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Question about Lyrica

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Posted 12/6/2009 5:07 PM (GMT 0)
For those of you who are taking Lyrica for pain, how long after you started taking it did you notice any improvement. Also if you don't mind sharing what is your dose?
Posted 12/6/2009 5:20 PM (GMT 0)
Well I can tell u of my experience with it lyrica. A few years back I tried it for 6 wks did not notice any pain relief plus the blurry vision side effect did not go away so Doc took me off of it. Alot of my fibro friends have taken it and have not had much success with it and had alot of side effects too one being weight gain. Some take Cymbalta and alot are saying the Newer one for fibro pain Savella is great. But try this one for you and see how it may help your pain. We are all different and jim people with Fibromyalgia have alot of issues with side effects of meds that you may not encounter.
Posted 12/6/2009 5:45 PM (GMT 0)
I've been on both Lyrica and Cymbalta (30mg), but unfortunately didn't have any sucesss with either one of them. Unfortunately its been long enough since I was on the Lyrica that I don't recall the dosage. I do remember, though, that it made me very, very nervous. My doctor had me take me over a month just to work up to the correct dosage, then another month to reduce it once we'd decided it was ineffective. Because it is used to treat seizures, there is a risk of seizing if you start or stop it too suddenly, even with no history of seizures. At least that's what he told me! I also had problems with getting lightheaded and dizziness, so all around for me it wasn't great. But, everyone is different and we all process things differently, so I hope it helps you!
Posted 12/6/2009 7:12 PM (GMT 0)
I have been on it twice. The first time I took it for almost 18 months and decided that I didn't think it was working as well anymore and stopped taking it. I found out rather quickly that it was working, and much better than I gave it credit for. For most people taking it for pain, the usual dosage is somewhere between 75 mg. twice a day and 150 mg twice a day. My neuro pain is pretty stubborn though, so I didn't get much relief until I was at maximum dosage, which is 600 mg a day. Do not suddenly stop taking it. Like opiate medications, it needs to be tapered up and down. Never take more without your doctors permission and never go over the MDD which is 600 mg/da

Sandi
Posted 12/6/2009 8:36 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Jim,

I was started out fairly low the first week, like 50mg and then ramped up. I was on 200mg for neuropathy in my hands & feet. It worked well for me. The bad part is many drs do not know how to properly rx it to the patient and therefore it is discontinued because it does not work at low doses. It is so irritating that drs will not educate themselves on these medications. Instead they stick to a dose that doesn't work and take the patient off far too early. Sorry, getting on my soapbox, lol. It took me a good 2 weeks to tell the difference. A very good web site for medications is Drugs.com you can get excellent info there on any drug. Like Sandi says you must be tapered off when discontinung the drug. Good luck & I hope it will work for you.

Posted 12/6/2009 9:21 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks for the info so far.

I am currently taking 150 mg per day and am on my 5th day. So far nothing. No improvement in any of my pain levels.

I have doubts it is going to do anything. They compare it to neurontin (sp) saying it is a more powerful, purer form of that drug. I was on neurontin, twice, for 2 months each time and had increased to 1600 mg of that per day and it was as effective as M&M's. First time was for my neuropathy and the 2nd time for my back pain.

Anyway thanks again and if anyone else has any input please share.
Posted 12/6/2009 9:27 PM (GMT 0)
Jim check the dosage's at drugs.com
Posted 12/6/2009 10:29 PM (GMT 0)
I'm on 300mg of Lyrica at bedtime, but it is not effective for me by itself. Currently my doctor has paired it with lortab and it works well enough for the pain. I had been on a very high dose of nuerontin prior to lyrica.
Posted 12/6/2009 10:31 PM (GMT 0)
I read over everything Drugs.com had as well as a few other sites.

Looks like I was started at over 1.2 the recommended dose for most conditions which is 300 mg and as mentioned 600 mg is the max dose for Lyrica.
Posted 12/6/2009 10:36 PM (GMT 0)
Jim,
The first time that I went on Lyrica, I was started at 25 mg for a few days , then to 50 mg once a day, then twice and then three times a day and on.......until I went to 300 mg, divided into two and then three doses. As I said, I am at 600 mg a day now, taken as 200 mg three times a day, but not everyone needs to go that high. The usual dose for neuropathic pain is 150 mg taken twice a day or 100 mg taken three times a day before someone starts seeing relief.
Sandi
Posted 12/6/2009 11:30 PM (GMT 0)
It took me 3-4 weeks to start getting a benefit. I started at 50mg once a day. It wasn't enough so we added in two more doses & that helped some more. After 2 more weeks, I went up to 100mg three times per day & that really helped a lot. All told it was about 7-8 weeks to reach maximum benefit from the Lyrica from the time I first started at the 50mg dose.

Once we got things under control for 3-4 months, we backed off to 50mg three times a day.

feel better,
frances
Posted 12/7/2009 4:26 AM (GMT 0)
Just so you all know, I was not prescribed Lyrica for my neuropathy. I was put on it to "help" with my chronic back pain.

I am on Cymbalta for the neuropathy and it works very well for me for that.
Posted 12/7/2009 4:30 AM (GMT 0)
A couple of people on here are on both and getting pain relief, can't remember who it is. Yes, it is often rx'd for pain.
Posted 12/7/2009 9:16 AM (GMT 0)
I am on my second try with Lyrica. I am on 75mg twice a day. I had dizzyness and blurred vision both times. The dizzyness has subsided, but the blurry vision is still there. I am on my 3rd week and so far I haven't noticed any pain relief. Using it in combination with Nortriptylene and Lorcet for nerve pain in my ribs.
Posted 12/7/2009 7:45 PM (GMT 0)
Jim,
Straydog is right on with her info., especially about doctors not always knowing how to dose the med. I've tried it twice - but both times the doctor never got me beyond 150mg/day, which was obviously not a therapeutic dose for me. So I may yet try it IF and only if I find a doctor who knows what he/she is doing in dosing it. I'd have to get off the neurontin (there's a schedule for doing this - decreasing one while increasing the other, and again a doctor has to know what they're doing) and I have always wondered if lyrica might make me a bit less foggy. Maybe I'll find out one day, but of course with my finances there has to be a pharmaceutical program willing to pay for the lyrica.

Anyway, Bill (opnwh14) you may also want to talk with your doctor about the dosing; this med is relatively new (although it's been out for a few years now so not THAT new) and docs seem to not know how to prescribe it properly.

And as always, everyone is different.

Good luck!

PaLady
Posted 12/8/2009 7:32 AM (GMT 0)
PaLady-
I go back to him in early January and we are supposed to see how it is working and adjust if necessary. He said it could take several weeks to see results. Thanks for reminding me. Things have been crazy here.

Bill
Posted 12/8/2009 11:11 AM (GMT 0)

Jim, I tried Lyrica before.  Rheumy started me out at 50mg 3xday, no pain relief.  She upped it to 100mg 3xday, no pain relief.  She then upped me to 150mg 3xday.  That is when the scary nightmares started.  I never got any pain relief from it but the vivid nightmares where I would cry out in my sleep and husband would have to wake me up.  He too wanted me off of it at that point.  Now the Neurontin does help me though.  Just goes to show how different we all are.

Hope the Lyrica helps you.  Keep us updated on your results!

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