My doctor prescribed Lyrica for nerve pain a while ago. My nerve pain was so bad, I couldn't breathe! I was surprised at how quickly the Lyrica started working, and how effective it is (I hardly feel any pain at all!) but it's making me suicidal! I know that's just one of the side effects of the drug, but that doesn't make me feel any better. Because I know it's a side effect, I try not to think about it, but there are times it creeps up on me and blindsides me. I don't know how else to describe it but "real." It doesn't feel like a side effect -- it feels "real." And it's debilitating. There are days I don't get out of bed, even though I know better. It physically keeps me from "moving." I think about death a lot, and it's scaring me. It's very unlike me. I asked my doctor to put me on something else, but nothing else works as well as Lyrica. I tried one pill that turned me into a zombie! I felt "frozen" -- I couldn't move, talk or take my gaze off the wall in front of me. I want to go off Lyrica, but the nerve pain is just too much for me to handle. Anybody got any ideas? Does anyone here take Lyrica? How do you handle the depression and suicidal thoughts? Thanks in advance.
I take Lyrica for nerve pain also and I'd love to get off of it, as would my wife (a fellow diabetic) due to the short term memory issues it causes both of us, but if I miss just one pill of the 3 I take per day, I start stinging. It's a great med. It's a horrible med. It doesn't effect myself or her in the manner that you have described and I'm so sorry you are having that problem!
I once took Prozac for about a week and during that time I thought I was losing my mind. Dumb doctor kept telling me to keep taking it and the effects would diminish. I couldn't take it any longer (the mental weirdness it caused) so I stopped, and within 3 days I was back to "normal". Other people love Prozac.
suicidal ideas are not fun... go see your doc asap and let them know. maybe there is something else on the market that will help as well, or better?
I can not tell from your note whether or not you have shared with your doctor what you have just told us.
So ... have you told him/her/it the extent of how bad you feel? Or are you "filtering", as I have often done, to try to maintain some control over what meds you are given? If you have told your doctor that you feel the Lyrica is making you suicidal, then I am frankly stunned that he did not immediately stop it.
In my previous experiences folk in the medical profession typically try hard ... at least from the neck up ... to treat that situation very seriously.
-iJohn
John, I'm not following you when you said you are stunned the doctor didn't immediately stop it. The OP is the one who is putting the pills in their mouth. :)
Alicia, let's start with the most fundamental thing first: How good is your BG control?
If it's not particularly good (a1c >8%), getting and keeping tight control often relieves neuropathy pain in part or fully. This was my experience.
If your a1c is >6%, and/or you have large swings in your BG regularly, consider learning techniques and tools to get your a1c down to the low sixes, and keep spikes to 140 mg/dl as much as possible.
This degree of control is possible, and really not burdensome once one learns the routine. However, you have to maintain tight control for 6-12 months, usually, before neuropathy starts to improve.
Also, it doesn't always resolve neuropathy. However, it's very very good for your health regardless, so tight control is a good thing to adopt and maintain whether it makes your neuropathy better or not.
Mine completely resolved and went away. Tingling needles in my feet, numbness with my ulnar nerve, pain in my fingertips -- all gone, for over a year now.
Have you considered acupuncture? I have found acupuncture helps my arthritis and when I was diagnosed T1, my practitioner told me that acupuncture is very suitable for neuropathy. If you devide to try this, make sure the provider has is well-qualified and certified to practice.
Alicia, I'm so sorry you are feeling this way from taking meds you need for your pain. You are wise to know and try and keep perspective on the fact that it is a side effect. Nonetheless, as you say, it feels real. It IS real, even if it was caused by a medication. Suicide is nothing to mess with; I don't want anything to happen to you. And even if you are not going to act on it, feeling that depressed is nothing to mess with. Depression is also REAL and every bit as serious and as debilitating (or more so!) than other illnesses. While talking on here is good, it is not enough. I strongly encourage you to talk to a mental health professional to consider options to deal with the Depression. I also encourage you to talk honestly with your prescribing physician about these feelings and alternatives he can suggest.
That's so weird! I'm happy the Lyrica isn't making you nuts like me, but now I can really appreciate it when people talk about being depressed. It's no day at the park -- but just like you, if I try going off it, the pain comes back and it's so bad, I think it totally justifies being depressed! But, it doesn't. Actually, they say you can't just stop taking Lyrica because it can make you really sick. You'd have to be weaned off. I also heard you can't be on it for more than one year, and it's been about that for me. I'm at a crossroads. I wish I could talk more about it with my doctor, but I go to a teaching clinic and they never give me the same "doctor" twice. Besides, they're all students and very young and don't have too much experience. I think I teach them more than they help me! I'm glad going off Prozac worked for you! I was just about to click the "Add reply" button when it hit me. I forgot to address the short term memory loss! See, it's happening to me, too! Well, that just proved my point! Ever since I started taking Lyrica, I walk into a room and don't know why I'm there; or, I lose my train of thought easily. I started making lists just to stay on top of things. But, the scariest part is not remembering words and names I've used all my life. I have trouble with "left" and "right" too. People stop to ask for directions sometimes, I can't get the words out. I end up pointing, instead! They look at me like I'm crazy. It's embarrassing to have to explain to people I'm on Lyrica for nerve pain and it's messing with my head! Hope you and your wife find some relief soon! And me too! Thanks for sharing!
