Lyrica..
I have spent the last week as a new member to this site giving advice to people about stuff I have experience with. I was reading the newest post and the replies, and in one of the replies, the person said he had degenerative disc disease, phase 2 or some phase. I didnt even know there were phases of it. Anyways I too have it in my neck. 2or 3 of my discs are herniated, but the diagnosis on my last MRI is D.D.D. So this means my discs are basically rotting? Anyways I am only 29 and have been suffering with this pain for 3 years now. I was an opiate addict before I got hurt, and after I got hurt my addiction got a LOT worse, because I was getting the drugs legally. Though I would go thru a months script of Roxi 15's in about 3 days. Well since I am not seeing that doc anymore, and didnt see one for a few months, I decided to get help for my addiction, and got on the Methadone Maint. Program. Anyways my doc at this rehab center/ pain clinic just outside of Boston, gave me Lyrica for the nerve pain I have in my neck and arms. I googled the Lyrica and most of the sites said that it can be addictive, and cause w/d if abruptly stopped, and may cause drug seeking behavior. It sounds just like any opiate! Have any of you taken Lyrica, and if so how does it make u feel. Is it a feeling like opiates where you would "drug seek"? Because prior to the Lyrica he gave me Neurontin, and it didnt say any of that stuff about IT. The Neurontin made me too groggy in the a.m. so I told him I wont take it. Any info on this would be helpful. Thank U
Thanks for the reply Phisher, thats what I figured-what you said, that it was just one of those warnings that they have to put to cover themselves, incase of any problems. I didnt think it would to anything euphoric, coz my doc wouldnt have rx'ed it to me. As long as it helps my nerve pain, or shocks as I call them. Also I am sure not all sites have this warning, I forget which one it was, may have been web md, actually i think it was coz thats usually the one I check first. I just thought it was weird that this warning was on the lyrica and not the neurontin. Thanks again!
I have tried Lyrica and I can say it does well with the shocking feeling down the leg. As far as a high feeling, I definately do not see that happening. The only problem with this medication is that it takes a while to get into your system. Its not controlled release like Oxycontin or Dilaudid which is instant release. But either way it works well but I also have to say that it hurts my stomach sometimes without Milk. I would say go for it if the Doc says so.
Lyrica would not feel like an opiod, since it is not one. Lyrica is Pregablin, and as the name implies, it is active at the GABA(gamma aminobutyric acid) sites in the brain. (preGABAlin) It is essentially a more potent version of gabapentin, and the subjective feeling it gives is similar to it as well.
I would assume that the closest cross-over abuse population would probably be those who abuse benzodiazepines or alcohol, but not opiates (although an "addictive personality" sometimes knows no boundaries)
my mother just started taking lyrica at 75mg TID for her fibromyalgia and the first week she took it she was stumbling around and said she felt drunk so it deffinitely has abuse potential however I would not put it anywhere near opiates more like a weak benzo or alcohol. But it deffinitely has some sort of abuse potential.
It has little to no abuse potential according to the DEA; hence its category 5 scheduling.
I guess if one looks at in a theoretical manner then yes, essentially anything can be abused (i.e. food, sleep, et al). However, I think that the original poster was more concerned about the potential for the drug to become addictive to them (which is why she asked).
all thoughts and opinions expressed are those of my own and should not be mistaken for medical advice. i am not a doctor nor a pharmacist. all medical questions should be answered by a licensed pharmacist, doctor, or primary care manager.
You are right in that the government considers pregabalin to be little to no abuse potential due to its schedule V ruling on this drug however I was speaking more from my own experiences because I know that this drug does alter your consciousness. The prescribing information advises against sudden termination of pregabalin due to possible withdrawal symptoms so although it is not of major concern compared to the higher schedule drugs I felt that it should still be noted that it can cause dependency and thus lead to addiction. I think this goes back to the debate over dependence/addiction and how people interpret it differently because although the prescribing info warns of dependency you can become dependent without an addictive need for the drug to alter your consciousness however if you have a very badly addictive personality like me this drug can still cause addictive tendencies even if it is less than narcotics and other schedules drugs. It is scheduled for a reason. Phisher you probably answered the question the way the OP wanted and I was speaking more of my opinion with pregabalin.
