a MRI many year ago my gp said my pain is caused with damaged nerve ending in my back.

      Christine Tomlin / (in reply to Dr. David Greene) Reply
  31. Lyrica ruined my life. I had an undiagnosed joint problem in my hip and my GP prescribed me Lyrica. I was on a maximum dose of 75 mls for three years. I gained a dangerous amount of weight (which IMMEDIATELY started to drop when I stopped taking it. I suffered aphasia, and numbness/ tingling in my legs. I also became deficient in calcium and vitamin D and had to be hospitalised. This was nothing compared to the withdrawal. My GP insisted there would be no withdrawals and so I stopped taking it. I experienced four months of hallucinations, depersonalisation, derealisation, insomnia, restless limbs, suicidal impulses… it felt like it would never end and in many ways it didn’t. Three and a half years later I have excruciating facial pain with “unknown cause”. It started precisely as I came off Lyrica and I’d never had it before. No doctor or specialist will entertain the idea that any withdrawal could have happened. I’m now essentially disabled, I never leave the house, I have no life. Pfizer will never be held to account for using the opioid crisis to promote their drug off label while ignoring the catastrophic effects. I feel that the wording in this article is very unscientific and feels like a typical marketing piece. I’d like the author to think about the damage she is inflicting on so many people.

    L Newman / Reply
    • Additionally please join the Lyrica Survivors Facebook group for advice on how to taper off safely and not end up like me.

      L Newman / (in reply to L Newman) Reply
    • It isn’t opioid and you do have your own control over your weight.

      Reg Sealey / (in reply to L Newman) Reply
  32. I was put on pregabalin a week ago for nerve damage to foot due to a cast that was too tight, and they refused to remove.. after the runs, uncontrolled shaking, extreme temp changes, headaches blurred vision, one day my vision almost completely disappeared l stopped taking it . Telling the doctor long before all thes symptoms occurred. Then I had headaches and nausea sicknee ant to make it better now I have lumber pain which makes me feel sick and I can’t lean back only being to write this now ,some sight back but my eyes hurt even wearing glasses. The damaging cast was for a broken leg in Jan. 2020 before lockdown ,forgotten, still needs surgery.
    This medication sometimes made my foot feel alive again, but never took pain or heat away.

    Angela Scaife / Reply
  33. I have just started taking this medication and so have not had any side affects, as yet ,but wanted to be prepared for any developments.
    ,

    Margaret Forrester / Reply
  34. I’m very interested to know about the length of these studies. Lyrica often seems to help at first and then the side effects can kick in 6 months or even years later. The longer people are taking it, the worse the side effects become. It is highly addictive and absolutely the worst medication a doctor can prescribe for anxiety. For some, yes, it does help neuropathic pain in the short-term. In the long-term however it can actually increase it or cause it in people who never had it before. This is a drug that should never be used to replace opiates or other pain medications and that’s exactly what is happening with the war on opioids. instead of actually solving any problem all the doctors are doing are finding an equally addictive and frankly often more destructive medication to replace them. I have run the Lyrica survivors group for almost 10 years now and we have over 10000 members. Pfizer has blocked searches for support groups for Lyrica and their other brand-name drugs on Facebook… That should tell you something about the duplicitous nature of this company.

    In our group we try to provide alternatives to medications and this has been largely successful for many members. Rather than throwing medications at pain, it can actually be handled in many cases with holistic treatments, supplements, dietary and lifestyle changes. If people need an alternative to Lyrica or are looking for support because their withdrawals are extreme, please reach out to us for help. we hope to reach as many people and stop the suffering at this drug is causing for a thousands upon thousands of people.

    https://www.facebook.com/groups/LyricaSurvivors/

    Amy Ireland / Reply
    • This group is amazing, I really wish I’d joined it earlier to learn how to taper down safely. It helped me a lot in terms of support though :-)

      L Newman / (in reply to Amy Ireland) Reply
    • The longer I’m on pregabalin the worse my balance and vision problems seem to be getting I try to get off it but then the nerve pain comes back worse than before I started taking it

      Rita Hebden / (in reply to Amy Ireland) Reply
    • I tried the link but as you say, it’s blocked. Incredible that a big pharmaceutical company would go to such lengths. What are they worried about. Very very suspicious. To say the least. I’m hooked on this (600 mg daily) and do feel that my PN has worsened recently. How can I access your group?

