Discussions that mention lyrica

Has anyone had any strange side effects to Lyrica?:angel:

oh yea,strange doesn't even begin to describe what i felt with lyrica.tho it did decrease some of my central pain syndrome crap that nothing has ever touched before and it also took some swelling and heat out of my RSD knee,the side effects were most definitely not worth it.it severely affected my eyes to the point where i was actually having double vision that went up and down?not side to side like 'normal" double vision does.it was really kind of scarey there.it also created big issues with my gait.i could not walk a straight line to save my butt.no matter how hard i tried over and over to just walk straight down my hallway,i kept on veering to the left,always.i was also tripping over my feet much much more often than i had before the lyrica.but the most incredible side effect for me was it made my kidneys swell.i normally have larger than normal kidneys due to polycystic kidney disease but they are more 'firm"?this stuff actually made them swell and they also felt kind of 'squishylike"?they got so freakin big that they both popped out of their normal 'back' posistion and are now currently sitting in front with the right one running along the outside and underneath my R rib and the left one half sitting in the abdominal and back area under the L lung.even when i went off the lyrica,the squishy stuff left my kidneys but they never moved back into my back.they were already over three times their normal size before the lyrica so once they got pushed out of the back,they just never fit back in.very freaky stuff there.

BUT lyrica did do some good too.its just one of those meds that you just have to try for yourself to see how it works for you.some people have no problems and others who i have chatted with have had some pretty profound effects with it.it really appears to do a number mostly on peoples eyes and gait.are you currently taking it?if so,how have things been for you?marcia

I was on Lyrica as well, 150 mg a day. It so far has been the only med that has put some sort of dent in my nerve pain. However..........I had to stop it due to a side effect. It caused me to lose control of my bladder. Which was not a fun side effect to have.

~hugs Niki

Hi, my rheumatologist just gave me a script for Lyrica..he said it's for muscles (which the drug info leaflet mentions nothing about this, it pretty mentions for nerve pains and seizures). Plus I dont feel like I'm having any muscle pains, I am having alot of joint pains all over, including in my spine. I had herniations about 3 weeks ago, but that pain resolved itself before I even saw this doc. It's not made me feel any better yet.

As a matter of fact, its making me feel strange. It's kind of hard to describe. Kind of spacy and almost dizzy, but not a spinning feeling. LIke I am kind of off-kilter or almost off balance. I feel a bit zoned out, too.

Is anyone getting a racing heart from it? All of a sudden my heart is racing and I really don't like that feeling. My heart never races unless im' startled or something. I am thinking its the medication that is doing this. It's like im zoned out, but my body is speeding up, but I cant move quick b/c my joints hurt.

Hi all !! I've been on Lyrica now for about one month. I take 375 mg a day. It has totally helped my electrical type of pain, the one that makes you jolt. At first if I turned my head to fast I would be totally dizzy. This only lasted a for about a week. I really really like the results from Lyrica but even after this long I still have that 'zombie' feeling like some have discribed. It's like my mind is always thinking deeply about little things. It's hard to explain other than it sometimes makes me feel like the world around me is moving faster than me because I am lost in thought (so hard to explain this) . Nothing I can't live with, but it is a little strange. I do know I can't function without it that is how much it has helped me......take-care , :angel: PS/.....now if only my insurance co. will cover it for my illness (thanks to a great doctor for samples)

OH MY!!! 3000 mg!!! thats just crazy! I would NEVER agree to that would you? My spine dr. told me the 300 he started me on whas as high as he woufl go but because I was on 2700 mg neurontin a day he had to start me off at a high lyrica dose like that. I would be scared about what that high of a dose would do long term.

Just saw your in PA, I'm heading there for a few weeks on sunday.

Carol

Baybreeze and everyone else on Lyrica....thank you for your input on side effects. Baybreeze, my heart is racing,
also. It scares me, sometimes. Do you think I should call the PM doctor, anyone? I am on 400 mg/day for nerve pain from DDD after an ALIF fusion last Sept., and I also have lots of pain caused by demyelinating disease..MS. A double whammy. I honestly don't know which dr. to call. I am hurting more now than I did before the surgery.

I hope that some researcher will come up with a great answer for pain, but my hope is also in the future, when I know that I will have a new body, (with no pain), in heaven with my Lord.

I am also fortunate to have a very supportive husband, who has been understanding for the last 25 years with my health issues. We have four beautiful children...so I am too blessed to be stressed................on most days!!!:angel:

[QUOTE=Baybreeze;3191964]Is anyone getting a racing heart from it? All of a sudden my heart is racing and I really don't like that feeling. My heart never races unless im' startled or something. I am thinking its the medication that is doing this. It's like im zoned out, but my body is speeding up, but I cant move quick b/c my joints hurt.

When I started taking 75 mg. Lyrica nightly, my heart rate actually slowed. I exercise every morning and check my pulse rate. I would have to exercise a LOT harder to even get my pulse up to its "normal" peak rate. Strange how medicines affect different people differently...

[QUOTE=orchidflower24;3190636]Has anyone had any strange side effects to Lyrica?:angel:

Side effects I noticed on 75 mg. nightly:

*slower heart rate
*blurred vision after a few weeks
*dry mouth
*I started waking up with muscle cramps in my feet more

Increased dosage of 150 mg. nightly:

*loss of hair!! (tons of hair in shower after washing it)
*bloated!
*gained a couple of pounds and an inch in the waist, abdomen, thighs (this is while I was exercising up to an hour a day and without eating more)

I'm no longer on the Lyrica. I could have handled the 75 mg. side effects , I did not appreciate gaining the weight/inch, bloating when I increased to 150 mg. It did seem to help my nerve pain, but at what price? More weight to carry around? (I am small-framed and don't weigh all that much but I don't want to gain it that way!) And, even though it's been two weeks and I'm carefully monitoring my weight/inches I have not lost one bit of it.

