Tapering off Lyrica gave me panic, nausea, extreme anxiety

Don’t take Lyrica it takes over your neurotransmitters and when you come off of it the withdrawal puts you into a tail spin. It’s been 8 months since I’ve come off it and I’m still suffering with severe anxiety from morning until I go to bed. It put me in a state of panic anxiety and agoraphobia

@cdcc Hi, my name is Edd and I've just came across this site today after I googled "Lyrica withdrawal". I've been on 150mg x3 per day for years, even being bumped up to 300mg x2 a day back at the start of the year. I was given this awful drug because I suffer from severe panic attacks and I actually did think it was amazing at the start because it gave me release from my panic. I've tried and tried numerous times to quit, but the withdrawal symptoms nearly drove me out of my mind. I was ok for 36 hours and then it started. I was extremely anxious and agitated and I lay awake in bed all night sweating, teeth hurting, feeling like I was going to throw up even though I couldn't even eat anything (Not to mention the severe itching all over my body). This actually went on for over two weeks without any sign of abating and in that time my nerves were absolutely shattered. I was both nervous and afraid to even be around people. Don't even ask me how I got through that long, but I was in such a terrible way that I went back to my Doctor and ended up back on them but am now thankfully at a lower dose (50mg x2 daily on PRN) and don't even take them some days. I can utterly understand you and how you feel/felt. No matter how intense and bad my panic attacks get I would never again allow myself to be in a situation where I'm taking up to 600mg a day. While this drug may seem like it's a pure miracle for pain and anxiety at the beginning, once your body becomes addicted to it the withdrawals are just too horrific. I pray you'll be ok.

@yangedd So true what you described and I know I would not want to experience thus again. Withdrawal from Lyrica along with other prescribed meds had me in such a state of fear and pain there are no words. I did not know anything about withdrawal. I do now and never want to see, hear or feel the things I did at that time. I did not know at the time It was withdrawal. I do now and the memories are still vivid after over 8 years.

@parus I didn't know anything about withdrawal either except from reading people's stories. That is, until Lyrica. A friend of mine, who happens to work in a Rehab facility, actually compared Lyrica withdrawal with Heroin withdrawal. I know that I will never forget the toll it took on my body and my psychological state of mind, feeling that I was fit to be committed to a Psych hospital. I know that last statement may seem a little dramatic, but I seriously thought I was going out of my mind with the endless days of anxiety, agitation, insomnia, chills, sweating and so on. I dreaded Dawn each day because there was people around and my nerves we're so rattled I was terrified of anyone coming near me. I just don't know how a prescribed medication can be so bloody powerful and so harmful to the body. I did take 50mg yesterday on PRN but I didn't even go to the pharmacy to collect them today. Stay strong mate.

Hello @yangedd, welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. Thank you for sharing Lyrica withdrawal experience. It's really helpful coming from members who have experienced withdrawal symptoms and can share how it affected them. Thanks again.

John

@yangedd What you described is not at all dramatic. I knew not to ask for help as I may not have ever survived what I would have been put through. I was also being harassed and stalked at that time. A terrible, terrible time. I still live in hyper vigilant mode when not locked in my home. Is what it is.

Withdrawal from Kyrica has done a number on me. I was on it for almost 5 years and decided after loosing six teeth while on it I didn’t want to take it anymore. I’ve been off of it now for eight months and still am suffering with extreme anxiety and I hate leaving home. I went through severe depression, anxiety and agoraphobia. Was in the ER for depression and nausea. I felt like a drug addict needing a fix. I thought I was going to end up in psych hospital. I’m still in therapy to help with everything. I had no choice I thought I was going crazy. I joined a site on FB for Lyrica withdrawl and it’s been interesting to read that people are going through the same symptoms. I know my neurotransmitters are not right and I’ve been told it can take up to two years for itto even itself out. Amazing how a drug can change you.i took myself off Ativan and Seroquel and now am using CBD oil and hrmpbomb gummy’s that I feel are working good on my anxiety although I wake up every morning with it, p,us I am now having extreme night sweats several times a nigh. I feel like I just stepped out of the shower my body is that wet. All I can say is I’d love to sue Pfizer

Thank you for your kind words. This drug destroyed my neurotransmitters and til they even out ill suffer with anxiety.i am using CBD oil and hempbo b gummy’s and they seem to help the best. Like you being around people,e makes me uncomfortable but I do my best to deal with it. I also make myself go out now and then in good days. Who the he’ll ever thought coming off a drug would do something like this. And I agree it’s hard to get off if. Took me five months and it’s now eight months si Celexa I’ve had ibpne and it’s been rough.i just want to be me again and she hasn’t reappeared yet. I appreciate your care thank you

Sorry for the miss spelled words I have no idea where Celexa came from

@cdcc I'm not a doctor and am putting the following info out here so you can do some research on some other possible ways to treat your withdrawal symptoms--

My personal experience is with Effexor (venlafaxine), not Lyrica, but 6.5 weeks after slowly tapering off only 25mg, I developed anxiety, insomnia, akathisia, sudden rage and other uncomfortable withdrawal symptoms. I was not on Effexor for mental issues, but to control hot flashes. Effexor messes with neurotransmitters, too--serotonin and norepinephrine. What has helped me most is taking L-tryptophan and GABA as well as B6 and fish oil although my doctor prescribed 5mg Valium which I have used in half doses at times (once, or twice a week for the first couple of months) when the akathisia became intense. Walking (20-30 minutes) and exposure to sunlight helped (not sunbathing, just making sure my eyes got natural light).

Recovery Village (I am not associated with it, nor have I used them) says several medications that can be used for treating and easing the withdrawal symptoms associated with Lyrica addiction such as Clonidine (typically used for treating high blood pressure; can also have a mild sedative effect) and Dexmedetomidine (similar effects to Clonidine).

A Reddit poster trying to get off Lyrica says (https://www.reddit.com/r/DrugNerds/comments/2nyzzl/lyricapregabalin_withdrawal_similar_to_gabapentin/), "The following are the only things that take the edge off, though they don't fully resolve the issue: Tianeptine (aka Stablon, an NMDA modulator), Memantine (NMDA antagonist), Magnesium (NMDA antagonist), Taurine (GABA precursor), L-Theanine (GABA modulator) an N-Acetylcysteine (eats glutamate and turns it into glutathione). Some of the commenters to that post had suggestions as well.