Pregabalin :: Successfully Stopping It
May 22, 2015
i have been on Pregablin for 6 years now. I'm an amputee and suffer badly with phantom pains. I want to stop taking them but fear not only the phantom pains becoming unbearable but also how I may react on other levels. I take 600mg daily. My memory has been badly affected as well as my concentration levels and I feel constantly tired. Has anyone on here sucessfully come off pregablin? I feel that I am a spectator watching my life pass by and all my emotions are very flat. Hoping someone can help me out with an answer.
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I first had an issue with haemorrhoids 16 years ago (when I was 23). I spent a day off work with a bad stomach ache, and straining on the toilet a few times during that day. Later that night I felt a lump, which I now know to be a perianal haematoma which isn’t a haemorrhoid, but it is very very painful and causes haemorrhoids. It is basically a blood clot which the body can break down over two weeks. Pain killers and ointments etc don’t help, the only thing that did is a warm bath. After two weeks it was gone.
Fast forward 5 years to 2001, and after a heavy night on the drink I got up in the morning and fell down the stairs, I landed square flat on my back side, which hurt, but thought nothing of it. Later that day I felt a very painful lump, it was a perianal haematoma again, excruciating painful, it changes your mood and nothing at all helps but a bath, creams are useless. But again, because all it is, is a blood clot, the body breaks it down and it’s gone after 2 weeks.
After two weeks and 2 days after the perianal haematoma occurred (basically 2 days after the perianal haematoma had cleared up) I felt a pain coming on, getting stronger and stronger, but no lump or anything else I could feel or see. This was the start of internal haemorrhoids.
It was very very painful and again all the creams and ointments simply don’t do anything, the only temporary relief was a bath. It hurt all the time, whether I was sitting or standing, I tried carrying on but people must have thought I was miserable, and people simple do not understand, it’s not like you have broken arm that people can see, and you don’t want to tell people what is wrong, and those you do tell, still can’t comprehend the pain.
I gave it a chance to clear up, but it didn’t, so I went to the doctor after a month. The GP at the time referred me. I got an appointment for 2 months later at an NHS hospital (so that’s 3 months in terrible pain, having to carry on at work!) During this time I remembered I actually had private healthcare! So contacted them to hopefully get something sorted a bit quicker.
The NHS hospital banded me 3 times, it was a bit of a factory line, and a bit off putting by a female student being shown the ropes. It was a painful procedure, and as I left I nearly fainted in the car park walking back to my car. I made it, made it home and was very pleased this should be the beginning of the end. I had a follow up appointment just over a month later.
After 2 weeks I was still uncomfortable (but better), so kept my appointment with the private hospital. The consultant there couldn’t really help, he recommended a muscle relaxant.
I went back to the NHS hospital for the follow up appointment and said that I could still feel pain. The same consultant was dismissive, questioned my sexuality and said couldn’t I just ignore the pain. My opinion of him wasn’t a good one, and I didn’t want t go back there!
The relaxant from the private consultant didn’t help. I continued putting up with the discomfort (i’d no longer describe it as pain since the banding) and it eventually went away, by September it was gone completely, brilliant!
A year later I went back to the private hospital because some discomfort had returned. I work with computers so sit down for most of the day, and I was suffering with severe pins-and-needles down the backs of my legs which made sitting very uncomfortable.
He referred me to another consultant and in April 2004 that consultant gave me an injection, which seemed to solve the problem for 4 years.
4 years later I got a perianal haematoma due to a bike ride, I got it checked at the private hospital again and it cleared up by itself in 2 weeks.
A year later another bike ride brought on some pain, and I continued to manage this with off-the-shelf treatments. I was now getting a lump after a bowel movement, this lump would disappear almost immediately however.
I went back to private hospital about the pain and was referred for a endoscopy within the NHS (because I no longer had private healthcare) in Jan 2010. That came back OK, and was banded then also. Things were fine for 6 months.
Pain came back mid 2010 so I decided to go to my new GP (new doctors since moving house) and money was getting tight for the private consultations.
The GP would not refer me, and prescribed Proctosedyl. This didn’t seem to work and I started investigating privately funded options like Halo.
I kept going back to my GP saying I was trying Proctosedyl without much success, I did think it helped but it certainly isn’t a cure.
My GP referred me to hospital for a consultation. The consultant examined me and said it was a small pile mass and not much could be done. That was not good news, but he did want to check for an abscess, so that was good news in terms of progress. I was referred for an ultrasound and went for that in Oct 2010. It was not pleasant at all.
I was then referred for an MRI. A bit worried by that, and went for that in Jan 2011, again all on the NHS which has always been utterly brilliant since the first 3 bandings I had.