Also, something my PM could not figure out... the Lyrica seemed to relieve the "tension" in my shoulders and neck area. But, only if I'd take a break from it and start it back up then the next day the tension would be gone and therefore I wouldn't be in as much pain. I tried that a couple of times and it did seem to work that way each time. But only if I didn't take it every day.

I just throw that out there because my PM thought I was nuts and I'm curious if anyone else has had that experience with it. So, he prescribed a muscle relaxer but it actually seems to add tenseness! Go figure....

when my neuro first gave me lyrica he had told me to take a certain amount then like three days later double it and then a few days later triple it and stay on it, i only took the first dose and i couldn't function at all, its not a med for someone who has any kind of life outside the home working, you can not think clearly on this and it just makes you feel off balance and loopy. I however will take it very occasionally if my back is hurting really bad and i don't have to work the next day. I don't think you should ever drive on it, i don't know how i would have ever taken the triple dose, thats crazy.

You will find that these drugs when first taken are rather potent but once the side effects diminish they do work rather well.

I'm sorry but I drive quite well and am a very productive part of society. Please don't lump your sensitivity to a drug into it being how everyone is on it. I'm not angry with you but your post may deter many who the drug might help TO function again.

Lyrica is not a once in a while type drug, it must be taken on a strict schedule to work properly just taking it when you have the next day off will not help you at all.

Perhaps you should talk to your dr. maybe the dosage is too high for your system to handle. I have been on nerve damage meds for a long time so I take a much higher dose than most to get the relief I need in my foot & leg. Also I'm not too sure that this will help back pain unless it has been diagnosed as nerve damage pain in your back.

I do hope you find relief for your pain.

God Bless

Carol

Orchidflower here.....thank you for all your responses. I think if you read all the posts, you will see that Lyrica works well for some and not for others. I have been doing a lot of research on Lyrica, in particular, the Mayo Clinic website. If you look up Lyrica on that site, you will find over 50 negative side effects that are either "more common", "less common" "rare", etc.
I, myself, am having about ten or more of the negative side effects, with no relief of the nerve pain; including
weight gain, memory loss, slow speech, fatigue, loss of
motivation, RACING HEART, HEART PALPITATIONS, nausea, sweats, being cold, and constipation. I am currently taking 200 mg 2x day. I want to stop, and I am telling my PM dr. next Tues.

Baybreeze, what is Provigil? Thanks for replying. I hope that you can find relief soon.

God bless all of you and may we all feel better soon.:angel:

Orchid..I was given samples of Provigil from my rheumy maybe a year 1/2 ago or so. He gave me them when I was flaring after steroid injections wore off. I had alot of pain in my joints and severe fatigue. The fatigue and exhaustion was worse than anything. So he had my try Provigil. This med is approved for some sleep disorders, such as narcolepsy and also for night shift workers - it's supposed to help treat excessive sleepiness. There are also studies done to use this drug to help the fatigue from MS...and supposedly it does seem to help many. I had done some research on this med b/c I was taking it and wanted to know about it. So I read the whole leaflet that came with the samples, and other places and found all this out. So my rheumy thought maybe this might help me...I don't have MS, but I had alot of fatigue and was in a possible lupus flare (though at this point I'm not really sure if i really ahve lupus) I only took it for a week, because it gave me worse palpitations than this Lyrica does now..and I was sooo jittery and felt like I wanted to jump out of my skin. You take it in the early morning so that it ends up helping you sleep by bed time. But for me, the heart racing was geting scary and it kept me awake ALLL NIGHT LONG. I got no sleep on it. So I told my doc and told him I stopped taking it. But this doesnt necessarily happen to everyone. I have read of others (even with MS) who've said it really helps them. So if you have MS related fatigue, you might want to at least ask your doctor about it.

OMG! speaking of lyrica....I think I went to my rheumy on 8/27 and he had prescribed these for me. I filled my script the same day. The bottle says quantity 30, so that should mean 30 pills total, right?

Well, Im looking at the pill bottle today and think, it looks like alot more than 30 pills in there now, and mind you ive been taking them every day since I got it. So I counted them just now, and I have 43 left!!!!!!!!!! Rut rohhh. I am pretty sure my pharmacy gave me way too many. This is making me feel guiilty! To think how much this pill costs and they are going to be short on their inventory, eeks. But, by law, they cannot take returns on meds, either. I know it wasnt my error, but I still feel bad. Think I should let them know anyway??

Hi Baybreeze,
Thanks so much about the info about Provigil. I'll keep that in the back of my mind...if I have one!!

Do you know for sure how many Lyrica were prescribed by your DR.? I had gotten meds from the pharmacy one time that said 30 mg MSContin, long acting; and it was
supposed to be the MSIR, short acting morphine.

If I were you, I would check with your DR. first, and then communicate with your pharm, if you are still feeling guilty.

Hi Baybreeze,
Thanks so much about the info about Provigil. I'll keep that in the back of my mind...if I have one!!

Do you know for sure how many Lyrica were prescribed by your DR.? I had gotten meds from the pharmacy one time that said 30 mg MSContin, long acting; and it was
supposed to be the MSIR, short acting morphine.

If I were you, I would check with your DR. first, and then communicate with your pharm, if you are still feeling guilty.