Lyrcia for Migraines??

April,

Although Lyrica is actually one of the few preventative HA medications that I have not tried, it is rather similar to Gabapentin (Neurontin). Lyrica is "Pregabalin"--they sound very similar because they both promote the conversion of the excitatory neurotransmitter glutamate into the inhibitory GABA (gamma-Aminobutyric acid).

Lyrica is a pretty new drug, whereas Neurontin has been used for more than a decade. And Neurontin is considered (along with Topamax) one of the few medications that is reasonably successful at treating treatment-resistant daily headaches.

So, if you haven't tried it before and your neurologist approves, you shouldn't have any trouble getting insurance to pay for Neurontin.

Ben

I'm glad to hear that you were able to start Lyrica, April :) I very much hope that it will bring you real relief. As I wrote, Neurontin is very similar to Lyrica--the latter was developed to be the successor to the former--but they do work differently and Lyrica may well help you where Neurontin could not.

You may have seen TV commercials for Lyrica for the treatment of fibromyalgia. It's significant that it is the first (and only, I believe) FDA approved drug for the treatment of fibro. While fibromyalgia is certainly quite different from headache, neural overexcitation in the periphery of the nervous system works much the same as in the central nervous system. Even before Lyrica was approved for fibromyalgia I believed that the two disorders are very closely related--I once told a friend with fibromyalgia that it seemed to me that fibro is almost like a migraine that affects the rest of the body, and she agreed.

Anyhow, I hope to hear good news from you soon.

Ben