Lyrica vs Neurontin

Just a theory, but it may be a lot like walking into a restaurant and asking for a Coke (or Pepsi) just because that brand is what you drink the most of and it has become a force of habit.

Neurontin has been around a long time and Lyrica is a relatively new kid on the block.

Then again it could be some kind of insurance issue. Some insurances as well as some medicaid programs require that a certain medication be tried first before moving on to more expensive and/or newer medication are approved. Who knows.

Same basic thing happened to me when I was dx'd with dpn (diabetic nerve damage). Doc stuck me on neurontin for a while and then switched me to Cymbalta. The Neurontin did nothing for me but give me a badly upset stomach and the Cym was like a miracle drug for me. When the doc wrote the script for the Cymb he said this should work really well. Many people have problems with Neuro working until they get to really high doses and the Cymb seems to do the trick with only 1 pill a day so I asked him why we didn't try it first and he kind of shrugged and said old habits die hard.

That's great that you are doing well on the Lyrica! As mentioned, it really is trial and error for all of us to find the best combination of meds and treatments to help our pain levels.

I used Cymbalta for 3 years and that worked extremely well for me as the Neurontin made me too foggy/dizzy.

I think that is why so many of us encourage those who have any type of nerve pain to try and add one these meds to see which one suits them as most opiates really don't work well for that specific type of pain.

Hope it keeps going well for you!

Ideas: That sounds awful, sorry to hear that. Everyone is different, what works for some with minimal side effects is often not effective for others. I for example respond terribly to Amitriptyline, a relatively low dose sends me loopy, really horrible psychological effects including genuinely suicidal thoughts. Was quite scary

Anticonvulsant drugs seem to be ok for me so far, starting another one soon along with the Lyrica so will see how that goes.

Jim: I have no insurance, it is all covered by government healthcare in England where I live. I have read that Lyrica is a lot more expensive than Neurontin though so perhaps that is why they don't have it as the first-line med. I am sure there are many people out there who get on better with Neurontin anyway regardless.

 I couldn't take Neurontin personally. I had horrible very violent nightmares while taking it. I also tried Elavil. It made it too hard to get up in the mornings, and I felt funny/disoriented all day. And with Cymbalta, it ended up also having negative affects for me. It made me severally depressed.  The PA at my pain management has mentioned Lyrica for me. But I guess I didn't give it long enough. I couldn't tell  a dfference in how it was beneficial to me. I just didn't continue it at the higher dosage. And I heard it was expensive. I have good insurance, but haven't met my deduct. yet with pharmacy.

   Reading the comments that were good about Lyrica, it makes me want to try it agan....but I am afraid I possibly won't be able to afford it.

Rxlist mentions that there were studies done all the way up to 600mg a day but didn't see any rise in actual effectiveness over the 300mg a day as well as there were more adverse reactions.

So the 300mg is the recommended highest dosage but you can speak with your Dr. to find out more information.

It would be quite strange to be actually "tolerant" of a med in 4 days...It could be just that you are going to notice and "feel" a medication and difference when first taking it.

Unfortunately with any type of chronic pain, it's always going to be where each modality we use, from a medication to any type of treatment, is going to just help by taking our pain down a tiny notch. It's about adding everything we do to get to that pain level of 5 or better if lucky.