HealingWell
Search Close Search
☰

Aniety from Lyrica

Support Forums
>
Fibromyalgia
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
❬ ❬ Previous Thread |Next Thread ❭ ❭
Posted 1/7/2016 4:51 AM (GMT 0)
I have had juvenile diabetes since I was 2 years old and was taking gabapentin for neuropathy. My doctor suggested I take Lyrica which seems to work better to him. I took it for about two months and started having severe panic attacks, headaches, bloated stomach, confusion, and dizzy spells. I have never been diagnosed as having anxiety. I quit taking the Lyrica over a week ago and have had a panic attack everyday since I quit taking it. Has anyone else had these symptoms and do they eventually go away (I hope). Those rapid heart beats for no apparent reason terrifies me. I can usually feel them before they come. I get a headache or get dizzy and my vision is blurred and then comes the rapid heart beats. It is so scary. I hate feeling those so called panic attacks.

Can anyone give me some good news on if it stops or any suggestions on what to do to stop them.
Posted 1/7/2016 10:56 AM (GMT 0)
Hi janetsinger,

I would advise that you totally don't believe your doctor and look up side effects on your medications on reputable websites. I was put on Gabapentin a while back and it caused me severe leg tremor. I went off of it and it went away immediately.

Here is a website that lists gabapentin's side effects:

http://www.drugs.com/sfx/gabapentin-side-effects.html

I also wanted to add that my allergies can cause me to become hot and have irregular heart beats and the feeling that my heart is beating out of my chest. For me it's mold. I took a walk around a moldy area of Florida on a windy day and the symptoms came up a hour or so later. Secondhand smoke from cigarette smoke does that to me too.
Posted 1/7/2016 4:28 PM (GMT 0)
I would ask how long were you on the Lyrica, and did you stop taking it abruptly? It is usually a med that you work your way up to a therapeutic dose, and if you stop taking it, you must titrate off of it slowly.

I'm currently titrating off of it myself. I'm of course experiencing a lot of symptoms, because it was working well for me. I just can't afford it anymore due to insurance changes.

Talk with your doctor about your symptoms so that you can be managed during this time.
Posted 1/7/2016 4:46 PM (GMT 0)
Initially I had been taking gabapentin for neuropathy but I was on the maximum dose, so they put me on Lyrica because they thought it would work better. I was on the Lyrica for a little over two months and had one severe panic attack and thought I was having a heart attack but didn't feel any pain, just rapid heart beat. I abruptly quit taking it on December 27th and have had at least one panic attack everyday since I quit abruptly. The doctors thought it was generalized anxiety and psychological but I know that cannot be possible. I have no more stress than I usually have in my life and there have been no major changes in my life, so I know these panic attacks are not generalized anxiety. I have another appointment with my primary care doctor for my diabetes and I am hoping he can help me figure out how to stop these panic attacks. They terrify me and come on suddenly for no reason. I just want them to stop.
Thanks for your advice

Janet C
Posted 1/7/2016 11:24 PM (GMT 0)
Janetsinger, you might want to look into whether you've become sensitive to the environment around you. Some of us with fibro have this.

That can come from car pollution, it can come from the chemicals you're using such as detergent and even personal products. These sensitivities can come on suddenly.

Good luck to you.
Posted 1/7/2016 11:53 PM (GMT 0)
Thank you for your response. Maybe it could be sensitivity to the environment, but I have never had anything like this before until after I started taking the Lyrica and abruptly quit. I had two today and I am so afraid that I think it has become psychological because I worry so much about possibly having one. This has got to stop. I am so tired of having these. If it isn't the Lyrica I would like to find out what is the cause and how to avoid having them. Maybe I should take up yoga. I heard that helps keep you calm.
Thanks again for your feedback.

Janet C
Posted 1/8/2016 9:39 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Janet
I understand what you are going through. I am having about 2 panic attacks a day also. When I wake up my heart rate and bp are rapid and I am dizzy so that's the first one. Any overstimulation can cause the second one like the news or a movie or someone arguing. I go for a sleep study in a few weeks because my Dr said it could be sleep apnea causing it if I am not getting enough oxygen. I have been afraid to go to sleep. I have been weaning off the xanax which helped me sleep but I read its dangerous to take with sleep apnea. My dosage which very low to begin with. I believe prescription drugs cause more damage in the long run than good. I am chemically sensitive since my fibromyalgia diagnosis so I have changed to natural products and healthy foods.
I pray everyday this stops happening. I hope yours stop too.
Posted 1/8/2016 10:30 AM (GMT 0)
I've recently begun doing something called the Healing Codes. There's a book about it. Before the healing codes if I tried to meditate, I couldn't do it because my mind wouldn't stop racing.

Since using the healing codes, especially when I just wake up, I've been able to more easily clear my mind and relax.
Posted 1/9/2016 3:25 AM (GMT 0)
Thanks for the advice. Healing codes?? Sounds interesting. I did go see a doctor earlier today because yesterday was unbearable, but he assured me that there is nothing physically wrong with me. I just couldn't understand how the heck I all of a sudden started getting these attacks. I have not had one today. The mind is a very complex part of the body. I might look that book up.

Sincerely,
Janet C
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply