Lyrica Takers

Hello everyone.....I am still a new member and have not posted much but I do a lot of reading of everyone else's posts. I have a question for anyone taking Lyrica. I was diagnosed on March 14, 2011 with Fibro. My Rheumatologist said I am the "Poster Child" for Fibro. He started me on Lyrica and a sleep aid and told me to come back to see him in 6 weeks. So, I go back to see him on April 28th. My question is this....does or did anyone else have a hard time with the side affects of Lyrica? My body just can't seem to get used to them and I suffer greatly every time I take it. I am still working and am still unable to take it during the day when I'm at work. I called my doc and he advised me to back off on the amount I was taking and gradually increase the dosage. This has not helped at all. Taking a medication that is not yet working and has such harsh side affects seems to be sending me spiraling into an anxious/depressed state of mind. I also take meds for Hypothyroidism and high blood pressure. I wonder if the Lyrica is not mixing well with my other meds even though my doc says no.

Thank you for listening (reading) and I would appreciate any input.

Kinzie aka Jen

Hi! I have been recently diagnosed with Fibro and my Rhuem doctor put me on Lyrica 5 weeks ago. He started me out very slowly. 75 mg for a week at night the first week. Then I added another 75 mg every week. The goal was to take 2 at night and 2 in the a.m. I had a little dizzyness the first 2 days of every dose increase. Until the day I took 2 in the a.m. Wow! I could not function. So the dr told me to go back to taking 2 at night and 1 in the morning. I would say I have a minimal amount of relief and the side effects have not been bad until a week ago when my hands and feet started swelling every afternoon. I have agreed (with the dr) to continue taking the Lyrica to see if gradually I would see some improvement. He also added a Muscle Relaxer to take at night. So we will see how it goes. When I go back to the Rhuem dr in 1 month and have not had much improvement I will ask (and he said he is williing) to try something else. I know everyone is different and everybody's body reacts different to medications. So we keep on trying til we find something that works for us.

Blessings!

Grandma08

archie, what is nerve rotten?

I couldn't take savella, cymbalta OR lyrica. They made me crazy, not myself, dizzy, uncoordinated & just plain miserable. Neuronton did nothing to help.

Thanks to you all for your input. Everyone of you is greatly appreciated!

Blondie: I take 5 meds (so far), I take Lyrica, Levothyroxine (for Hypothyroidism), Tramadol, Ambien CR, and a high blood pressure medication. The name escapes me right now as my short term memory has gone to the pits lately. I can't seem to remember the simplest things. I tend to stay in the "Fibro Fog" for long periods of time. I'm surprised I can still function at work. The Tramadol works opposite on me than it does for you. It does not give me energy ( I wish it did....lol); instead it puts me to sleep. Hopefully my Rheumatologist can help me when I go see him on the 28th of this month.

Grandma08: When I started taking Lyrica, I started out by taking 50mg twice a day for a week, then 75mg twice a day for a week, then 100mg twice a day for a week, then 150 twice a day for a week. Even the 50mg pills make me feel horrible. I feel disoriented, confused, dizzy, nauseous, disconnected from myself, and like Archiestyle said like I'm "on some awful spinny carnival ride". The thing is I get all of these side effects and it does nothing for my pain. So hopefully my doc can find me something else to take. And you are right, everyone reacts differently to different meds...we just have to keep trying and find what works best for us! :) Blessings to you as well.

Archie: I am like you, I think I need some type of muscle relaxer for at night. I think I have RLS, I just can't seem to keep my legs still. I have a constant need to move them around. Its driving me crazy because along with that, I have a lot of pain in my legs from the Fibro. Sometimes I feel like I'm in a real bad nightmare and will eventually wake up from it. My uncle had fibro and his pain was so bad (he took every med his doc could think of and nothing worked) that he often contemplated suicide. I really hope and pray that I or any of us with Fibro never get to that point. My pain is often on a scale from 1 to 10 an 11; however, I have not ever contemplated suicide. At the time I was not diagnosed yet so I could not understand what he was going through. Boy, do I understand it now. My pain resides in my legs, back (upper & lower), arms and feet.

Thank you again for listening (reading). The input really means a lot to me. Its nice to have other people to talk to that understand what I am going through. My husband has no idea and does not understand. When I can't seem to get stuff done around the house, he thinks I am being lazy. When I have to go lay down because sitting is killing me, he thinks I am being lazy. Anyways, many blessings to all of you! My goal for the day is to get some laundry done...we'll see. :)

Jen (Kinzie)

Hi Jen,
Oh....I so empathize with how your husband is responding to your fm. Read my replies to my original post and it gives you a history of my past, my ex divorced me for one reason being I couldn't get a handle on my physical issues. You DO need to confident and strong, realize what you have is a REAL disease. People don't understand unless they've had personal experience. My advice would be to try and gently educate your husband - have him read your posts, and the replies....have him go with you to dr appts/or have your dr call him.....it sucks when people just think it's in your head and you can "overcome" it....it's that stupid "try harder to do better" mentality. You're doing the right thing, listening to your body and resting when you need to, don't feel bad if you can't get things done, do you have a friend close by that understands and could maybe help you clean the house or do laundry?? Just be gently with your husband and try and get him educated. I'll be praying for you both!
Hugs,
blondie

For anyone taking Tramadol.

