Starting Lyrica today...

Hi, this will be my first time trying Lyrica, Dr. asked if I wanted to try Cymbalta or Lyrica, Cymbalta, tried it a few years ago and had a very bad stomach next day, so was told to stop it.  Dr. told me to stop my Gabapentin, I was on very low dose and this made me fall asleep w/in 1/2 hour, but I would wake up about an hur later or so.

I asked him if Lyrica will cause weight gain, don't need it.   I gained 8lbs just this week, aagh!, the funny thing is I know I've been eating alot less, when I eat, after a few bites, I feel full and stop eating.  This feeling just started in May 2010. I'm glad I was eating less but to be weighed yesterday and have gained that much, I was surprized.

Dr. did say some people do gain or some lose weight, but I will have energy.

Just wanted to know what to expect when I start taking this new med.

Thanks

Hi.

I have been on Lyrica for almost a year and a half now. I was originally put on it for my trigeminal neuralgia. (Nerve pain in the side of the face.) I have not had too many problems with Lyrica, although I do know some people who have. My best advice would be to write down any changes you may notice, and then discuss them with your doctor. Also check out drugs.com for common side effects.

Good luck!

-Sarah

I was on Lyrica for about 6 months and in that time, I gained about 40lbs, plus other side effects that made it impossible for me to stay on. I stopped taking it, and started Cymbalta. For the first 4 days, I was soooooo nauseated (which totally stressed me as I can't physically vomit anymore since having a Nissen Fundoplication for GERD), but on the 5th day, it was gone and I haven't had a single problem since.

The Cymbalta helps a lot with the Fibro pain and my doctor also has added in Cesamet for me so I'm getting pretty good pain relief now for the most part (aside from everything else I deal with).

Good luck with the Lyrica...I hope it really helps you!

hugs,
Pam

Lyrica helped my pain, but it always came back and we upped the dose every couple months. I gained 30 lbs or so and when it stopped again I asked to back off and stop it. I will say, if anyone decides to go off of it you will probably need to do it gradually. My PCP told me just to stop, not good. I ended up tapering myself off with some of the lower doses I had and it took a while. It was pretty hard to get off of, I took it over a year. I had similar problems with Effexor and Paxil. I hope it works for you, you have to remember that we are all different and react to meds differently.

I'm with you, Syl, I just started Lyrica about a week ago. My doctor had me stop taking Restoril and start taking 50mg of Lyrica at night. She told me if I felt fine I could take 100mg at night, and that we'd slowly build up the dose. I felt absolutely nothing at all with 50mg, so I starting taking 100mg. Wow, what a difference, and not for the better!

My doctor told me Lyrica would probably make me sleepy, but it doesn't really. I get sleepy right after I take it, but before I can fall asleep I start to get wired. Once I finally get to sleep, I feel spatially disoriented in the morning, like the world is moving and I can't quite focus on anything. My depth perception is shot and my motor skills and balance are slightly off. It's more amusing than anything else at this point, but if it doesn't go away soon I'll have to conclude that Lyrica is not for me. I need to be able to drive!

So that's me on Day 8. How are you doing now, Syl? Hopefully you're having a better time than me!