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How Long Does Lyrica Stay In Your System After Stopping?

Lyrica (Pregabalin) is a medication approved for the treatment fibromyalgia, neuropathic pain, and partial seizures (as an adjuvant).  The drug “pregabalin” was engineered by Pfizer as an improved successor to “gabapentin,” a chemical that had been on the market since 1993.  Like gabapentin, pregabalin is considered a lipophilic analogue of the neurotransmitter GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid), but differs substantially in its bioavailability; Lyrica is more bioavailable.

The drug functions primarily as a modulator of GABA without binding to receptors.  Specifically, pregabalin binds to the α2δ subunit of voltage-gated calcium channels to facilitate an increase in levels of the enzyme glutamate decarboxylase (GAD).  Elevations in levels of glutamate decarboxylase triggers greater conversion of glutamate to GABA, resulting in increased GABA concentrations.

As a result of Lyrica’s effect on GABA, many users report clinically significant reductions in seizures, neuropathic pain, and fibromyalgia.  Though the drug can be therapeutic for some, it often carries unwanted side effects such as: blurred vision, coordination problems, memory impairment, sedation, and weight gain.  Should you experience any of these side effects, you may decide to stop taking Lyrica – wondering how long it’ll take to clear from your system.

How long does Lyrica stay in your system? (Pregabalin)

After you’ve ceased usage of the drug, you’ll likely experience an array of prominent (often unexpected) Lyrica withdrawal symptoms.  During this time you may wonder how long the pregabalin within Lyrica stays in your system after your last dose.  To determine how long the pregabalin is likely to remain in systemic circulation, it is important to consider it’s elimination half-life of 6.3 hours.

An elimination half-life of 6.3 hours indicates that 50% of the drug should be out of your system within 6.3 hours of administration.  Based off of this information, we can estimate that the drug is likely to have been fully excreted from your system in 1.44 days.  This means that most Lyrica users will have excreted the drug within a day-and-a-half (1.5 days) of their final dose.

Though Lyrica should be excreted from your body within 1-2 days, it is necessary to investigate whether any metabolites are formed that could have longer half-lives.  Unlike gabapentin which does not form any metabolites, the pregabalin within Lyrica forms the metabolite “N-methylpregabalin.”  Despite the presence of N-methylpregabalin, it is not thought to exhibit a longer half-life than its parent pregabalin.

  • Source: https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Pregabalin

Variables that influence how long Lyrica stays in your system

Though Lyrica is likely to stay in your system for 1-2 days after administration, there are often differences in excretion times among individuals.  Excretion in 1.44 days is considered “average”; some users will excrete the drug in a shorter duration, while others may take longer.  The speed of excretion is often influenced by variables such as: renal function, the individual taking the drug, dosage, and term of administration.

  1. Renal function

It is known that Lyrica undergoes negligible hepatic metabolism and is primarily excreted unchanged by the kidneys.  For this reason, optimal renal function is required to efficiently excrete the unchanged drug.  Should an individual experience renal impairment, it will slow the clearance rate and increase the elimination half-life of Lyrica.

In general, the greater the extent to which you experience renal impairment, the longer you can expect Lyrica to linger within your system after your last dose.  Research has shown that among some individuals with renal impairment, the elimination half-life of pregabalin was extended to 11.5 hours.  This was due to greater accumulation of the drug as a result of suboptimal renal function.

This would suggest that among those with renal impairment, it’ll take approximately 2.64 days to excrete Lyrica, more than 24 hours longer than those with normative kidney function.  It is possible that those with more severe renal impairment may take between 3 and 4 days to fully excrete the drug.  If you exhibit healthy (or normative) kidney function, you should expect to have eliminated pregabalin from your system in under 2 days.

  • Source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12638396
  • Source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24574633
  1. Individual factors

In theory, two people could administer a single dose of 100 mg Lyrica simultaneously, yet one individual may excrete the drug quicker than the other.  Variance in excretion time could be a result of factors such as: age, body mass, hydration, and urinary pH.  When attempting to estimate how long it’ll take your body to excrete Lyrica, these factors may warrant consideration.

Age: It is hypothesized that elderly individuals (over the age of 65) often exhibit poorer clearance and an increased elimination half-life of pregabalin.  Elderly adults are likely to exhibit heightened plasma concentrations of pregabalin as a result of poorer distribution and diminished renal function.  Research estimates that over 33% of individuals over the age of 60 experience Stage III chronic kidney disease.

