Any Experience With "Lyrica" for Pain Management?

[butterfly19]

Well, I have had this on my mind for a few days so I figured what better place than the "Pain Management" forum to ask others opinions. I hope I am within the bounds of the rules for posting my question. If not, please let me know!

As I mentioned in my introduction, I suffer from chronic pain and am addicted to opiates. Currently I'm on suboxone, and after the intial withdrawal pain being eased by the sub, I realized that I'm having the most severe joint pain in my life that I most likely have been masking for years by taking the narcotics. So now, how to deal with the REAL pain that is causing me to barely function?

My psychiatrist who is an addiction specialist recommended Lyrica to me for my chronic pain. Since I do work in the medical field, I have some basic knowledge of what it is and how it works. It is actually an anticonvulsant used for partial onset seizures but due to the effect it has on the CNS (central nervous system) it can block the pain signals that are working overtime in such conditions as fibromyalgia and neuropathic pain. It is non-narcotic, btw.

My question is this. Has anyone been taking this medication and had good outcomes with it in regards to chronic pain being relieved? Also, has anyone taken it specifically for joint pain and has it helped?

My doc told me that one of the side effects that he worried about for me was drowsiness because some of the other meds he has me on make me extremely drowsy. We decided to wait one more week so I could think it over and decide if I wanted to try it. It is expensive, but he is good about giving me samples because of my lack of insurance. I think I'll more than likely tell him at my appt. on Monday that I want to give it a try. I'm hurting more and more everyday, and as many of you know, that puts a damper on trying to recover from opiates when you're in severe pain all the time. The thought is always there eating at you, that if you could just take one pain pill you would feel better. But I know like others have said on here that it would be impossible for me. I wouldn't take them as prescribed--they'd be gone in 2-3 days and I'd be left wanting more. So I have to find some alternatives.

Perhaps Lyrica would be something worth trying. Please let me know of your experiences with it! I can't wait to find out if there is a lot of success in using it to treat chronic pain! Thanks to all for taking the time to read and respond with your thoughts on this subject!

butterfly19

[Alera]

I took it for nerve pain, and its worked wonders. I have found it also works wonders for my migraines, and actually helped me reduce my cravings for pain medication. I had to stop it for a while as the insurance didn't pick it up, but I got samples again from the doctor and I was jumping up and down with joy to be taking it again.

[jazpoppy]

Butterfly;

I am so sorry to have to tell you a not-so-good story about Lyrica. Please don't go by my experience. Everyone is different and you may respond very well to it. Yes it does work for pain, but with me, it also had side effects that I could not live with, such as blurry vision at night, and severely swollen hands, feet and legs (all the way up to my thighs) with redness and a hard warm feeling where my swelling was. It did, however, help with my sciatica, and hip pain. It didn't help with the mechanical back pain caused by my osteoarthrits and spinal stenosis. It helped with my carpel tunnel pain though. So I had to stop taking it because of the severe side effects, but if I didn't have those side effects, I would still be on it. I was hoping it would be my miracle medication and that I would only have to take that, but not for me. You should definately try it and see what it does for you. I wish you the best and hope it does work well for you! I would be very happy to hear that its all you need to help you severe pain. It is no fun to be in severe pain and even worse when you are trying to recover from opiate addiction! I wish you the best!

Love

Jaz

PS - The warning label and the commercial for Lyrica does state that it can have addictive qualities. I didn't see how, as it didn't cause euphoria or any good or bad feelings, besides swelling and blurred vision, but everyone is different so please talk to you doctor about the addiction warning first as I am NOT a pharmacist or doctor so I cannot be 100% sure of anything.

[nandm]

I have not heard of Lyrica for pain management but do know that many anti-convulsant or anti-depressants, and even some blood pressure meds can help with pain. It is non narcotic so addiction should not be a concern. Although it like any other medication has side effects the key thing to remember is that not everyone experiences all or even some of the side effects a medication may have. Some like jazpoppy, have severe enough reactions to justify stopping the medication. Sometimes it comes down to weighing out the side effects against the pain management properties. You might be one of the fortunate people who has minimal side effects from the medication. I think it is a great idea, might as well give it a try. You might actually find it works better for your pain than the narcotic pain relievers. Good luck to you.

[butterfly19]

Thanks to all for the replies! I hope some more people out there will see this new forum and comment on their experiences with pain management and alternative treatment options!

Jaz: Thanks for your input involving your own experience with Lyrica. It definitely gave me some things to think about and ask my doctor about. I looked it up in my medication book and did see that it can in fact cause edema. This is worrisome to me b/c I have had significant edema since I started taking suboxone. At first I thought that something else was causing my lower extremity edema, but now that my suboxone dose has been tapered slightly, I can tell that the swelling is slowly going down. Hopefully, the Lyrica won't cause edema for me, but it is certainly good to know the risks and to keep an eye out for adverse effect!

