← Return to Tapering off Lyrica gave me panic, nausea, extreme anxiety

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@pmacg88

I was on Lyrica for at least 8 years...I started at 50 mg three times a day. I remember leaving the doctor's office and his nurse, Phyllis, walked out with me. She told me to not read the drug side effects because it might change how I reacted to the Lyrica. Little did I know how hard it would be to go off. Through the years I was able to eliminate the mid-day dose. I tried to taper myself in October2023 and wound up in the ER with hypertension, extreme shakiness and dehydrated. Now, I am working with my doctor to taper off. I started at 50 mg two times at day and on Dec 6 he reduced it to 50/25mg a day. On December 25 he reduced it to 25/25. He will see me in March of 2024. My life has not been the same since December 6th. I tremble inside, so much that it wakes me up at night, my head seems to be spinning and I feel nauseous at times. I'd afraid to go out anywhere, because I can't drive with these symptoms. I'm trying to do regulated breathing that I learned in Yoga and I take Busprione for the anxiety. I just stay home!

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Replies to "I was on Lyrica for at least 8 years...I started at 50 mg three times a..."

Sorry you're going through this, but there is freedom on the other side of your suffering. 1. Keep up your progress in yoga, breathing, time for yourself in relaxation & with the support of others on this newsletter. 2. Work with a practitioner without expectation of being weaned off less than a snail's pace of 2.5 - 4 years. Hey, if I could be weaned off 30 years of venlafaxine & buspirine, 20 years of Depakote in the above amount of time, you can do it too. The key to it all: Faith in yourself, your purpose in life, & your service to others in the same boat. A worked for miracle of sorts: At age 76, I am healthier, happier, more in synch with life than at age 46, when I started all those prescriptions over prescribed by docs whose focus was their bottom line, not the health of their patients. Thanks to the changes I made in my life, I took back the God-given power to have a voice, fight for what is right in mental/physical/ spiritual health. Happen to be the adult child of an alcoholic, ex-wife of an alcoholic, current wife of an "untreated Al-Anon spouse of a first wife who died of alcoholism. So, I also have the support of 12-Step brothers & sisters all over the world. My current psychiatrist was the first MD. to admit the role of spirituality in mental health recovery & partnered with me during the weaning process, as did a retired psychopharmacology professor turned psychologist who stressed the importance of meditation to calm me down naturally. Go for broke in self-care. Leave the worry & outcome to your Creator, not a robotic, humanoid health practitioner. Congratulations on taking your first steps to freedom. If I can do it in my 70's, you can do it too!