Pregabalin

[ericaandfamily]

Posting here for traffic.

Has anyone taken pregabalin for anxiety?

I started tonight, the mental health team prescribed it to take alongside 350mg Venlafaxine for depression.

I feel like I've had 2 bottles of wine and just had a massive outburst about my abuse as a child to my DH and for the first time ever I feel like a weight has been lifted but I don't want to feel like this whilst on them.

I'm meant to take one in the day then one early evening, will the side effects ease?

What dose are you on?

I felt like I was drunk when I took them. I was taking 100 mg three times a day.

Horribly addictive stuff and far too effective against anxiety. I simply didn’t care about anything, including my closest relationships. I expect that I will be on it for life. I dread to think of the long term effects.

Pegabalin is ok if you are being monitored. Sometimes people are prescribed this medication and not properly assessed . Do you have plan with your DR ?

@Gilead 75mg twice a day

@MaskingForIt I feel exactly the same like I'm drunk and on a high wanting to dance or something it's actually disturbing

@OriginalLilibet I'm sad to read this, have you told your dr?

@olidora63 I am being monitored by the local mental health crisis team, they have been wonderful for the past 7 months. My depression is somewhat under control but my anxiety is through the roof that's why they have prescribed these to take with my antidepressants

Definitely contact your MH team again.💐

It’s quite a high starting dose, I’d be asking to start on a smaller dose and work up.

I took it for pain relief. I went up to 200mg three times a day. It did help with the (at the time, unexplained). Most side effects wore off but it left me very foggy headed and was very difficult to wean off. I could only drop my dose on my days off because I was bursting into tears randomly when I did! My advice would be proceed with caution.

I’m on 600mg a day and love it. The side effects ease after a few weeks. Good luck x

I had to come off it it turned me into an aggressive Zombie

I'm on it for pain, I take 50-50-100. It does make me tired (more so than my opiates) but not particularly uninhibited. My ADs do that! I've been on higher and lower doses and was pretty out of it on more. I do find I feel quite dizzy for a couple of days if I increase the dose, as well as the increased fatigue. The dizziness passes in a few days. If you try it for a few days and can't get use to it, you could try three times 50mg to see if it's better.

I dont but my other half was given it for restless leg (although restless is a mild word for it, it's like being in a middle of an earth quake the way the bed shakes) and night terrors (violent ones, I've been pinned down, kicked, punched, slapped, screamed at more times then I can count)
He says it makes him feel like shit, and it doesn't help at all with those problems. He's also very grumpy on it.
He was left on it for months with no review, despite how highly regulated it is. Turns out the dr went on maternity leave and didn't bother to hand his case over.
Going to watch this thread with interest and see how others are getting on.

Am on it for pain relief. It's a bloody wonder drug, and has sorted intense pain that paracetamol, naproxen, and opioids could not touch.

@ArcheryAnnie did nothing for my pain relief!

I took it for pain. Weird stuff.
Felt in a dream world. Disengaged.
Hallucinated when tired (apparently fine because I knew they were not real bats etc).
Lost some inhibitions.
Pain immediately disappeared but that miracle didn't last.
Immediate weight gain.
Utter hell if I missed a dose. Crushing depression that felt literally unsurvivable. That was new to me and humbling.
I wouldn't recommend unless you're desperate.

Nope. Took it for nerve pain. It was excellent when I had a compressed nerve.
My mother took it and was loony tunes

I do 200 morning and 200 night alongside mirtazapine and chlorpromazine
It’s for my anxiety
It does help and side effects do calm down but weight gain is off the scale but it has given me a bit of life back and can leave the house when I need to now
Good luck Anxiety is awful 🥰

I'm on it for pain. I take 75 in the morning and 150 at night. No side effects after 3 weeks and it's made my life A LOT better.

@Gilead I am sorry to hear that! It worked on me when nothing else did. I didn't know about the side effects, have had none of the zombification or disassociation that some other people have reported, though I did immediately put on a stone and a half, which I could've done without. Wouldn't trade it back for the pain, though - it was at an absolutely unbearable level, and I was desperate.

It's the only medication that I've been on where I thought that people could probably take it recreationally. Great for anxiety, but it made me feel slightly euphoric and a bit weird.

@ArcheryAnnie I’m hoping that consultant’s letter to GP will get through this week, she’s recommending amitriptyline. I’m praying it works! I have EDS and Arthritis. Added to that an emergency colectomy back in June damaged both ileal and sciatic nerve. I get six weeks respite if I take high dose pred but obviously can’t keep on with it.

@ericaandfamily how are you feeling today?

Thanks so much everyone.

@Gilead I was up until 5:30am! Couldn't sleep at all, so quietly cleaned and scrubbed my kitchen and bathroom 🤦🏻‍♀️ I felt like I'd had 15 cups of coffee! Hopefully these side effects wear off

@ericaandfamily I can think of better things to do!
Seriously though, if you’re finding them too much, chat with your team. Hope you have a decent day.