      Robert Ramanis / (in reply to Amy Ireland) Reply
  35. What can I do for burning feet at night, I would love a nights sleep.

    doreen Churchman / Reply
  36. I have many symptoms from taking pregabalin, every symptom I’ve read about on this forum I’ve got or had. I am 60yrs old, female have type one diabetes. After having 2 children I had an X. ray
    for chronic back pain the result showed I had a fractured T. 6 vertebrae, the only treatment prescribed was Dihydrocodeine. Later I developed two collapsed vertebrae mid thoracic and 3 crush fractures in my lumber spine. Now after having diabetes 47yrs, with only the diagnosis of Post Pregnancy Osteoporosis for my back, rheumatoid arthritis in my hands, no cartiledge in my knees, and glorious fibromyalgia I would welcome the coronovirus. Pregabalin has beaten me for
    I have tried many times to bin it but ….it’s just too addictive.
    Just now I’m anxious, hot, and tired and need to sleep it’s the only way to cope. Laying on my back is only possible for a few minutes, and my knees hurt too much when knee to knee on my side, then my legs are so sensitive they throb constantly. If only I could get some sleep at night things could be different.
    God this is one long moan so sorry has anyone got a solution a large revolver perhaps?

    Mrs Kay Handford

    Kay Handford / Reply
  37. It’s back!! I had nerve pain a couple years ago from the neck down the left arm, went on Pregabalin to relieve pain as I could not sleep laying down (slept in my lazy boy half sitting up). Just the other day I had shooting pain in my left breast area and going to the arm pit, thought it was a heart issue and went to ER…all tests were negative and I forgot to tell them about my past experience, the doc thought it was a pulled muscle and off I went. Two nights later I cant sleep and now I need the meds for pain relief.
    My question is how does this happen? I had no injury that I could tell I hurt something.I am very active for my age (60) hockey, baseball,walking the dog and bicycle riding.I should also say the side effects a pretty bad but if it takes the pain away I will do it again!! I am still working but I am not going in to put myself through the pain this time.

    Doug / Reply
  38. I am on Lyrica for pain and finding it difficult to find the right dose with my GP. I have being on it before for referred pain and got myself off. Unfortunately l have pain again after removing appendix operation
    It like it’s started the gut on pain that goes into lower back. Doctors done CT scan but can see nothing visible. The pain is very bad and unless l take tramadol with paracetamol for it l find it unbearable. I can’t take these because they create severe constipation. I being left with no choices but Lyrica. I hope and pray they find out what causing the pain so l can come off Lyrica. I have no life with pain. Does anyone know in Ireland what l can do to find what causing this pain. I
    would be greatful for any suggestions.
    Mary’s

    Mary / Reply
  39. It made me nauseous and gave me a lovely headache.

    andre / Reply
  40. I have been on Pregabalin for about 10 years on and off. I tolerate very well and have no side affects whatsoever. I was prescribed it for generalised anxiety. I was very sceptical about taking at first as I never thought it would work. But the next day the anxiety was gone. This is how effective I find pregabalin. I know its not down to any form of placebo affect as like I stated, I never thought it would work. I now have sciatica and am in a lot of pain. My GP has increased the dose considerably, but I have never found it works reducing pain unfortunately. I have never found it addictive and am able to come off without any issues. I know of people who were prescribed it for neuropathic pain and have got addicted to it because they are using it as a “chill pill”. I have not experienced this and thankfully all it does is relieves the anxiety.

