Yes I looked it up on the web and it didn't mention that it was addictive but it does say on the label that it is a controlled substance. It was prescribed for nerve pain associated with bulging discs in my neck. It's generic name is pregabalin. The one time I took it it made me feel all dizzy which I know sometimes it does take your body time to get acclimated to new medications but I am already taking vicodin. I am on a very very slow taper with that and I don't want to get on anything else if it could be addictive. Thanks granny for your reply
I looked it up, and it says that you can experience euphoria and can become "dependant" on this drug. That, in my opinion, denotes that it is addictive.
I've been on Lyrica for over a year. I started on a tappered dose up to 600mg (I'm actually a pain patient, not addict so just relaying facts. When I came up to my dose, after a few days I started falling asleep everywhere and worst of all,,, most people put on weight taking it; at that dose I pilled it on!!!!! I had no withdrawals coming off even such a high dose, but I tappered it over two weeks.......
I now use 100mg and it's still affective for my pain and the only euphoric feeling is a sence of well been the first couple of times taking it. So it should that's why it's comtrolled I think.
Hi Tigerlilly,
I See you live in the USA. Its about the only place Lyrica is controlled. But The USA government are so obsessed with the war on drugs that next you'll have to get a script for a flipping teabag LOL! I've been on it for 2 years @ 600 mg a day. Addictive? No. Ever want to come off it? Taper, Taper Taper! Rotten withdrawals.
Pfizer marketed it for chronic nerve pain but it gets approved on the Epileptic ticket usually. Primarily its for partial seizures. It scrambles the pain Signals, to give relief. It usually works. good luck with it.
Plakat
Lyrica is definitely a drug that at the very minimum causes "physical dependence", meaning that abrupt cessation of the drug after prolonged use will cause withdrawal symptoms.
Quote:
"If you stop taking Lyrica suddenly, you may have withdrawal symptoms. Withdrawal symptoms from Lyrica include headache, sleep problems, nausea, and diarrhea. Do not stop using Lyrica suddenly without first talking to your doctor. You may need to use less and less before you stop the medication completely."
Being a drug originally prescribed to control seizures, suddenly stopping Lyrica can actually cause someone to have seizures.
the issue that came up with this particular med was becasue of what took place during the drug trials.if you look this up it IS considered a higher controlled substance.we had this discussion here a while back like last year?sometime about this very thing.
the thing is,while during the testing phase,and keep in mind,this drug was purposely tested on some actual addicts or people who had once taken klonipin?why they did this,who knows but it is in the actual deep Rxing lit so you can read about it there if you need to.but what this actually came down to was that 'these' particular test subjects mentioned to the people in charge was that it(only in some of their minds)made them feel very similar to what they stated they felt while on klonipin.that is kind of the reason for the controlled label it actually obtained.it really is rather stupid since many of the other anti S type meds do do the very same thing this does.i have taken lyrica and i can tell you that i had absolutely no urge or reason to believe in any way shape or form that was of ANY actual risk to me as far as any sort of addiction coming from it.i seriously think they need to drop that label on it.it just makes it appear to be something it really is not.the amount of people who i have chatted with over the past two years since i took it,NONE of them felt anything really 'addicting" from it,none.
it is just another non narcotic tool in the chest of pain management just like the other meds that have a similar make up like neurontin.there just isn't any sort of high from it that would cause an addiction to develop from it.if anything it spaces you out so bad that you just feel like you are drunk on it from loss of eyesight(the normal eyesight,i got up and down double vision from it) and the huge way it impacted my ability to walk even straight down my hallway without bouncing off of walls.it made me sicker than hell and i had to stop.i realistically could not even if i tried get addicted to that crap.
if you put the keyword 'lyrica' into the search on this particular addiction board,it would most likely eventually lead you to that other posting about the discussion we had here about a year or so on this very subject.in my eyes,if this drug actually works at relieving your pain in any way and causes no real side effects in you,go for it and use it as long as it works.there are alot worse things you could be taking than lyrica,beleieve me.
in doing research on this med,i have yet to hear of,read about or chat with anyone yet who as actually used it and had ANY even close to addiction issues with it.none.i think you will be fine with it.i do hope you have better results with it than i did.the really sad part for me was that this med actually touched my RSD and central pain syndrome like nothing else had ever done.having to stop just because of very nasty side effects really sucked.good luck and please keep us posted on how thingsgo.Marcia
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3-22-01,herniated C-6-7
11-20-01,placement of hardware for failed fusion
9-22-03,removal of cavernous hemangioma that was inside spinal cord. Neuro damage to L hand L leg and R leg.
I can't give you the medical reasons why, but almost everyone that I have spoken with that has been diagnosed with RSD reacts differently to different meds. I have been on lyrica for about 6 months now. I was taken off of neurontin and put on the lyrica, and the lyrica has worked much better with much less side effects. By now I am probally addicted to it, but with the pain I experience you get to the point where being addicted to a medication doesn't matter, only the slight relief that you can feel.
blaster is right,you are dependant not addicted,the two are VERY different animals and occur for very different reasons.i too have RSD and it just isn't people with RSD that have strange reactions to the anti S type meds.the whole group of those types of meds are notoriuos for creating some really incredible side effects,in just about anyone.it is just the way these particular meds work on the brain.i tried lyrica for about almost two months and inthat time,it screwed up my eyes horribly and actually gave me an up and down type of double vision,not the normal side to side type?very creepy.it also affected my gait to the point where i could not walk a straight line to save my *****.i also kept tripping over my feet.the worst side effect for me tho was it made my kidneys swell up so big they shifted out of my back and now are currently residing right along my ribcage.i do have polycystic kidney disease so they were already bigger than the norm,but what lyrica did was just sooo nasty.but the really sad thing for me was it was the first med i tried that actually helped with a horrid pain called central pain syndrome.nasty stuff,it is very much(painwise) like that of the RSD i have,it sucked to have to stop something that finally worked for me and my pain crap.
no one really knows just how they will respond to any actual medication til they try it themselves.some people will have no problems at all with something that can create hell for another.just the way our bodies are.marcia
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3-22-01,herniated C-6-7
11-20-01,placement of hardware for failed fusion
9-22-03,removal of cavernous hemangioma that was inside spinal cord. Neuro damage to L hand L leg and R leg.
from frirsthand knowledge, lyrica is not a controlled substance, but i firmly believe that your body decides if it will become dependent on something, everyones body reacts differently
i don't know if they actually changed that status,but it WAS when it first came out labeled a controlled substance.this was the basis of that thread about a year back,just why this particular anti siezure med had recieved that kind of label.it WAS at least then,a controlled substance.this was also listed in the DEAs 'controlled substance" data base too.i will have to see if i can still find that other thread here somewhere.marcia
If you look up the Rxing info on lyrica and look at the 'drug abuse dependancy" area,it does still state that lyrica IS a class V controlled substance.it tells why right in that Rxing info.it sounds pretty stupid the way this drug trial went that created this,but it IS still there.FB
Last edited by feelbad; 10-19-2007 at 07:43 AM.
Reason: new info
very glad to see this thread, i've been prescribed Lyrica & am not sure i should try it. i am a recovering acoholic / addict with 9 years of sobriety & have chronic upper back (neck/shoulder) pain.
Did you take the Lyrica?? I just dot the prescription, but everything I've seen about the side effects scares the heck out of me. How did it work out if you did???
