Pregabalin withdrawal

[Nikki9191]

Hi all
I hoping to hear of others experiences regarding Pregabalin withdrawal.
i have been in Pregabalin for 7 years at 600mg a day. I have spent the past year coming down very slowly and I’m now on 150mg a day.
Although I’ve taken it very very slowly I still get horrible side effects each time I come down by 10mg. I get nausea, diarrhoea, stomach pain and extreme anxiety. I also have thoughts of not wanting to be here (not going to act on them) they are just so scary.
my question is has anyone else experienced these side effects from tapering down on such a low dose?
I need to get off this drug, my brain doesn’t work properly anymore and I’ve put on around 7 stone! It’s horrible and I wish I never took it in the first place.

Hi Nikki9191, I came off of pregabalin last year after 14 years of being on it as i didnt think it was working for me anymore.

I came off at 25 a time over a 3 week period and then reducing again. I had the help of my surgery pharmacist, I had to see her to discuss withdrawal symptoms before she would reduce it each time. There are things you can be given to help withdrawal symptoms so is your gp monitoring you coming off these as it should not be done without help.

The only effect I had was severe anxiety for the first week of each reduction then it eased. I was given phenegan to help ease this.

Like you i gained weight and blamed it for a lot of my problems which is why I came off it. I was off it for amost a year but have been back on it the last 5 months and doubt I will ever come off it as it actually works wonders for my anxiety and nerve pain. It saved my life the beginning of this year I was so close to a nervous breakdown but within 2 weeks of being back on it I was 80% better! The gp thinks coming off it actually caused by breakdown but I'm not sure about that?!

If you have any other questions about it let me know and please make sure you are getting professional help to come off these pills as it really isn't easy! Can I ask what you were taking it for?