To sum up yes this drug is said to have very little abuse potential but as phisher said anything can be abused if you have an addictive tendency towards it.
Thanks to all who replied to my original post. I wasn't worried about gettin addicted to it because I know its not an opiate and wont feel like one. From taking the neurontin I know that was rx'ed for bedtime, and I felt drunk when I woke up so thats why I dont take it anymore. I was just wondering if the Lyrica will make me feel that way all day since it was rx'ed for the daytime, and one of you said its a more potent neurontin. And I was wondering why the lyrica had all the warnings, where the neurontin didnt. So it must be if you like to feel groggy and drunk, then you would abuse it. Just depends on the person, like u said. As long as it helps the shocking electric-like pains I have going down my arms, thats all I care about. I was thinking though, since I have been on methadone, I have been rx'ed percs and vics for my neck pain in the ER, and for a tooth infection, and extraction. Obviously I am on a high enough blocking dose, so when I took the pills I felt no euphoric feelings at all, which I didnt expect to, but they did help my pain, just like if I took a regular Tylenol. So knowing this, I dont see why my doc cant prescribe me a weak opiate like perc 5's for my pain, he knows Im on the 'done, and knows I wouldnt get high off of the percs, so I wouldnt abuse them. Thats why I havent relapsed at all, cause my dose is so high that I wont feel anything I take anyways. I know this is not likely to happen, doc givin the opiates to me, Im realistic enough, but it was just a thought. I know how people treat addicts, especially docs! And esp. if u r on methadone, they still think u are a junkie. But thats a whole different subject. Thanks again for replies, everybody.
I was put on Lyrica for a month; it cost me some $275.00 for the prescription (it was NOT covered by insurance) and actually worked well for about 2 weeks. It started kicking in about day 3 or so. After that, it did not work at all and I guess that this just happens.
What this really was equates to a last-ditch effort to "not prescribe" medications that they knew would work. I take both Oxy (low-dose) and MSIR for pain now, and have veirtally no problems with respect to the typical opioid-induced haze that so many abusers take them for. For the first time in years, I lead a somewhat normal life.
Lyrica has a lot of warnings because they simply do not really know how/why it works. They hypothesize about it, but they don't know. The "warning sheet" on MSIR is about 1/5 the length because the effects are well-known over decades.
My mother started taking lyrica 75mg three times a day and she said she felt very tired and drunk for the first week and a half but then it went away. She says it does help to a small degree with her fibromyalgia but she is also prescribed percocets.
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I have taken Lyrica. It definitely did not make me feel like any opioid. furthermore, I really don't see how it is addicting nor how it would cause any abnormal drug-seeking behavior. However, as we all know, everyone is different so I guess this type of warning may be appropriate. I do agree that it should not be stopped abruptly (as is with most medications).
There are many times when medications will have warnings that may seem out of place and I personally feel that this is one of those times.
Lyrica is a C-V and shows little to no potential for abuse. It definitely did not feel like any type of opioid to me. The closest thing that I have had that I would compare it to would be Neurontin.
As most medical professionals will tell, treating pain can be difficult for those whom have past histories of substance abuse. That said, if your doctor feels like this will help, then I would give it a shot and follow their instructions exactly (based off of the assumption that you trust your doctor).
Good luck!!
Here is the pdf information right from the maker of lyrica. I browsed through it and did not see any mention of habbit forming, abusing, or abornmal drug-seeking behavior. it did say, and i quote, that it may make some people feel "high". This does not mean that somewhere else there may be information that says exactly what you stated though.
http://www.pfizer.com/files/products/ppi_lyrica.pdf
all thoughts and opinions expressed are those of my own and should not be mistaken for medical advice. i am not a doctor nor a pharmacist. all medical questions should be answered by a licensed pharmacist, doctor, or primary care manager.