Ok I guess that means no one has tried it it is a med also used fir seizures and nerve pain . Thanks anyway

Hi there! Sorry it took me so long to get back to get back to you, I am supposed to take it twice a day but it made me so sleepy. I take it for pain and neuropathy problems so I only take it once at bed time. I am kind of new at it myself. And everyone acts differently with their meds.
Good luck!

My mother just started with lyrica last week and she says it is a miracle medicine! Along with the meds she had already been on: duragesic 50 mcg/hr q72 and roxicodone 15 3x/day prn and the the normal motrin 800.

She is now not hivaing to take her break through on a regular schedule, she is actually only having to take it for true break through.

When I see my pain doc on the 13th of feb, I will be asking if it is something that I should be using.

How is it working for you?

Tamadrummer,
hey thanks for the responce. Unfortunatly the lyrica is not doing much for me even with tafing the rest of the meds ultram, vicoden flexeral. Hope it workd for youthough if your doctor thinks it might help you

You and your doc may be able to come up with a better plan of attack including the lyrica.

He/she may increase the dosage of your other pain meds or change them all together. It seems like you could be moved from hydrocodone to oxycodone as your primary pain med and then continue to use the ultram for breakthrough. Also it may be a good idea to change your muscle relaxer from flexeril to something like tizadidine or soma and then try that with the lyrica.

Pain managment is a trial and error practice and it definatly takes a long time to hit the right mix but with patience and a good doctor you will get the help you need.

Best wishes,
brian

Hey good news my orthopedic surgeon thinks the pain spec. Will also be willing to be my primary doc. Also that he will start changing my meds to see if we can find somethimg that might give me a little relief.My current doc has issues with female patients he thinks it is all in our heads. So until all the test proved him wrong he would not even put me on vicoden.

Well shorty it sounds like you are on your way to making a life for yourself again.

I hope you have as good of luck with your new doc as I have had. You will fell like a new person and it is so refreshing to have an advocate vs. Accuser.

Good luck

brian

hi, replying to ur ltr here..I have all but scoliosis..So my q is lyrica?? Can it be mixed with soma, and darvocet in which ive been taken for yrs..I dont want to drop dead..Lol but, my body is immune to most drugs now...And the pain never goes away..I dont sleep much and I try to get my mind off this but, its like impossible...Tks you..:) darren

I have lots of anxiety and burning feeling under my skin in my arms. I have a very long story to tell but will save it for another time. I first got the burning feeling trying to take the ssri lexapro...And never went away because then I started taking a beta blocker for my heart palps..Trying different ones. I started with 25 mg lyrica for the burning feeling for two weeks and now up to 50 mg for the last few nights. I am so sensitive to drugs they have to start out gradually with me. I take it before bedtime and it is the only thing that has made me sleep. I am taking ativan 3 times a day .5 mg. I don't like taking the ativan...It makes me feel sleepy and eyes are blurry,etc. I get up several times in the night with the lyrica (and I am really groggy from it...I have to be careful) but seem to go right back to sleep when I get in bed. I sure hope the side effects diminish after awhile with the ativan and lyrica. I have a quite a few of them. But seem to be gradually getting better tolerating the lyrica. Thanks for the listening ear! :(

I have been on lyrica, 75mg. 3x a day, for over 2 months now. I have lived with chronic pain for close to 16 yrs. I knew but was never successful in convincing my drs. That the pain was in 2 separate areas and two different types. The first type was more muscular. This was in my low back and shoulder blade areas. Then about 5 or 6 yrs. Into this pain I developed a new type. This was located in my torso front and back. The best way I can describe it is to imagine your bare body being dragged over stones until your skin is like raw meat. The pain is awful. Sometimes it will start in an area on my arms or legs. Nothing seemed to help this until the lyrica. For the first time in all these yrs. I have relief. Trust me I was put on every kind of medicine there was. All did nothing or had side effects that were intolerable. Unfortunately, it has done nothing for the back pain. For this I am still on ms contin, 45mg. 3x a day. There is one other problem and here is where I need some help from any of you out there who is taking the lyrica. About 6 weeks into taking it I developed some very strange symptoms. My left leg and foot swelled up. This lasted about 3 days. Several weeks after that , I experienced the same thing however, while it began in the left leg it did spread to the right after 3 days. I also have gained a ton of weight . Lastly there are the random episodes of extreme fatigue. If I give in and simply close my eyes,i'm out cold. Is what i'm experiencing side effects from the lyrica and can I hope they will at some point end? Hope someone can help me. Gloria

Gloria, I really don' t think I can help you much about the lyrica because I am still new at it. Just been to the Dr. A couple of days ago. Trying to wean me off the ativan that I take 3 x day and increasing the lyrica. I was taking 75 mg of the lyrica at night and this time they did away with my morning ativan and replaced it with 25 mg of lyrica. I seem to be doing ok. I know on some of the websites the side effects for lyrica can be back pain and weight gain. Seems like with me if I get any side effects or pains they seem to come one day and go away the next. I was really feeling out of it during the day taking the 3 doses of ativan along with the lyrica. I am hoping to come off the ativan and maybe start an antidepressant for long time use. I just had so much anxiety over being misdiagnosed as possibly having 3 diseases...Ms, lupus and sjogrens that they need to get my anxiety level down so they can try a antidepressant. I am so sensitive to meds and have so much anxiety about them because I had so many bad experiences with them. I am taking the lyrica for anxiety and the burning sensation that I got from taking other meds. Wish I could help you more...Hang in there...They keep telling me they will find the right dose. I know sometimes when I have tried different meds in the past my muscles/or whatever it was in my body hurt so bad it felt like someone hit me all over with a baseball bat.