All results came back OK and I saw the consultant who then did some banding in Jun 2011. 24 hours later I felt really bad, faint, very cold, shivering, sickness, and slept as soon as I got home, it was like I had some bad reaction to the banding.
The pain had been relieved though, for only a month, so went back to the consultant who did some more banding on 24 Oct 2011. Again the pain cleared up and pain came back just after a month after a bowel movement.
I decided to go back to the private consultant and to ask his opinion in Dec 2011 and he just said enough is enough and it is time to be referred for an operation with the NHS. I got an appointment for February but could not take it. Got another for April and I went for that.
I went into hospital in the morning at 8am. Had an enema at 9:30am which cleared me out good and proper. 11am they came to get me for surgery, 11:50 I woke up, felt brilliant. Then rested.
Other blokes on the ward had trouble doing a wee, one wet the bed because he couldn’t feel anything. Luckily I was fine, did a wee so that meant I could go home.
I got home at 7pm, and slept slept slept. Got out of bed at about 10am the next morning, felt very uncomfortable but I wouldn’t call in painful, afterall the haemorrhoids were painful!
I went out shopping, walking slowly. There was blood, but had a pad to absorb that.
I went back to work the day after, I was getting on fine.
The next day I needed a poo in the morning, and nearly fainted, the pain was unbelievable, and had to take the day off work.
I went to my doctor and he gave me some Lactulose to loosen things up a bit. Going to the toilet became OK after 2 weeks, but successive bowel movements were never as bad as the first.
It is now almost 2 two after my operation, and I still haven’t fully healed. I forget about it sometime which is brilliant, a true test that the pain of piles has been eradicated for me. Some bowel movements can hurt sometime, and produce some blood, but it soon stops.
There has been a lump, which used to ooze puss, but that has stopped, and the lump seems to be getting smaller, very slowly over time.
The operation by the way, was a very simple removal of one haemorrhoid, they didn’t staple, just because it was one, they simply cut it out, good bloody riddance!
So after over 10 years, and creams, bandings, injections, the proper haemorrhoidectomy seems to have solved the problem, but the reluctance of doctors and consultants to refer me for the operation is a surprising one. I have heard it maybe because the cure can be as bad as the symptoms. If someone has been struck by this horrible condition in its worst form, they wouldn’t say that!
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I have had Achalasia for over 20 years with all the accompanying problems: regurgitation, aspiration pneumonia, spontaneous and embarrassing regurgitation in restaurants, etc. Recently my doctor suggested that Cialis might be helpful. Too make a long story short I now take 2.5 mg of Cialis daily and have experienced almost complete relief from my Achalasia.
I know there is some research on Viagra relieving Achalasia, but I do not believe there is any research on Cialis. I throw my experience out there in the hopes that someone has more information on the use of Cialis and in the hope that perhaps someone else might profit from my experience.
In the U.S. where I live Cialis is expensive, however I was able to find a Canadian company with reasonable prices.
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I just want to get a feel of the pain differences... from, nah it's not so bad to how I am suffering .. where I cannot sit or stand, I am just laid flat, and have been for the last week. I'm on diazepam twice a day, pregabalin twice a day, Naproxen twice a day and paracetamol, And have just come off morphine.
I'll be upping my pregabalin in 3 days and the diazepam. .. I have never felt pain like it. My husband had to dress my bottom half, he has to help me in and out of the shower, and be around to make sure I don't slip..
I've been referred to the spine clinic who are ringing on 3rd Dec for a phone assessment. . They will then get me in for a scan.
I also have a bulging disc at L4... that didn't help either!
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anyone drink with pregabalin?
is it safe? any side effects?
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Does anyone else feel they are putting weight on? I have only been on it for a couple of weeks but feel bloated and as if I am putting weight on fast.
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I've only been on lyrica for 6 days now. Im finding the 75mg dose to strong 1 a day is what i am taking.I was wondering if the capsule can be split in half so i take half of that per day .then was wondering how long does it take to wean off completely if i decide to come off completely off the lyrica. And is it safe to take half of the 75mg has i've noticed that dose is not listed on the patient sheet etc.
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have been on Pregabalin and Sertraline for a combined issue of rapid cycling bipolar and Acute anxiety disorder. Whilst The meds keep things under control 60 per cent of the time, ( another story ) it is starting to get in the way of my sex life.
Without being crass, I'm sure a lot of men would love to be able to have sex for hours and not copulate, and when it first started I was of the same opinion , however, when you meet someone you really like and want to share intimate times with I'm finding this is becoming a problem.
