# anyone taken --Lyrica (Pregabalin) ?



## Vini Vidi Vici (Jul 4, 2009)

im currently taking Parnate 30mg a day. ive been thinking about augmenting it with some med that somehow decreases glutaminergic/NMDA activity. I know i could always switch to Nardil, but im worried because there are reports that Nardil isn't as effective since the reformulation in 2002 or 2003. Lyrica/pregablin sounds like a good candidate, due to its induction of Glutamic acid decarboxylase, which converts glutamate into GABA. to anyone who has taken Lyrica, did you experience cognitive dulling? were the effects similiar to a Benzo, or were they different? how would you rate the antidepressant effects of Lyrica? 

also if anyone has any experience with Lamictal, Memantine, Riluzole, or other NMDA-modulating agent....please share your experiences and information, anything is greatly appreciated


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## crayzyMed (Nov 2, 2006)

You can find many reviews on lyrica Here For some it works very good for social anxiety, i tried it myself without any effect, but i dont respond to any downer, so it could very well work for you.


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## Vini Vidi Vici (Jul 4, 2009)

thanks..this Dr. bob thing is really helpful. its hard to read, but its a nice gathering of a whole bunch of information.


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## crayzyMed (Nov 2, 2006)

Vini Vidi Vici said:


> thanks..this Dr. bob thing is really helpful. its hard to read, but its a nice gathering of a whole bunch of information.


Yeah, their forum system sucks, but its allways the first place to look for experiences about certain meds.


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## BusterBluth (Sep 21, 2009)

Vini Vidi Vici said:


> also if anyone has any experience with Lamictal [...] please share your experiences and information, anything is greatly appreciated


v^3, did you get any responses (PMs, bc there aren't any in the thread) or find any interesting information about Lamictal or experiences with it? I think my doctor wants me to try it. Appreciate your response, BB

Anyone else with info/experiences/etc?


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## Dangerous (Oct 21, 2009)

Yes, I have taken Lycria I still do but am trying to get off it and only take it PRN. Watch off if you are anything like me and are scared of dependence (especially if your like me and can get your insurance pulled at any moment)

I have taken any where from 75 up to 600 mg all from a doctor t.i.d.

You might not be able to get up to 600mg because the the highest dose that doctor are told they should prescribe is 450mg, and that is only if you have fibro, and I am a special case 

For me personally anything under 450mg is a waste, but at that dose I would say that pound for pound it's better than benzo any day, but prepared for some nasty side effect at that dose, like blurred vision, weight gain.

I tried many benzo too. I am in no mood to look up the spelling but midolazam, Nitrapzime, Xanax, Klono, Ativan, Trialozam, Valium, some other hypnotics, and some non-benzodiazipnes.

And don't start out high, if you do anything, work your way up to a higher dose starting out at 600mg, or 450mg even might have you walking into walls, it did me..lol

Tolerance builds with the quickness, so what I did and it worked for a while is take two day on and three days off, or just take it when i needed it.

Also- Withdrawals. Lyrica is easier to get than just about any scheduled substance, they give you samples and everything. Don't believe a doctor if he says dependence and withdrawal won't occur..if he says that he did not do enough research. I heard plenty of horror stories on people on way way lower doses than mine is say it similar to benzo withdrawal. I have some horror stories of my own, insurance got yanked puked my guts out until my doctor gave me like 7-8 free bottle of the 75 mg.

But if you need it you need it.

And yes it does mess up your cognition - its like neurotins bigger brother, and I know people call neurotin dummy pills..lol


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## Vini Vidi Vici (Jul 4, 2009)

sweet...thanks 4 the response. yes i did think there must be some tolerance that could occur..so i planned on taking it only as needed in stressful social situations...it seems its alot better alternative to benzodiazepines. i was gonna ask my pdoc but i was so tired i forgot....it seems like a really cool and useful medication. i love how it doesnt have a stigma (yet)....i think..very soon, if docs keep prescribing it, it might gain an addictive reputation? i guess now is the time to get it..