I asked, but there is only one other drug my insurance company will cover and it's mainly for depression, but some say it helps with nerve pain. They switched me to it and let's just say, it didn't do anything for the nerve pain and it freaked me out. It turned me into a zombie! I couldn't talk, I couldn't move, I couldn't even blink! My gaze was fixated on the wall in front of me, but my mind was racing. It felt like my brain wanted to bust out of my head, like I wanted to scream, but couldn't. Is that what it's like to be in a coma? I wish I could remember what it was called; I think it was a generic drug and started with the letter M. I thought the depression was a lot better than being a zombie, so I just went back to the Lyrica. I think if you take it more than one year, the effects become irreversible. I wish I had a "real" doctor to talk to, and not some med school kid! Thanks, though.
Like I said, we tried something else, but in a way it was even worse. Turned me into a zombie. And it did not stop the nerve pain. Thanks!
I know it's all up to me, but with drugs like these (mind altering), you need to be very careful. In order to go off, your doctor has to wean you off them slowly or it will make you physically sick. When I tried going off myself (I tried one time), I was throwing up so bad, I got dehydrated and ended up in the emergency room. The ER doctor told me that's what's to be expected of mind altering drugs if you're on them too long and try to go off abruptly. I want to wean myself off, but the nerve pain is so bad, I can't handle the pain. Unless you feel pain like this, you wouldn't understand. It's easy to blame me for taking Lyrica when you don't understand firsthand what it feels like, or the risks you face going off it. It's just not that simple. You can't just go on a mind altering drug for one year and stop just like that. It didn't make me suicidal right away, or I would have stopped right after starting. It got bad about 3-4 months into it, or thereabouts. Now, I feel stuck. But, thanks just the same.
I've had tight glucose control for almost 10 years now. I started getting diabetes related complications my second year into my diagnosis. My A1c is 6% and has been for a decade now. I don't have crazy swings in blood glucose. I think the damage has been done. I doubt it will ever resolve itself. I also have retinopathy, and it's only getting worse. The nerve pain is so severe, it waked me up screaming at night! It started with tingling and pins and needles many years ago and escalated over time. I guess I'm not one of the lucky ones. Thanks for your concern, though. I appreciate it and it does make sense. Just doesn't apply to me.
I'm willing to try anything! I hope my insurance covers it! Thanks!
Thanks. I'm a little hesitant to talk to a shrink about the depression that Lyrica is causing because I'm pretty sure it will just mean adding another drug to the list. If the Lyrica is making me depressed, I doubt antidepressants will help make me feel better. I know what you mean, but I think just going off the Lyrica is my best bet, and then dealing with the physical pain of the neuropathy. I seriously doubt adding another mind-altering drug will help matters much. Might even make things worse. Believe me, I do want to go off the Lyrica, and I should have done it sooner, before it got so bad. I think I'm going to look into acupuncture like another poster suggested. It'll be like trading one set of (pins) and needles in for another! Anything to get off Lyrica, though. And, I'd talk to my prescribing doctor, but at this teaching clinic, I never see the same doctor twice. Thanks, again.
Alicia, I was taking Lyrica for peripheral neuropathy for fibromyalgia from rheumy. It was terrible. It made me gain weight, have edema, played with my emotions and made my pain worse. Finally, after many tests and a visiting doctor, my prescription was changed to Topamax and it was like night and day. The pain was immediately gone, my emotions were better, I could sleep better and felt so much better.
You may want to talk with your doctor about this medication--it would be used off label, normally it is used for migraines, which I have had in the past.
I just Googled it, here's what it says about Topamax: "Treats and prevents seizures and prevents migraine headaches. This medicine is an anticonvulsant." That's pretty much what the Lyrica is, it's an anti-seizure drug. I'm glad it's working for you! I looked to see if my insurance company will pay for it (they gave me a list), and it won't. I'm still thinking about just weaning myself off the Lyrica and dealing with the physical pain in a more natural way. But, if that doesn't work, you think if my doctor tells the insurance company my nerve pain is severe enough, they'll make an exception and pay for the Topamax? Thanks!
talk to your doctor about titrating off of Lyrica. Don't just guess at how to reduce it's use.
Alicia, I agree with phoenixbound. You definitely have to talk with your doctor, and he will gradually wean you off Lyrica. There is a process to doing so. You doctor can fight the battle with the insurance company. If the insurance company won't budge, your doctor can find another comparable medication for you.
Good luck! :-)
I know, I talked to one of the med students at the clinic before about going off, but with these kids, it's hard. They're not experienced enough, and even the experienced doctors don't know all that much about Lyrica. I don't have a private insurance that will let me see a specialist. So, I do the best I can, and a lot of times, I end up doing the research online, myself. I've been reading up on Lyrica online, I'm still going to talk to "a" doctor (there is no "my" doctor, they keep switching them on me!) about it; hopefully one of them at the clinic knows enough about the drug to help. If not, I'm going to start taking the pills away gradually. I take 4 pills a day now -- I read you can "safely" take 1 pill away every 7-14 days and see where that gets me. The worst it can do is make me throw up (again) and land me in the ER dehydrated. Been there, done that! What other choice do I have? Thanks, though. I really do appreciate it. What about you? I know you said you and your wife don't get the depression thing; but what about the memory loss? You think you might want to go off? Let me know how that goes! Do be careful, and thanks again!