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I'm currently on 600mg Pregabalin for anxiety, and it seems to be helping a little. The only side effects I seem to get is blurred vision and a little bit of tiredness. The tiredness doesn't bother me, as before taking this med I really struggled to sleep.. so this actually helps me a little.
Does anyone else get blurred vision?
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So I'm on 4x75mg twice a day, still sleeping but the day does is a nightmare. I'm exhausted all the time, limbs aching and a banging headache. I honestly think the pain now is worse now then without the pills but I get to sleep 8hrs a night and need that. What to do? I'm seeing the neurologist at the start of June and I'm going to let him know the side effects and worried he will change my prescription because anything new might not let me sleep. I know there's no answer to it, just thought I would share and maybe someone has had the same experience
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Have lost lots of time on medication that has not helped this year. From start of year have had depression/anxiety issues, for a time was on Mirtazapine, and then also Pregabalin. Things got worse and dose was upped of Mirt, progressively until we tapered me off it and moved me on to Lofepramine. The Preg/Life seemed to interact with negative side effects physically and I ran down the Preg, with no negative impact. So for a while was on Lofepramine only and I seem to have neither improved nor got disastrously worse, but have still really found the negative feelings a challenge. Sleep was patchy, but slowly improving, mornings though not as bad as when on the Mirt were still slow and tricky. I'm condensing months of this here. Sorry if its a bit of a brief summary.
The upshot was for a few weeks I was reduced down to half a 70g Lofepramine, and although things were still difficult my judgement was they were not particularly doing much to help step up from the mood I have had for quite some time now. So for 4 days I stopped it altogether. Now I have really struggled the last 2 mornings and have often been under a cloud. I think partly this could be just paranoia about stopping, but I gave in and took the decision to step the Lofepramine back up again and started on 70mg again today. At this point I am not really sure what to do and maybe need to reassess again with the doctor. Its probably fair to say Lofepramine may have helped more than anything else I have tried this year but I am not convinced it does enough.
So considering options. Have not yet gone down the road of an SSRI, so Sertraline, Escitalopram, or what or maybe I should have stayed off Lofepramine for longer to get a better view of whether I am just getting over some withdrawals from it and needed to persist.
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I have been taking fluoxetine on and off for roughly 3 years. I was put on them following the death of my premature baby, I had turned to alcohol as a coping mechanism for 4 years when I finally admitted defeat and tried antidepressants..
However, My doctor and I came to the conclusion about 4 months ago that the fluoxetine was not working, we noticed the pattern that a week before my period I was still becoming suicidal, anxious, withdrawn and emotionally unstable (longer periods without alcohol have enabled me recognise my symptoms better).
We decided I needed to be treated for the anxiety and I was prescribed 150mg of pregabalin at night and beta blockers as and when needed for the anxiety..
A month ago my doc recommended that I reduce from 20mg of fluoxetine daily to one every other day, however, I stupidly just stopped them!
Since this I stopped sleeping, became severely anxious and withdrawn, began having panic attacks, been snappy, angry, had headaches, felt like i've had flu, extreme lows etc.
Bcus of this I stopped the pregabalin as well as I thought these symptoms were bcus of them, as it was the only thing id been taking and it had been 4 weeks since stopping the fluoxetine so I thought that the fluoxetine couldn't be causing any problems, as it would be out of my system and the symptoms did not start immediately after stopping the fluoxetine.
So, last Sunday I was extremely suicidal, depressed etc, a friend took me to the doc on Monday who prescribed me mirtazapine 15mg for the first 5 nights (to help me sleep) then 30 mg a night thereafter.
last night after my second dose I slept for 16 hours!! I awoke today feeling shaky, tired, clumsy, weak, blurred vision, spaced out etc so I called my doc who has advised me to stop the mirtazapine as I was having a bad reaction and restart the fluoxetine as I may be having withdrawals!!
I feel like im back to square one (back on the fluoxetine) which doesn't even work!! I dont know who I am anymore, whether im withdrawing, actually anxious or goodness knows what. I don't want to be on any meds anymore bcuz I dont like the side affects but I also can't continue like this....
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Started on the above 10 days ago. First capsule i took i was asleep not long after, woke up feeling in a daze, doctor advised me to have one a day for few days. I have been taking two a day for 8 days. In this time, i have fell downstairs twice, developed a rash, past two days have had an intense pain above my right eye, not as bad as a migraine, but definitely more than a headache, im not due to see Dr until another two weeks.. Hopefully the side effects will go as time goes on. I am also taking sertaline with these, i must admit i feel more like a zombie than alive lol.