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## Vini Vidi Vici (Jul 4, 2009)

BusterBluth said:


> v^3, did you get any responses (PMs, bc there aren't any in the thread) or find any interesting information about Lamictal or experiences with it? I think my doctor wants me to try it. Appreciate your response, BB
> 
> Anyone else with info/experiences/etc?


i researched Lamictal forever, and i still haven't found any concise information as to what it actually does in the brain. it seems it might inhibit glutamate release, and block nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in the brain. so, i tried about 12-15 mg..half of a 25 mg pill. i felt horrible, i got really bad nausea, couldn't sleep (i cant sleep anyway) and felt sick, disgusting, more anxious, and not like my normal self. i was really weak also. however...the lamictal that i tried was from an overseas supplier...so i have no way of knowing whether or not it was actually lamictal or something else. And it was coated in some sweet substance, possibly aspartame, which could have contributed 2 the side effects. It seems that it can help many people with depression...and ive read many positive reports about it. people say it works very well for depression, and it can help them with anxiety also. it gives some people more energy and induces mania, while others said it made them sick and tired and want to sleep (like me) i wish i could say with more certainty whether its worth it...but unfortunately i can't. It doesnt look too dangerous or scary on paper. I just wish i could find out its pharmacologic activity...tons of variable side effects that may cripple some people, while others experience no side effects at all. its a mysterious drug.


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## euphoria (Jan 21, 2009)

Lyrica is one of the nastiest drugs I have ever taken. If I just have a single dose, it's pretty useful, but after more than 2-3 doses the effects change and I get seriously depressed and confused. Someone else on this board reported a similar phenomenon. It's not like Lyrica is free from mental impairment or dependence either, so to me Lyrica = poor man's benzo.

Unfortunately my psych won't prescribe any benzos for until the other meds work, so 30 minutes ago I took 50mg Lyrica (got a box of them left over) for anxiety.


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## Vini Vidi Vici (Jul 4, 2009)

euphoria said:


> Lyrica is one of the nastiest drugs I have ever taken. If I just have a single dose, it's pretty useful, but after more than 2-3 doses the effects change and I get seriously depressed and confused. Someone else on this board reported a similar phenomenon. It's not like Lyrica is free from mental impairment or dependence either, so to me Lyrica = poor man's benzo.
> 
> Unfortunately my psych won't prescribe any benzos for until the other meds work, so 30 minutes ago I took 50mg Lyrica (got a box of them left over) for anxiety.


yesss..people are responding to the thread. so it really does make you depressed really quickly? i thought people were just blowing it out of proportion. it looks like an amazing med. i find myself in the interesting situation opposite yours: i can get benzos. but i hate benzos, because they make me depressed...my doctor said i could have xanax. i had a premonition that Pregabalin would be better than benzos...and that it wouldnt screw up my thinking and cognitive processes as much as benzos. i still have a ton of Gabapentin left, but am wary about trying it because it seemed to screw up my ability to think rationally...

euphoria-- have you tried Niacinamide or Kava Kava? niacinamide is supposed to maybe work like a benzo...ive not tried it. but kava kava is amazing....super anxyiolotic....the longer you take it, the stronger it got for me. i think the trick is to get the right brand. i took "whole health" brand...like 5 capsules in a day, it was like benzos, but with euphoria. (no pun intended, it really did cause mild euphoria) but it also caused moderate cognitive impairment. definetly benzo-ish. i took it with SSRIs and stimulants and no interactions (of course theres the liver problem thing)


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## euphoria (Jan 21, 2009)

Vini Vidi Vici said:


> so it really does make you depressed really quickly? i thought people were just blowing it out of proportion. it looks like an amazing med. i find myself in the interesting situation opposite yours: i can get benzos. but i hate benzos, because they make me depressed...my doctor said i could have xanax. i had a premonition that Pregabalin would be better than benzos...and that it wouldnt screw up my thinking and cognitive processes as much as benzos. i still have a ton of Gabapentin left, but am wary about trying it because it seemed to screw up my ability to think rationally...


Yeah, it was only a matter of days before the effects turned.

Gabapentin is very similar to pregabalin by the way.



