Pregabalin and side effects

mellman01

Does anyone here take Pregabalin also known as LYRICA it's made by Pfizer,I have been on it for a week and I've had all sort of side effects from it,I am constantly tired and get a short dizzy spell if I turn quick, only lasts a second or so but it's very strong, also during the afternoon I get really tired and zonked out, oh and last night I went out with the war office walking the dogs and without my torch on I lost balance and needed some visual reference.
When I'm feeling a bit odder than normal I have noticed my eyes take on that look Katey Prices has, kind of like lights are on and someones in but their out in the back garden!.

barbara12

Hi Mell
I take gabapentin, which is a similar drug, they are for epileptics, but they found that they can block pain signals, I felt really strange for a couple of weeks, dizzy and feeling slightly sick and not quite with it.
If the symptoms get to bad tell your GP, but mine did subside, trouble is my GP has just doubled my dose, so here we go again.
Good Luck with it
Barbara x

mellman01

Thanks Bab's talk about feeling sick, I'm OK now but the first day I took them I was spaced out in around 30 minutes it lasted all day and by the time I was ready to come home I had one last drink from the T machine and threw up all over the shop, when I got home I barfed twice just getting in the house, went to bed and was OK'ish later, all OK now though still feel zonked in the day time, right now I have pain but it's lower on some levels,but now as I sit here the normal deep over do it pain is coming back, to much bloody walking at work and last night talking the dogs round the village, havent done that for a few months, that will teach me. :x

skezier

Hi Mel,

I been on them a while now and don't really remember if they spaced me for very long on the 75 2x a day,..... I did climb a tree so they did space the first day but they also worked and for that I forgave them everything....

Spent a good year working through a rat of side effects with them and at the end of it still couldn't get above 200 2x a day....

Didn't mind the euphoria, hated the anxiety, wasn't too impressed with the original hallucinations but they got interesting with a singing tree and the reaction between the pregabs and the drip made for some fascinating things......

been on 300 2x a day for a good year now, bar the blip with the drip and they still work really quite well.

I have to say I was told (was never on them so can't say for sure) the gabapentin are not as strong or as effective cus the pregabs are the next generation.

I would be a lot less able without them and they don;t play with me head much now at all..... or they do .... i don't notice.

can't remember them making me sick but did have endless different side effects for quite some time. Keep at them though cus they work. Stay on the lower dose longer than the 3 weeks to top dose though cus tree swinging becomes the norm if you go too high too quick.

Oh still they don't zonk me they wire me up but I am fairly zonked naturally so its not always a bad thing less you take them late at night and then can't shut your head off enough to sleep.

Hope they will be effective for you and stay on the low dose till your well adjusted to it before going up again. Cris xx

minky67

hi mel, Ive been on them for about a yr now. I had trouble upping the dose so took it really slow. If you do feel too high then stay at the lower dose like cris says til you get used to them.
My gp gave me 50mgs as a top up but im finding 2x 200mg a day are working pretty well for me.
I didnt have any side effects really but i have put on quite a bit of weight since being on them oh & the fatigue is an issue but i get that bad due to the Fibro anyway. GP says that weightgain is normal on these plus my mobility isnt great.
I hope they work for you & hang on in there as they are good.
Remember they come in different doses so you can ask GP for 50mgs etc if you want to go up slower.
Take care, debs

barbara12

Hi Mell
Just wondering how you are going on with the meds...I hope they are helping
Barbara x

mellman01

barbara12 wrote:

Hi Mell
Just wondering how you are going on with the meds...I hope they are helping
Barbara x

Hio Barbara well I have a flare Thursday but went back into work on the Friday which is a first, they probably take around 20 to 25% of the pain away but what really isn't good are the side effects, it's not all the time but quite often, I keep getting this really odd feeling when I turn my head, it's like a quick rush of dizzyness and utter fatigue?, it's so strong it's like a pulse throught my eyes and head and my tinnitus reacts to it as well, it only last a second but it is really strong I feel like I could just flop on the floor and not bother moving!?., it was so bad today I went to bed had no other choice, it's starting to really piss me off right now.

barbara12

Hi Mel
Sorry about the side effects, like I said im on the older drug gabapentin, this has just been doubled, so my side effects are back, like you say it strange and hard to explain, I was hoping my GP would put me on pregabalin, but going off what you say.....im not so sure.
I hope you see more inprovement and less side effects soon
Its a bugger trying to get the right meds
Good Luck
Barbara x

Rictina

Yes, I'm on Pregabalin. I have been building up the strength for a few months now & I'm now on 2 x 300mg a day. I must admit that at times I can get a bit spaced out & have a feeling of being slightly drunk, but its liveable.

I have been on Gabapentin & the side effects were terrible for me. I felt so sad all the time & cried such a lot, so I went back to my GP & he changed them to Pregabalin which have been much better.

mellman01

Hi Bab's , it's been really poo today I couldn't even clean out the greenhouse I felt so dizzy and tired, as I said it's really getting to me right now but lets see what tomorrow brings.

Oh I love the saying posted on here Live the dream not dream the life.thing is that's what messed up me flippers!.

Rictina

mellman01 wrote:

Hi Bab's , it's been really poo today I couldn't even clean out the greenhouse I felt so dizzy and tired, as I said it's really getting to me right now but lets see what tomorrow brings.

Oh I love the saying posted on here Live the dream not dream the life.thing is that's what messed up me flippers!.

Sorry I shouldnt laugh at your flippers

mellman01

Bloody hell it's still going on, I feel so worn out these days and sleep all the time when I get home form so called work, the really mad thing is when I try to sleep it wont let me drop off especially at the end of another drugged up day, as soon as I do I get near to sleep this sharp fuzzy pulse snaps me back to being slightly awake so now I need sleeping tablets to do the job, asn talk about zombi I wander around totally uninterested in anything, can't be bloody **** even at home, if I turn or move wuick I get the same sharp fuzzy pulse that even effects my tinnitus, just for a microsecond I feel like I could drop to the floor and sleep, I also get slightly dizzy and going out in the dark is a problem as if I lose any visual glues I starger if I can't ballance well, way to go pain meds!.
I'm so worn out and pissed off I feel I just need a break from it all, I take a step forward and end up going back two it's getting me down a bit right now.

barbara12

HI Mel
Not sure how long you have been on them now, I must say mine still make me so tired, like you say that tired you could just sleep on the floor.
At night I take them with amitryptaline, and more often then not I get a good sleep.
Could you not go back to your Gp and see what they say about the dizziness not wearing off...if you are anything like me I just carry on and hope it will go, the last resort is going back to my GP.
People react so different to meds, there are some on here that didnt feel any side effects at all
Let us know how it goes
Good Luck
Barbara x