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Pregabalin - how quickly does it have any effect?

7 replies

Cyclewidow46 · 08/10/2017 22:12

I woke up last Sunday morning with terrible pain in my neck and throbbing pains down my arm and numb fingers.
An MRI revealed a herniated disc at C6/7 which explains the symptoms.
Having tried various pain killers over the week my GP prescribed Pregabalin on Friday. 2 doses of 75mg per day.
It's now Sunday evening and I've still had no relief from the throbbing/ numbness and occasional shooting pain in my arm.
How soon should I expect some relief from this pain?
Many thanks in advance

OP posts:
OrSoItSeemsThatWay · 08/10/2017 22:15

It worked within the first couple of days for me. I'd get back to your doctor tomorrow and ask if you can have something else alongside it or to increase the dose. Not everyone is keen on Tramadol but it works for me.

twattymctwatterson · 08/10/2017 22:27

I take it for Fibromyalgia and actually think it did take several days to have a real effect. It's a life saver for me tbh

Cyclewidow46 · 08/10/2017 22:30

Thank you for your prompt replies!
I'm so desperate for this nerve pain to go I think I was expecting / hoping for an overnight result!

OP posts:
sweetkitty · 08/10/2017 23:40

Never worked for me for my fibromyalgia now I take tramadol

Tankerdale · 08/10/2017 23:46

It worked very well for me pretty soon though I did need to increase the dose a couple of times. Are you also taking anti inflammatory like naproxen?
Impressed/surprised you got an MRI straight away, I had to wait weeks and only got one then because I was privately insured and it wasn't improving by itself initially.

Other things that helped me were changing my pillow to a special neck support one (previously slept with 2-3 soft ones) and one of those heated pillow things you pop in the microwave specially shaped to go round the neck. Also seeing a great chiropractor:

I hope it passes soon, it's horrendous but take heart because the neck ones heal better on their own with time better than the back ones.

Mine was 6-8 wks but it is often less I believe, 18 months on I still have a numb finger tip on one hand but otherwise totally fine though I've retained the better sleeping position.

Cyclewidow46 · 09/10/2017 00:39

I had started Naproxen but with little effect. When put onto the pregabalin I asked my GP should I continue with the naproxen she said there was no point as it wasn't working. Maybe I should continue with it combined with the pregabalin?
Regarding the MRI, I do actually work in the Radiology dept and so was able to be seen quickly. I'm not one to normally push myself forward like this but it's in the trusts interest to get this sorted, I'm not doing much work at the moment!
Searching online I've come to the conclusion that this is something I've probably got to live with for a while, I've just got to be patient.

OP posts:
Laniakea · 09/10/2017 10:53

it worked for me pretty quickly - 2-3 days maybe - but 75mg twice a day is a very low dose for pain. I'm prescribed up to 800mg a day - most of the time I manage on 450 to 600 but I do get breakthrough pain between doses. I top up with an anti inflammatory (actually find soluble aspirin of all things works reasonably well).

It's so depressing (understatement) being in pain, I hope you find something to get it to a survivable level. I have occipital neuralgia (since July) & have to wait until January to see if it sorts itself out (no sign of improvement so far) before they will consider other treatment. It is very hard to cope with.

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