> euphoria-- have you tried Niacinamide or Kava Kava? niacinamide is supposed to maybe work like a benzo...ive not tried it. but kava kava is amazing....super anxyiolotic....the longer you take it, the stronger it got for me. i think the trick is to get the right brand. i took "whole health" brand...like 5 capsules in a day, it was like benzos, but with euphoria. (no pun intended, it really did cause mild euphoria) but it also caused moderate cognitive impairment. definetly benzo-ish. i took it with SSRIs and stimulants and no interactions (of course theres the liver problem thing)


I've tried both but memory isn't great and I was on other stuff at the time. Both had a mild anxiolytic effect, kava more so.

Niacinamide might not be as harmless as supplement companies would have you think. I read that it inhibits SIRT1, the anti-aging gene that resveratrol activates. IMO niacinamide is best avoided.

Kava would be best used with the traditional root preparation (using water) since it has the longest safety record, not any extracts or capsules. Moderate kava consumption like this shouldn't harm the liver, but it probably shouldn't be combined with alcohol or drugs/meds. The bad commercial supplements some time back (using stems, leaves, etc.) were generally accepted to be toxic, but even traditional kava was shown to cause changes in liver function and side effects, mostly in heavy usage. I'm still not convinced kava is toxic in itself though.

Some reading:

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/natural/patient-kava.html#Safety
http://klemow.wilkes.edu/Piper.html
http://www.eclecticherb.com/kava/study.html
http://www.konakavafarm.com/articles/kava-as-medicine.html <-- biased, but worth reading

Did you say kava caused mental impairment? I thought that was just in large, intoxicating doses.


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## Dangerous (Oct 21, 2009)

yrica made you depressed really? I guess it could happen, I never had that happen except when I completely stopped them, and I think that had to with more that I was missing the lyrica because I couldn't be social with it. I have never taken ever single day because of tolerance issues except since about three 3 week back and I take a lot less, and it doesn't really do anything now.

Now that I think about it I feel pretty down on my luck right now and a bit depressed, but I think that has to do with loneliness and not having a vehicle and no one calling me back yesterday.

When lyrica work it really WORKS, but you never know how any one is going to respond. Even yourself that is what so funny about it. Someday I would take a high dose and feel confused and drowsy. Other days I would take a high dose and it actually improved my functioning like I wanted to read and focused like a laser beam and felt massive energy and was a social butterfly.

Benzo's are what lyrica is to me since I started taking it everday now: not much of anything. 

But I suppose I would be able to stop lyrica again to get it's magic back if go slowly and ween. Then go two days on three days off again.

Benzo's I was never abled to take as needed, or two days on three days off, I just didn't work that way for them it was either all or nothing. And right now it's all, I would like to get off them both and just use lyrica PRN.

BTW - That is awesome Kava works for you, I worked at a vitamin and supplement shop and got major discounts and like every week I was brining new a herb or something and nothing worked on me.


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## Oobin (Jan 5, 2011)

Lyrica initially felt like a wonder drug. I really thought I found that miracle.

I initially took 75mg twice a day. It was semi-effective, but it was just good to have something that actually had an effect (I get little from SSRIs). After 4 days I was to go up to 150mg twice a day. A couple days on that, I felt like I hit that perfect stride. I had a day with very little anxiety. It was great!

And then... crash. Suddenly it felt like it wasn't working at all. I must have developed a tolerance. I'm to go back into the doctors soon and I'm hoping he can do something, but what? Bump up the dose? Wouldn't I just gain a tolerance to that.

It's pretty disappointing, feeling so good and then so bad. I recommend people try it though, because if they don't build a tolerance, it seems like it would be near-perfect. I felt like a different (better!) person. I just want to get back to that.


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## baranok (Nov 17, 2011)

i had both gabapentin and pregabalin on hands...gabapentin feels better because of additional serotonin action pregabalin lacks of

and yes at first i thought i eat GHB or something it was that awesome, tolerance came very soon, it felt like opposite of benzo - more alive, manic, very comfort around people..but i had to be hungry (the feeling of hungry wasnt painful like your sober) , if i ate something i felt like i must sleep

anyway i think you should give it a shot


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## Inshallah (May 11, 2011)

I'm getting it prescribed again on monday. Best antidepressant I've been on and I've been on most of them. Benzo's are obviously better for anxiety but they come with depression while Lyrica comes with the opposite.