If you take tramadol on a daily basis for long term maintenance you will get withdrawel effects if you miss even one dose. So, if you miss your late afternoon dose and go to bed a few hours later, you will get that restless leg issue. If you take the tramadol and wait about 15-20 minutes it will go away. I make sure I do not miss that dose and I always take the night dose just before I go to bed. By the time I actually get into bed enough time has gone by to avoid the withdrawel symptoms.

Hope this helps any one on tramadol.

Denita: Thank you for the information on Tramadol. I take it but only at night time because it puts me to sleep and fast! I take 100 mg before bed every night and it helps me sleep better than the Ambien CR does. Even when I take it I still get the restless leg activity going on. Before I started taking Tramadol, I read about it so I would know ahead of time what I would be taking. I was surprised to read that it is easy to get addicted too. My regular doctor prescribed it to me and he even told me it was easy to get addicted too, but he said "Would you rather be addicted to Tramadol or in pain all the time?" I wasn't sure how to answer that, so I didn't. I do know that there is no way I could sleep without it now. Thank you again for your input.

Dawn (andever): I have noticed a large amount of swelling in my hands and feet since I've been taking Lyrica. I just assumed it was a normal side effect of it along with all the other ones. Today after taking it, it actually made me feel like my head was swelling, if that makes sense. I don't understand how a medication that has such harsh side effects can be put on the market for people to consume. Not only that but Lyrica is so expensive. When I go to the dr on the 28th, I'll be asking for something else. I just cant take the side effects anymore. Its beginning to push me into a depression and anxious state of mind. And by the way, I am very glad that angel was watching over you and didn't let you pull that trigger. I wish you all the best! Gentle hugs to you as well.

Blondie & Shirley: Thank you so much for the words of encouragement. I try to tell myself I am not lazy and that my body needs the rest I give it. I do what I can around the house but every thing does not always get accomplished. I remember a day when I would come home from working my 8 hour day at the office and vacuum, dust and mop the floors. Now I can barely manage to make it through the 8 hour work day. I have a doc appt on the 28th I am hoping my husband will make the time to go with me so he can get a better understanding of what is going on with me. Thank you again ! :)


Jen

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Fibromyalgia, High Blood Pressure, Hypothyroidism, Degenerative Spine Disease, 3 Buldging disks in lower back

I have been on Lyrica since February and I wasn't 100% sure it was working for me. After missing a doctor appt and therefore missing a scrip...I have noticed I am hurting everywhere! I feel unbelievably exhausted, borderline depressed and overall lethargic. I didn't go to work today, and spent about 3 hours asleep this afternoon. Any side effects I may have had would be worth having back to not feel like this anymore, but I really didn't have many to speak of other than the tiredness. I'm so sorry it's causing trouble for you!

Kinzie, I am kinda new here too.  I wanted to tell you I tried Lyrica for 2 days.  I have IBS too, and Lyrica shut my systems down.  Had to go to ER cause I went 11 days with without going to the restroom.  From there I started going back to my gastro. Dc.  I was wondering if anyone eles has or had this problem.

Diffently take your husband with you to the Dc.  He will understand there.

Good luck,

Marilyn

Hi Jen:
I take Tramadol and ambien both but I have medical problems other than fibromyalsia. I actually am taking the Tramadol for pain after surgery and am noticing it is helping the fibro too. So one is for pain and the other for sleep. My doctor prescribed both and I'm taking them together. I usually take the Tramadol first and when I wake up the first time during the night take the Ambien. I take thyroid medication as well.

All that said, I don't know why you would need to take the Ambien if the Tramadol is all you need. (I did notice you are on a higher dose of Tramadol than I am, I'm on 50mg.) So I hope you ask your doctor about all three medications when you go in. Maybe after you taper off of the Lyrica you will need the Ambien. It's just hard to tell when you are taking 3 medications that could be affecting your sleep. If it were me I'd call the doctor's office today and they would probably say you don't have to take the Ambien.

I'm glad you are going to see the doctor before you quit taking Lyrica. I also think your Tramadol dosage could be 50 vs 100 mg - that might help with it making you sleepy.

As for your husband it might take him a while to understand as you don't "look" sick. He should go with you to your doctor's appointment if at all possible. Also as said above have him read some posts and/or a good description of fibromyalsia.

I've had it for years and it took my husband a while to understand it. I hope you can give him information and not fight about it as it will only "drain" your strength more.

Let us know how you are doing.
Paulette

I tryed Lyrica and the side affects were too much,someone told me the affects would go away with time ,I tryed again !NOT for me ,I guess somethings work for some but not all!

Annie, I want you attitude!  I hope you find some answers.  It's sounding like a lot of us are taking tramadol and the new "wonder" drugs aren't helping as advertised.

Annie, oh my goodness, they put you in a ward men, plus they left you no easy call light to summons the nurses!  Good thing you have a good sense of humor!  I had some horrible messes the last time I was in the hospital.  I had to have my colon removed, so there were some pretty bad days.  The nurses were wonderful, like yours.  There is no way I could do their job.  I have a hard enough time changing my grandson's diapers! 

I'm having lots of non-fibromyalsia problems.  Seems as when they took out my colon, they fashioned a replacement called a J-Pouch that is like a colon but I "go" alot more nd there's problems with some foods and some more gross stuff.  Anyway, I'd had a hysterectomy years ago so now everything seems to be falling.  They think my bladder is prolapsed on top of my vjj but after a CT scan they just told me all my scar tissue was normal?  So tomorrow I see another doctor and today I started passing blood in my urine.  I guess we just have to keep on doing whatever we can and hope for relief.  Have a good day from Ankeny, Iowa, USA!