What are your experiences with Lyrica for treating fibro?

Symptoms & Treatments
1

I just started my second week on Lyrica and currently take 100 mgs. The goal is reach 150 mgs by the end of week three. I'm wondering if anyone has had experience with this medication? Today was the first day that I was almost pain free! I never expected such a quick result. Although the muscle pain has been mostly mitigated, I still feel nerve sensitivity along with tingling, numbness, stabbing pain, etc. Does anyone know if Lyrica will eventually reduce nerve pain too?

I'd also like to know if anyone has experienced side effects with this drug? Since I started taking the medicine I've had stomach issues and occasional headaches. Also I've read that Lyrica may cause weight gain. Has anyone experienced that?

2

Hi Marlene,

Good to hear from you! I am very glad to know that the Lyrica is helping you! I take it for Sciatica, but find it is good for nerve pain from any source.

I currently take 225 mg 3x daily, biggest problem is it causes me to retain fluid, so once in a while I have to stop taking it a day or two, with consent of my drs, and when I do, am able to release the fluid as I am constantly running to the bathroom! Though the GP has given me 'fluid pills', he warned me that once you start them , your body instantly is totally reliable on them, so I have yet to use them.

I hope that you will be able to use this med and have only good results!

If you click on 'discussions' at the top of the page on the left is a search engine, if you type in "Lyrica', it will bring up everything that has ever been posted on the subject. Should be quite a lot. It's a great tool!

Wishing you well,

SK

3

Hi Marlene, unfortunately I was unable to take Lyrica for any length of time because of side effects. It worked quite quickly to reduce the pain, I started on 75 mgs. After I increased it to 150 mg, over a period of a month, I started to get constant headaches, blisters on my scalp, nausea, fecal incontinence, slept 16 hours a day etc. I also gained significant weight, not water, but that was probably my fault as I was hungry all the time I was awake and I wasn’t exercising. My doc thinks my body is over reacting to all the new drugs because of the fibro, my age - 63 and the fact that I take auto-immune suppressants, and multiple other prescriptions.



Lyrica seems to work for a lot of people, and I hope it is successful for you. Just a quick warning, if you have problems with the drug, don’t just stop taking it, you need to reduce it slowly.



Lots of luck

4

I don't know how it works, rattled, he did not go into that end of it. It may have something to do with depleting the fluid reserve of the body, but I really don't know for sure. If I find something that explains it, I'll be sure to pass it on.

5

I had horrible headaches when I first took the medication so my doctor dropped me down to 25 mg for 3 days (twice a day) then 50 mg for 3 days (twice a day) and then up to 75 mg (twice a day) which I am currently still on and do not have the headaches anymore. I think the side effects go away pretty quickly. I do know a lot of people gain weight on Lyrica that I have read but I haven't been on it long enough to notice yet.

Lyrica did not take the pain completely away for me and I am still taking pain meds with it. The one added bonus that I really noticed was an increase in energy which I needed.

I hope it still keeps you pain free and not gaining weight in the future. That is awesome you found something that works for your situation.

P.S. After reading the posts I do retain water and my ankles swell at the end of each day but it is worth it as I can deal with this side effect.

6

Marlene, I've found Lyrica to be helpful in reducing fibro pain. I do find, however, that the fibro pain pushes through on me, making the Lyrica feel less effective. But I had to do without Lyrica yesterday when I used vicodin for my stabbing knee pain, and I can attest that I had a terrible, painful time getting to sleep! (So yes, the Lyrica really is still working on my pain.) I decided to ditch the vicodin and go back to the Lyrica and nortriptyline once I saw how profound my sleep issues were without these two meds. I am SO grateful for both of them; there is no way I'd be functional if i had those sleep issues every night!

Lyrica is good for quieting the nerve pain that fibro inflicts upon us. It almost feels like we have tinnitis of the nervous system, with constant nerve pain jangling through our system (with tinnitus it's constant ear ringing,) and the Lyrica helps to quiet some of the stupid jangling. But I still do feel some pain despite the Lyrica. Arthritis pain is not helped by it and the stabbing pain i had in my knee also wasn't helped by it.

One thing i do notice in terms of side effects is that once i fall asleep while using it and Nortriptyline, my leg keeps twitching and jumping, which startles me awake for a few seconds. No harm done, just kind of a weird side effect to experience.

Another side effect for me was terrible dizziness for the first month or two. i felt like a drunk, it felt like the world was tilted at a crazy angle when I had the dizzy spells. That eventually went away, thankfully.

Weight gain is another issue with Lyrica, although, quite frankly, i didn't have much problem with it until nortriptyline was added to my meds. Between the two meds, I ate my way up 20 lbs, which is not a good thing at all. But still, weight gain vs. less pain - less pain wins, hands down.

i'm really glad to hear that you've felt less pain while using Lyrica and i hope the stomach issues and occasional headaches go away. Maybe you need to eat before taking it? Whatever the reason, i hope it gets better because Lyrica really can be a useful drug for your fibro nerve pain.

7

Hi Marlene, great question !! Unfortunately I was unable to take it, broke out in a rash, tried it 3 different times & each time had a rash after 2 weeks, but I do remember it made me very hungry !! ugh, not what we need, I hope for you it gives you some relief !!! Each time I tried it … My dr stressed starting it very slow, to ward off the drunk & dizzy feeling.
Hugs & blessings
dee

8

Thank you so much for all of your great responses. It's amazing how one medication could create so many different outcomes!

I may have sung the praises of Lyrica too quickly. Yesterday I did not get the relief I enjoyed the day before. Today I'm a little better but still feel the nerve pain. Hopefully I will get a more consistent result once I reach a higher dosage level.

The weight gain many of you experienced concerns me a great deal since I recently lost 20 lbs. and have been able to eliminate my hypertension and Type II diabetes meds. FMS is such a strange syndrome and I am still trying to wrap my head around it and accept the fact that I cannot be cured. I feel like my body has turned against me. I have two young daughters and I would hate for their childhood memories to include me laying on the couch!