I'll work out a way to manage/avoid (unlikely) the sexual side effects on higher doses this time. I'm thinking about trying Pramipexole alongside Lyrica for that reason. Seems to be the only thing on the market that is 'pro-sexual'.


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## A Sense of Purpose (May 8, 2011)

I have tried Lyrica up to 100mg, but at the time was taking amitriptyline (100mg).
This combo did NOT work for me at all. 

'Space cadet' was a good term to describe it.

Felt very stupid for several weeks, however the minimal anxiety i had at the time was quite low. Kinda negligable though.


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## Inshallah (May 11, 2011)

100 mg is less than the minimum dose no? I was started on 150mg for nerve pain. Works best at higher doses.


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## Star240 (Aug 1, 2014)

*Lyrica*

I take lyrics just for the sake of dealing differently, I feel so snaked out on it. My tolorence is building up so I need to keep taking more. I'm taking the 150mg tablets 3 or more times a day, but am taking more than one at a time between 2 and 4 tabs now. I love what its doing to me I'm so damn chilled out and nothing seems to bother me. If been taking lyrics for 5 days now, and am starting to get side effects from 3 days ago from the large doses I'm taking, ie.. Vomiting, bad acid reflux and passing gas every few minutes. I have only a couple of days worth of pills left and the doctor didn't prescribe them as a friend gave me a spare script they had. Also I would not advise drinking on lyrics as from my experience was not pleasant. Anybody know what it will be once I stop taking these drugs like is there some sort of comedown? Keep in mind I'm taking a high dose, today its only 10am and I have piped 750mg and will keep piping the drug throughout the day.


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## zeusko87 (Sep 30, 2014)

my next medication probably will be lyrica. heard many positive stories about this drug. 
i have severe social anxiety, depression, fibromyalgia and peripheral neuropathy and i think this would be a good choice. i hope it will work for me, because nothing has worked for me yet(ssri"s, 5-Htp, wellbutrin, effexor, seroquel, rispolept, zyprexa, sulpiride, xanax, rivotril).


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## Govinda (May 7, 2012)

Vini Vidi Vici,

I felt like I had to respond because I've had a couple of years of experience with the lyrica/maoi combo.

The first thing that I would say is that Lyrica does have a very significant impact on my anxiety. I've taken it at up to 600 mg/day and have gone as low as 200. However, I noticed that lyrica is not entirely predictable with me. Sometimes a low dose will have a small effect, so I'll take a higher one, but instead of feeling less anxious I feel giddy and nervous and horrible. Sometimes its anxiolytic effects are profound, sometimes weak. And I did develop a slight tolerance to it, but not a complete one: after a couple years it's still 60-80% effective.

I did try to correlate the lyrica dosing, its effects, and other variables and have found only a few rock solid facts (for my body):

1. Lyrica does dull my thinking in proportion to dose. When I decreased and stabilized at a lower dose I could find words more easily, problem-solve, use wit in conversation, and didn't have nearly as much confusion. It also dampens my imagination, appreciation for art, movies, sex, etc. while at the same time often boosting my mood -- weird, eh. I guess it hikes up the dopamine or something enough to compensate for these losses in terms of immediate mood. Usually I don't feel sad about these losses, but they are beginning to wear on me.

2. The anxiolytic effect does not exactly correspond to the dose. NOT like benzos at all in this respect: more does not = calmer, in fact, the opposite can be the case. Here, I could never really find the pattern that explained why. I tend to err on the side of taking too little, because it sucks so bad when you realize that you're nervous as hell because of something that's already in your gut.

3. Taking lyrica just before bed gives me a much more pleasant morning. I don't know why this is, but, no matter what other variables I change, taking 200-300 just before bed helps me have a calmer morning than taking it during that morning.

4. Works best if you can take short breaks (even just a few days of a sig lower dose). I do this on the weekends sometimes.

Good luck.


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## watertouch (Nov 4, 2013)

^ So no offence what happend to you?, ive been lurking around here and wred your post on Parnate. Haven't seen you around here for a Long time...?


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