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Heroin is something that no-one journey is the same,the effects it has on your life may be same but to go though and come out the other side clean..yes in fairy land. Yes you can, but to get there is more than any words could describe. Its hard work the ones with family's supporting them may be a help but to most its just a suicide mission. I went though it dragged my family with me,but to no avail it wasn't cos I couldn't care less it was a matter of survival for me I couldn't cope with normal everyday duties. My Dad died and instead of being with my family I ran away it couldn't be true it was a lie I just wouldn't except it .
My world was shattered and no-one around to help -depression sunk its teeth in and wouldn't let go. That was 2 years 9 months ago ,today I am street drug free,on a maintenance regime with a network of out-reach programs with all the aspects of my life being worked on, its hard work, not for the faint hard it its got to come from you the one its destroying to take control, if I can have a life I want one that's got a future to look and plan for.I have been the lowest any human-being could get and crawled out of the huge hole I put myself in. that's the point"ADMITTING IT WAS YOU " no-one else. I wish you luck,and I give you hope,that you too can do what I did .its staying clean thats the hard part ,one step at a time and no matter how long it takes that no interest do it in time for you not to a time-table. Thankyou for reading ,hope it helps one person that'll do for me.
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I smoked for 37 years from the age of nine. I have tried to quit many times but can say now in hindsight that I never really tried, I just pretended to myself that I was trying. Some times I stopped smoking and had a cigarette less than an hour later but made up an excuse and continued to "try" stopping. I never actually admitted to failing until I was back on my usual 20 or 30 a day.
In January I decided to give it a go again but this time I went to a stop smoking group. This will not work for all people but it did for me so I am happy. Somebody at the group came out with the idea that everyone at the group should get into their heads that the minute you have 1 cigarette then you have failed. I am a naturally competitive person and this really worked in gettting me motivated. I did not want to be the one that failed.
In the group we were given help with products and I chose to use patches and lozenges. I used the patches for 6 weeks and the lozenges for about 12 but do not use either now. There seems to be this perception amongst internet posters that if you use stop smoking products then you didn't do it properly and its far better to stop "cold turkey" Personally I think it's the result that counts not how you get there.
I have now gone almost 8 months without a cigarette and still get the cravings now and again. But I just keep saying to myself "if you have 1 cigarette you have failed".
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I am having dizziness after stopping Zoloft by is worse when I bend over or look up to ceiling.
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Let me just start with the fact that I am 22 years old and have been told Iwould be on blood thinners for life. Nobody at this age wants to hear that. And it may sound selfish, but me and my husband look forward to having another child. However, doing so while on blood thinners would mean injecting myself every day for nine months. Not okay for me.
This all started when I had my child. 10 days after having him, I had a bad pain in my lower back that I related to sciatica pain. However, something in me told me to see a doctor. I was diagnosed with having a blood clot in a major vein in my leg. Scary. I was put on warfarin and was told it would be for no more than 9 months. I work as a supervisor with my job, so taking my medicine on time and every day fo r hat matter was hard because I was working 3 different shifts in one week. 5 months after my first clot, I went to work and my arm started feeling tingly. Went to the doctor and they discovered a small clot in my arm. I was then told I would be on blood thinners for life and switched to xarelto because they thought it would be better for me. They ran tests to find out why I had clotted to begin with, and he ONLY thing they found was that it was due to y pregnancy. They could not find anything wrong with my blood. Only thing abnormal was my protein level and they said that was perfectly normal. So now its been 15 months since the first clot, and a year since the second.
Me and my husband would like to have another child. So my question is, has anyone ever (even in a pregnancy related clot) stopped taking their blood thinner? If so, how is your health now?
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I have been taking escitalopram for over two years they were prescribed for severe panic attacks, i feel i got my life back while taking this drug, but have recently started to reduce the dose on my doctors advise, i have been feeling very weepy, vulnerable and the old feelings are coming back i am down to 5mg every third day but i am frightened i will revert back to how i was and this scares me i wonder if i will ever be able to stop altogether
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I've been taking propranolol since the end of March - just 10 mg per day and then I've been taking 50mg sertraline per day for 3 weeks. I had been complaining of awful neck pains and general muscle aches but today, I forgot to take my propranolol and the aches and pains haven't been there. Has anyone else stopped taking propranolol suddenly? Can this have a bad reaction as I was on such a low dose?
I have been getting hot/warm sensations inside around my chest and different parts of my body for the past couple of days also, is this a part of the sertraline effects?
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I was perscribed the drug before the results of my culture were in. I just learned that my culture is negative, soI stopped taking it. My last dose was close to 24 hrs. ago. How long do I have to wait before having a drink, after just 3 doses?
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