Alera: I'm so happy that you were able to get samples of it again! Fortunately my doc. has told me he can give me samples as well, otherwise I couldn't afford it either. It's great to know that it helped with your pain and with cravings! I too suffer from occasional migraines but that has decreased since I stopped taking my oral contraceptives.

Again, thanks to all for your personal experiences! Keep up the good work! I do hope the stories keep rolling in!!!!

butterfly19

[jazpoppy]

butterfly;

Thanks for the personal reply. I have been on suboxone and that didn't cause swelling for me, so it really goes to show that everyone is different. I am praying that Lyrica works for you! I had some swelling with a higher dose of methadone (over 100mg) when I had to go to a Methadone Clinic. My counselor had me go down, and the swelling went away. I am sensitive to certain medications I guess. I also didn't fit in very well at the Methadone Clinic. I was unlike a lot of the other patients, I didn't want to keep increasing (most want to, because they still have that craving to get high), but I didn't want to because I was afraid that it would stop controlling my pain and I'd be out of luck for any relief. I am not saying I'm not an addict, because I AM! I did use for "fun" for a while over 5 years ago, but quickly found out that it was easily and quickly ruining my life. Then a couple years into sobriety I got the severe pain of arthritis, chronic fatigue, fibromyalsia, and spine problems, so now I feel like I'm being punished for abusing drugs, because now I have to take them in order to physically function without pain. So I left the clinic and got a good doctor. Sorry this post is so long and it repeats what I wrote in my own post about my pain and recovery story. I just get carried away sometimes! Good luck to you! I wish you well.

Love

Jaz

[Alera]

Doing pretty well here. I am still suffering from the drowsiness but that's normal when a person ups the dose as quickly as I did (and they are doing as much as I am). I'm just starting to get to the blood level where I don't have cravings again. Yeah!

[butterfly19]

That's great Alera. I'm glad it is helping you so much!

I just started on it finally yesterday. They didn't have samples at my last appt. so I couldn't get started on it when I had hoped. But when I went to my appt. this Tuesday, they had some samples. They gave me 50mg capsules but didn't tell me how much to take. Of course, I forgot to ask. So being that I'm in the medical field, I took it upon myself to read the insert and develop my own plan. It recommended a starting dose of 75 mg twice a day. I decided to just try 50 mg twice a day for now and see how it goes.

So far I can't tell much difference, but of course I didn't expect to feel something overnight. I did however, sleep like 12 hours and I'm not sure if that had to do with the Lyrica or not. I'm on other meds that cause drowsiness like Trazodone so it's hard to say which causes which side effect. Anyway, I did notice that I didn't wake up during the night with any leg pain or spasms which have been bothering me on a nightly basis. So, hopefully, that is an early sign that it might help. I'm looking forward to seeing the benefits of it once I get a steady state of the drug in my system.

Thanks to all for their input! Continue posting please, if you have personal experience with this medication. All posts are welcome!

butterfly19

[Alera]

That drowsiness is normal for me when I start it up, and when I raise the dose. My doc always has me raise the dose on Friday night so I can sleep in on Saturday and Sunday.

[Kellye C]

I have been taking Lyrica for my fibromyalgia since December when I was diagnosed. It has really helped me a lot and at a relatively low dosage. I am supposed to take 150mg twice a day but I don't like that cloudy foggy brain during the day so I just take it at night along with all my night meds.

It has really made a difference for me. Except when I am in a flare (which I currently am) all the skin burning that I had across my upper back, front chest and down my legs has let up. The general fatigue and achiness is much reduced as well. My lower back has continued to remain tender to the touch but nothing like before diagnosis and treatment began. The pain would probably calm down more if I took the required levels but it is nothing like it was! My clothes used to hurt just touching me! Now this week I am feeling that again along with other symptoms of a flare for me due to this being a horribly stressful past 3 weeks (including a court appearance with my ex today). I survived and all but the stress has been killing me and helped caused my fibro to flare.

Another thing that I battle is insomnia. As many meds as I take that have drowsiness listed as a side effect you would think I would have the opposite problem but when it is bad I do good to get 3 - 4 hours a night. If it is a good time I get 6-7 hours.

I had gastric bypass in 2000 which is how I ended up drinking alcoholically (transfer addiction) so I stay anemic and have Restless Leg Syndrome which I take Requip for. Another Godsend in my opinion.

For those unable to take Lyrica I hope they come up with something comparable in the near future. While it has not cured me by any means, it has definitely increased my quality of life!

Take care,
Kellye

[butterfly19]

Kellye D,

Thanks for your input and personal experience!

I am still currently only on 50 mg twice a day, but I'm feeling as though my dose may need to be increased. I have only been on it for 3 weeks now, so I'm not sure if that is a sufficient amount of time to see how the present dose is working.

