Tapering Lyrica having anxiety/insomnia

I take Lyrica 150mg, 3 times a day. I don’t really feel like it works like the hype. I’ve now added 200 mg Amytriptaline. They talk about all the side effects. I guess I’ve got so many issues I don’t notice any side effects. I’ve been on Lyrica for 3 yrs now. They say 450mg is the highest they’ll give me so now I need something else 🤷🏼‍♂️

Hello,
I don't know if it is the dosage that is causing your side-effects, but I had a good experience with Lyrica after spinal fusion surgery caused nerve pain in my legs that kept me from sleeping for four nights straight about a week after the surgery.

I went to the ER after the fourth night in a row of no sleep, and the ER doctor prescribed 25mg of Lyrica, 3 times a day. My surgeon's assistant upped that to 75mg, 3 times a day, and by the second day, my leg pain was gone.

I was taking Lyrica for about 2 months when I decided to get off of the medication (I don't take any medications at 63 years old, so any new one they put me on, I try to stop as soon as I can). I have an assigned nurse with my insurance company that calls once a month, and she told me to come off slowly, to not just stop cold turkey. Then my surgeon's assistant said not to worry, that I could just stop. I went with my nurse's advice, because she previously helped my wife after she had sepsis last year, and she helped us a lot.

So, I went from every day, morning, noon, and evening dosing, to morning and evening only dosing for one week. Then I went to evening only for another week, and then I stopped taking it at all without any side-effects. I hope this is all it is, getting your dosage right as you stop taking it, good luck.

I was taking the lowest dose, 25 mg twice a day, it was horrible so I went down to once a day to taper off, then zero. The insomnia and withdrawal was horrible for several weeks afterwards, and I had only been taking it for about 2 months. I can’t imagine how bad it would have been if I’d been on a high dose for a long period of time. Good luck.

@beachlife67 it's honestly the absolute worst feeling, this anxiety! I'm free of it today, dear heavens praying this week will be better than last! It's not something for me at all, just needing to see others have experienced ill effects, not just my imagination!

I take 150mg 3X day and pain management says this is the maximum dose he would prescribe. The med itself has been helpful to me, but I used to be on 200mg. Now having breakthrough pain and would love to be able to try 25-50 my more per dose. My primary wanted to add elavil but I am allergic. Frustrated. I have been on lyrica since 2009 and don't have side effects on it. Weaned off from 2021-23 and thankfully, just had a brief period when my insomnia was worse.

I’m beginning to think it’s all individual. Having said that, there is the mean and deviations from the middle, such as me, which put this particular drug in a think twice category for me. It was effective though! At 150 mg, sleeping and eating well with an awesome attitude in general. Tapering off it’s been a complete log jam of ill effects, most with the anxiety. But the insomnia too. Thankfully, I’m 48 hours completely off and am feeling ok!

I have been taking Gabapentin for 10 years, recently they wanted me to try Lyrica 50mg for my upper extremity pain. For me personally, Lyrica did nothing but cause more issues and symptoms. I had a really hard time mentally, constantly angry and confused and felt like I was deteriorating. It also did not help my neuropathy, it seemed like since i switched to Lyrica, my neuropathy came back rampid. I was only on it for about 2 months, but I needed to switch back since my mental health was deteriorating and neuropathy came back. Switching back to my original, everything has come back to a sense of norm. It did take me about 3-4 weeks to get back to a good "sense of norm" for me. I hope all goes well for you, and do message your MD honestly about your experience with Lyrica! I know one of my co workers could not live without Lyrica for her fibromyalgia, but I cant live without gabapentin for my neuropathy. We all work in different ways and different chemical make ups, so sometimes it is a delicate dance of what will work for you! Reach out to your loved ones and let them know how you are doing as well, along with staying mindful! You got this.

@ilamanda I tried Lyrica, it's too close we related to, to gabapentin, it caused me so much more pain and so many more problems, made me dizzy, I hope you find something you can take because I haven't

@ilamanda I can't take either one of those

@ilamanda
Hi, I have had peripheral neuropathy since 2018. I was given gabapentin which made me fall. Two years ago my Neurologist asked me to try Lyrica along with baclofen was taking 100 Lyrica three times a day and baclofen three times a day. I had several Hospital stays due to a falls this year. I started to have my legs swell quite a bit. They told me it was Venus insufficiency I had a vein ultrasound circulation is OK in my legs. However, the doctor that I was going to for the vein, ultrasound told me that the swelling in my legs and my ankles, which is quite severe is a side effect of Lyrica now I need to find probably a holistic specialist because I want to get off of Lyrica as soon as possible. I have to wear compression stockings every day and I can’t walk around without them or the swelling gets to be too much for me. I am so sorry that you’ve had experiences that weren’t as successful either. I hope I can hear more from you about this awful situation. Minor neuropathy is extremely painful my feet my ankle ankles my calf muscles some days it makes me cry. God help us. Thanks for your posting K. DEEDS from PA.