    Stuart Brown / Reply
    • Hi, I have suspected neuropathy and the doctor has prescribed me Pregabalin, I’m very sceptical and worried to take due to the side effects! A few people have mentioned they had to take such high doses for pain relief which I don’t want to take! Am I over thinking this?? I have pains and numbness in hands and feet all the time it’s awful! Few people mentioned trying alternative medicines so I have got some lipoic acid and b vitamins and hoping they may help, but I feel like these tablets are going to be my only option! All I read about is negative reviews, yours is probably the first semi positive one I’ve come across!

      Candy / (in reply to Stuart Brown) Reply
  41. I’ve been on pregabalin for 4 years now and it Is highly addictive.
    It helps me with anxiety but makes my nerves worse and I shake alot.
    I’m also aware in prisons in the UK it’s prescribed like smarties and there’s 1000s of people on it.
    I really wish I could come off it but now I’m stuck on it and can’t as I become depressed, anxious and can’t leave the house unless I take it.
    Stay well away from it if your offered it and look for an alternative as once your on it, it’s extremely hard to come off.
    I’ve heard herion addicts say it’s worse coming off pregabalin than herion and the worse detox of their life’s.
    Ill say it again stay well away from it as I’m tired all day, can’t function properly and now classed as disabled as a result and got severe mental health problems

    Buster brown / Reply
  42. I have just started taking pregabalin for diabetic neuropathy and am taking 75 mg twice a day. Right now I am finding that the medication seems to increase the pain in my feet and not reduce it in any way. Hopefully this is only temporary and i manage to receive some benefit from further medicating myself.

    Bob Harvey / Reply
    • Hi bob, I was taking 75mg and found it didn’t work and made there pain worse. GP upped my does to 100mg yesterday and I Found the pain had become worse, Iv had the worst night sleep yet. The pain in my foot is unbearable!
      Keeping fingers crossed that it soon kicks in and works.

      Nikita Williams / (in reply to Bob Harvey) Reply
    • im having same trouble now with lyrica. Im torn between if its working at all or making worse I really don’t know. right now im off it 4 days trying to survive through it. did you find anything that works?

      mike / (in reply to Bob Harvey) Reply
      • Hi I have been prescribed Pregabalin for neuropathy, haven’t started taking them yet as concerned about the side effects being worse and adding to the problem, did you finally get any relief?? I’m at a loss
        Kind regards

        Candy / (in reply to mike) Reply
  43. This was an interesting article. What kills me is that doctors really do not know a thing about his medication, but prescribe it anyway. It is very well known that in reality no one knows how it works on the nervous system, or why. However, once again, as with so many things in the health field, there just isnt anything else. So we guinea pig ourselves, because lets be honest, being in pain 24/7 is not for anyone and life goes on. The thing I agree most on here is the balance between pain and feeling like nutcase. This is a very delicate balance, and it will be very different for EVERYONE. There is no perfect potion. Of course Phizer being the money grubbing self serving people that they are, made sure that the pills cant be cut, using the other pill form, but I found a way around that, just open it and put it in water if you have to cut it down. Generics have been authorized finally as well, so the 4.2 billion made is now going to have to be shared. I have found that nerves go nuts at night, for me taking this crap during the day just makes me nuts. I take one pill 75mgs in them morning and that is it. I deal with the bit of pain I have. At night however, I take 300mgs starting at 5pm, then 7pm, then around 8pm, and 10pm these are all 75mg pills, and for some odd reason, I cant handle the 100 mgs at a time. Weird I know. This cuts the pain off at night, ( most of it), and allows me to sleep. I will also say that I have experienced dry mouth, dehydration like feelings with water retention. ( honestly I have never taken longer pee’s then on this medication ever! in the morning). I have tried to keep this medication as low as possible, but what I have also found is that there is a backlash to taking it. Your nerves react to the medication by acting out against it and becoming more aggressive, therefore leaving you with having to take more medication to get them to calm down. This is just my experience. The medication wears off after 4 to 6 hours, ( one pill), and some doctors would say to take them all day long, but of course they themselves have not been on it. Unfortunately, this has been labeled a times medication, making it hard to try different dosses, and leaving pharmacists looking at you weird when you come in to get your meds, and you have changed a dose etc. Believe me if I didnt have to take this crap I wouldnt. I am not sure why they labeled it timed because the side effects are less then positive. I dont know many people who are like hey! give me some more of that drug that makes me feel nuts, dizzy, gain weight, dry mouth, and like im on acid all day, and MAYBE take away a bit of pain, but thats just me. I have found a way to make this medication work for me, but I say that loosely. It works a bit, not perfect. But hey that is all there is!!!