At my last psych. appt. this past week, I did ask the doctor if I should go ahead and increase the dose. He said that he didn't think it would be a good idea at the moment, since I am on suboxone for my opiate addiction. He is afraid it will cause too much drowsiness in combination with the sub. I'll give it a few more weeks. It really has helped with my leg pain and I'm sleeping much better. However, it doesn't begin to touch my joint pain in my hips which is the main area in which I'm currently having pain. I kinda feel like the Lyrica is reaching a plateau and that it wouldn't hurt to increase the doseage. But like I said, I'll give it some time and then ask him about it once again. It did make me really drowsy at first, but now I've adjusted well to it--I even take the first dose in the mornings and it doesn't make me drowsy! However, as we all know, meds react so differently on other people.

I'm sorry you're going through so much stress at the moment sweetie! Stress definitely makes pain worse. Last weekend and the first half of this week, I had a lot of stress and anger due to some family problems. Those days, I hurt so bad I was nearly in tears all the time. Once I removed myself from the situation and came back to my own house, the pain has improved significantly!

As far as your insomnia, there are a lot of meds out there that can help. I'm sure you probably already know this and have tried some of them. There are other homeopathic remedies as well. Other alternatives methods I like to use are meditation, creating an relaxing ambience in your room that is comforting, and using lavender oil to calm you. A good friend of mine recommended applying a few drops of concentrated lavender oil just beneath your nostrils. The scent has a very calming quality. If you don't want to do this, another option is to get a oil burner where you place a tealight inside it and add drops of lavender oil in the bowl on top of the burner. As it warms up it will emit a wonderful calming scent to your bedroom. Just make sure to not leave the candle unattended and put out the flame prior to going to sleep!

Just a few tips I've discovered along the way! I do hope things turned out okay with your court appearance kellye! Take care!

butterfly19

p.s.: CONGRATS!!!! on your nearly 4 years of sobriety! What a tremendous feat!!!!

[kj3880]

Originally Posted by butterfly19

The thought is always there eating at you, that if you could just take one pain pill you would feel better. But I know like others have said on here that it would be impossible for me. I wouldn't take them as prescribed--they'd be gone in 2-3 days and I'd be left wanting more. So I have to find some alternatives. butterfly19

Butter,
I'm bursting with pride!!! You've been able to admit that you can't just take one pain pill, you have to find alternatives to opiates. You've come a long way in your thinking, girl, and that is great!!! I know there's been many a time you were tempted and it's so good to know that you are looking at ways to control your pain without those daggone opiates that we just can't handle at all. I know how much you've struggled with chronic pain. I hope that lyrica is the answer you're seeking (or part of it, anyway, with whatever other measures, such as physical therapy, stretching, vitamins, glucosamine, or whatever else might help you.) It sure sounds like you're doing good in your struggle with addiction! Love from your suboxone sister,
KJ

[kari08]

Hey there,
I hope you continue to do well with the lyrica. My experience with it was horrible. I started on a very slow taper up due to the fact that I have lost my stomach completely due to an extremely bad gastric bypass gone wrong and I have lost some of the intestine. (don't get me started on bypass.. unless you want the long version.. haha) anyway.. I was dx with fibro after years and years of feeling like a total freak for the amount of pain and sensitivity I have in different parts of my body. Well after 9 surgeries in 8 years the pain gets unbearable. Lyrica was suppose to be the new wonder drug for fibro and kudos to those it is working for! For me.. It put so much swelling in my hands, feet, legs and face I didn't even recognize myself in about 5 days. Over 10 pounds of fluid in 3 days. I have suffered from debilitating migraines for several years and even the topamax I was given didn't cut them much. I ended up having to come down off the lyrica rather quickly due to the level of swelling and also had major side-effects from the topamax and had to do a quick de-taper. And yes I do still take my percocet as prescribed for now. I have been dealing with this crap for over a year and would love to get off them someday soon. I have found I can take a half pill twice a day and do ok.. just ok... but it is all I got for the pain at this time. I am in the process of doing chiro adjustments and light massage.. working very well actually.. much of the hip and back pain are much less.. and also have been major migraine free for about two weeks now. My neck was a mess totally out of whack. Also have put feverfew back into my regime of vitamins(good ones.. not the crap you buy at walmart) and some very selective herbs.. you have to be careful with meds and herbs of course. And I have found with the addition of the feverfew and 5 htp I am using less and less of the prescribed percs.. and less daily pain. The body sometimes does a pretty good job of repairing itself if we will just stop poisoning it so much. Just my humble opinion of course.. best of luck with your pain too.. thanks for readin :-)
Kari

[butterflylover]

Hey butterfly! I just started Suboxone on 6/19 and it has been a Godsend. But I've read that Sub can cause joint pain. When I want to read patient reviews ona med I go to askapatient.com

Also, google Suboxone patient reviews. Hope that helps.