I really appreciate your reply. I understand completely your bad experiences with medications. Been there done that! As far as an antidepressant goes, I am taking zoloft. I have been on it for 13 yrs. It has been a godsend for me. Since lyrica is the only medication that gave me true relief from my pain, I can't wait to see my Dr. In a couple of weeks. Unlike you I have not been diagnosed. This has driven me crazy. I began to believe it was all in my head and I was a mental case. Now, with the positive response to the lyrica I am counting on this explaining what I am dealing with and finally giving me a diagnosis.
I was 6 weeks into taking the lyrica before any side effects appeared. I'll be interested to hear if anything develops with you at a later date. I hope the swollen legs and feet that I am experiencing are either not from the lyrica or will soon go away. I'm beginning to look like a big blown up balloon.
I hope you can get your meds under control soon and that relief follows quickly for you. Take care, gloria

Hey there all taking lyrica. I didnt know that it caused bloating and weight gain,is this a side effect? I have been taking 200mg 3x's day for 3weeks now.It helps however, my walking during the day is affected greatly I take lyrica for neuropathy in legs and feet, the 200mgs I take at the mid of day gradually wears off during the day and I need tylenol to cover the rest until the night time dose, do ya'll experience the lyrica wearing off during the day and find the need to take another pain med during this time? Thank you

I really don't have a diagnosis of any disease. The neurologist here said that I probably had ms, lupus and sjogrens. I went to the baylor med. Ctr to 3 specialists there and they had I didn't have any of the diseases. The same thing happened to me in 1986 I was wrongly diagnosed with lupus and about killing me with meds until I found a Dr. To wean me off of them. Right now I am just taking the lyrica and ativan for the anxiety I developed worrying about the 3 diseases that I supposedly had. The lyrica is for the anxiety and the burning side effect that I developed from the side effect of another med. I am taking the 75 mg now at night and started up gradually in 25 ingrements. Now the Dr. Added the 25 mg in the morning just yesterday and eliminating the morning ativan dose. Then I take an ativan in the afternoon and one in the early evening then the 75 mg lyrica before bedtime. The lyrica seems to help me sleep. I think it does cause me to dream alot. I think the Dr. Will probably continue to increase the lyrica in the morning and hopefully eliminate all the ativan...And maybe try an anti depressant.

Hi, yes I find the drug does wear off in the afternoon. I am amazed at the dosage you are able to handle. I haven't been back to my Dr. Since he put me on the lyrica 2 1/2 months ago. My initial dosage was 75 mg. Twice a day. When I found it to be so affective for my nerve pain, I asked if I could increase the dosage. I was told I could take 150 mg. Twice daily. At that point I decided to take 3 of the 75 mg. 3x a day. It made me so sleepy that I was afraid to take a higher dosage at one time. The sleepiness was the only symptom I developed at the beginning. It was approx. 6 weeks into taking the drug that I started having trouble with swelling of my hands and feet. Actually the swelling was from the knee down. I also became aware of gaining a lot of weight in a short period of time. It is frustrating not being able to speak directly with my Dr. I've been trying to wait for my scheduled appt. With him in 2 1/2 weeks from now. I did call pfizer the company that makes lyrica to find out if these symptoms were from the lyrica. They were no help at all. They just wanted to read to me from the pdr. Have you experienced any of the symptoms that I have encountered? I hope I was able to help you a little bit. I just discovered this web site and am so happy to see that other people on lyrica are willing to share their experiences. Hang in there. Gloria

I really havent found any side affects although the gaining of weight and swelling are begining to worry me ,i have only been on it for 3 weeks the pain is unbearable sometimes I cry. I cant sleep because I wake so often with pain and so much tingling and numbness. It is like I am being electronically stung ,i really dont know how to describe it its like pressure points being pushed to the max or something like that,and my muscles are being twitched and turned they burn bad. Did I mention I take lyrica for peripheral neuropathy, does this sound like anything ya'll are experiencing.

Well the lyrica is helping with my pain and most of the other symptoms are abating.However I have noticed joint pain (has anyone else exp. This) I have also noticed my appetite has increased and of course so has my weight!I want to eat everything,is this common with lyrica?

I take lyrica 100mg 3xday. I don't have any adverse effects, and it worked miracles against my neuropathy that I was suffering.
I know it can cause drowsiness in some people, but it's not the case with me.

I've been on lyrica for almost 2 months... I'm up to 150mg 3x/ a day now, for chronic back & neck pain.

I've experienced rapid weight gain, particularly after having increased my dose to 150. I've also been feeling very bloated in stomach. I see my doctor next week and hopefully she will have some answers for me. Lyrica has helped my pain a great deal.. Although if I forget to take my afternoon dose i'll be hurting pretty badly again. On the otherhand.. I don't want to blow up like a balloon!

Good luck to you.