    Christa / Reply
  44. I was put on Pregabalin for anxiety 2 years ago by a psychiatrist, it helped initially for 3 months but then your body gets used to it and you need higher and higher doses which I couldn’t tolerate, the side effects were awful, memory loss, blurred vision, tinnititus, rapid heart beat, insomnia and depression and it made anxiety worse….I have now been tapering off it for 18 months very slowly and it’s been a nightmare – all of the above as well as bad nausea and joint pain, I’m nearly off it but there is not doubt in my mind that your body becomes dependent on it and coming off it is very difficult. My GP is now in agreement with me and will not prescibe it. In America there is even a support group of over 8000 people called Lyrica Survivors which has more evidence of people struggling to come off it, mostly people whom were given it for pain relief. I have done a lot of research into it and I know that it has a very addictive quality and it has now become a ‘street drug’. Please warn people of the side effects and withdrawal problems.

    Clare Baillieu / Reply
  45. I was on Pregabalin for a very short time and tapered off it which was hell. 7 months down the line I am suffering still from tinnitus, visual disturbance, horrendous sweating and strange feeling of being high which toward the end of the day turns to a sickening feeling. The doctor will not except the Pregabalin caused all this upset to my life but I know it was. As she refuses to believe me I am left with no help in a state of despair not knowing how much longer I can deal with this or where it is going to end it is a truly horrendous place to be and any advice on how I could move forward would be gratefully received. How can I make the doctor see the drug she gave me is infact making my life hell 7 months after I stopped taking it? I have chatted to others and we have concluded some people have a real bad time when ceasing to take this drug even if they have only taken it for a short time. I would say it is worrying but it is far more than that I would say its life threatening due to the daily despair.

    Tracy Davies / Reply
  46. I’m on this for pain in my feet it works for me.

    Sheila Godfrey / Reply
    • How much do you take for foot pain. I, too, just started Lyrica for foot pain (neuropathy). I take 75 mg twice daily. How long did it take before you had relief? I’m unable to walk because of this. Please answer.

      Millie Richardson / (in reply to Sheila Godfrey) Reply
  47. I was a GP and my main problem with pregabalin was that it was widely abused in the community and had a marked street value. In addition, once patients were taking it they had problems stopping it, mainly with anxiety. I got the impression pregabalin is addictive and I tried to use as little possible

    Christopher Johnstone / Reply
    • The thing with anxiety is that, those that suffer with it, just wish to lead a normal life, free from the fears their bodies are not able to control naturally. Most patients on pregabalin for anxiety have already likely been on various medications, ranging from beta blockers, SSRI, SNRI, benzo’s etc.
      Its a simple case of the individual weighing up the pro’s and cons of all treatments, in in that sense, pregabalin seems to offer a better pay off against the negatives of the other treatments, in that its onset is much quicker than anti depressants, and less addictive than benzo’s.
      Everyone would be taking benzo’s everyday if it were not for the horrific withdrawals and the duration of such.
      Pregabalin offers an excellent way to supplement treatment with an antidepressant while it takes effect

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