Pregabalin withdrawal

[BeautifulBirds]

Looking for advice on pregabalin withdrawal please.

I have been on 600mg of pregabalin daily for the last 18 months. Had surgery to deal with what was causing the issue, which was a success.

Has anyone had experience of stopping pregabalin, please?

Yes. Extreme depression such as I didn't know existed. Be very very careful. Don't make any big decisions as it really can feel that everything's suddenly gone dark and that's the way life is.

Only stop it in conjunction with your GP- by reducing doses. Don’t just stop taking it, my DSS mum did this and ended up taking an OD of diazepam, thankfully she was okay but she was in a very very dark place. Speak to your GP before you do anything at all

I did forget to take a day following surgery and the dreams I had were awful, along with sweats, stomach pain etc.

Dreading coming off it, but need to as its no longer required.

Yes, felt incredibly sick! Slowly dropped the dose each day and could barely eat. When I was on it it was still a pretty new drug so people didn’t realise it had such strong side effects it was just ‘so much better’ than gabapentin. So when I stopped it, I worked throughout 🙄.

A horrible couple of weeks but once through it felt so much better so just focus on where you are getting to and you will be fine!

It took me several weeks to come off it. I was on 200mg 3 times a day. My advise would be to get smaller dose tablets off your GP and do it under advisement. I found I could on drop down on a day off, I felt unwell and my mood was unstable (I started crying quite randomly!). Got there in the end though.

Thanks for the advice.

I'm dreading it.

Sounds like a bit of a battle....

Very very very tiny reductions are the way to go

Just thought I would update the thread for anyone else looking for support.

So, my GP has said to reduce the dose by 150mg every 5/7 days, depending how I'm feeling.

I have a massive motivation to kick this drug, we will try for our final baby, number 2, once I am 'clean'!

Here we are 10 days later, and I've managed to get down to 150mg (last night) a day. I know I have been going quicker than the recommended, but am prepared to up the dose if I feel out of sorts.

I've not suffered too badly in the day. I'm recovering from surgery so I think that might distract me from any adverse affects. Last night I was restless, and very sweaty!

My mood is stable, or at least no one has commented otherwise, and I'm in good spirits. I'm keeping mentally busy, reading, crosswords, deciding on the next decorating project!!

The gp did say to me that once I was happy on the 150mg daily that I could just stop that, but that feels odd. I might ask for 50mg.

I'm not taking any other pain relief either, so that's good.

Mind is firmly set on feeling better. Oh, and I've lost 12lb in 2 weeks which is very motivating (coincidence? Maybe?!)

X

Well done @BeautifulBirds - sounds like you are making great progress 👍

Woohoo.... 1 week clean!! And 1 stone gone without trying!! Sleep is restless, days are sleepy, but I'm there!!

Oh that's brilliant news!!! Well done

I’m really struggling with this. I was prescribed it by my Psycg, 400mg, 18 months ago. The side effects are now intolerable.

I’m weaning down at a much slower rate of 25mg per month - it’s been 3 weeks. The last few nights have been horrific. Night terrors, sleep paralysis, extreme anxiety.

I have Diazepam to take, and I did today, but I wasn’t expecting it to be this brutal when I’m weaning off so slowly.

I came off pregabalin successfully and have been without it for 3 yrs now. Unfortunately the reason I needed it hasn't been resolved and I've had to accept being in a lot more pain so that I can be rid of the side effects.

When I was coming off them I went down to the lowest dose and then took it every other day for another week, then every 3 days for the last 2 doses. Best of luck.