As a result of suboptimal kidney function among the elderly, dosage reductions are typically required to ensure normative excretion speed of gabapentin.  Furthermore, elderly individuals may have other health conditions, reduced blood flow, and/or poorer overall physiologic function compared to younger counterparts. Younger adults tend are often in better health and usually eliminate gabapentin with greater speed and efficiency compared to elderly.

  • Source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15903286/

Body mass/fat: Usually the greater a person’s body mass relative to gabapentin dosage, the quicker they’ll excrete the drug.  Contrarily, the lesser a person’s body mass relative to administered dosage of gabapentin, the longer they may take to excrete it.  A more massive body (bigger system) means that greater amounts of exogenous substances will likely be excreted with greater efficiency than smaller individuals.

Though the exact degree to which body mass affects clearance isn’t fully understood, a 100 mg dose of Lyrica would likely get excreted quicker in a 6’5″ man compared to 4’2″ woman.  In addition to body mass, a person’s body fat should also be thought to affect excretion.  Since gabapentin is highly hydrophilic, it is soluble in water.

Therefore individuals with greater muscle tissue (and less body fat) may retain the gabapentin for slightly longer durations than those with less muscle.  Muscle is known to increase water retention, whereas increased fat is associated with decreased water retention.  In other words, individuals with a high body fat percentage may purge gabapentin quicker than those with low body fat.

Hydration: Whether you’re sufficiently hydrated after taking Lyrica (or dehydrated) could affect how quickly the drug is excreted from your system.  Hydration is known to impact a person’s urinary flow rate, which in turn is thought to alter clearance rate/excretion speed of drugs.  A person who stays properly hydrated after taking Lyrica will likely exhibit increased urinary flow rate compared to someone who’s dehydrated.

Increased urinary flow rate is associated with expedited clearance and excretion of drugs like pregabalin.  Therefore, the greater your level of hydration, the quicker you should expect Lyrica to leave your system.  Oppositely, someone who’s underhydrated will excrete pregabalin with less efficiency and it will linger in their body for a longer duration.

Urinary pH: A person’s urinary pH is also thought to affect speed of drug clearance.  Individuals with acidic (low pH) urine tend to excrete drugs quicker than those with alkaline (high pH) urine.  Since a person’s urinary pH is generally influenced by their dietary choices, an individual eating predominantly alkaline foods may excrete pregabalin more slowly than a person eating acidic foods.

Alkalinity of urine is associated with reabsorption of drugs prior to excretion and slower clearance rates.  Reabsorption facilitates recirculation throughout the system and may significantly increase elimination half-life of pregabalin.  On the contrary, acidification is thought to prevent reabsorption and expedite clearance rate.

  1. Dosage (50 mg to 600 mg)

For most medical conditions, Lyrica is taken within the dosing range of 150 mg to 300 mg per day; typically divided into 2 or 3 doses.  The greater the daily dose a person takes of Lyrica, the slower they are likely to excrete it from their system.  An individual taking 600 mg of Lyrica per day will likely retain the drug for a longer duration after discontinuation than someone taking just 50 mg per day.

When a high dose such as 600 mg is administered, a greater amount of the drug is distributed throughout the body and heightened plasma concentrations are attained compared to a lower dose.  The increase in pregabalin plasma concentrations translates to a greater burden being placed on the kidneys when it comes time to excrete the drug.  In other words, when a greater amount of an exogenous substance necessitates renal excretion, the excretion capacity is reduced.

This is because the kidneys are placed under greater stress (as a result of the higher dose) and need to work harder to eliminate the drug.  At lower doses such as 50 mg per day, less of a burden is placed on the kidneys because there’s less of the drug that needs to be excreted.  Therefore if you discontinue from a high daily dose, you should expect the drug to remain in your system for slightly longer than if you had taken a low daily dose.

  1. Term of Administration

The term over which you’ve been taking Lyrica could influence how long it stays in your body after your last dose.  A person who’s taken just a single dose of Lyrica will likely excrete it quicker from their system than a person who’s been taking it for several days.  This is because steady state concentrations of pregabalin are thought to be attained after 48 hours (2 days) of consistent administration.

However, long-term users of Lyrica tend to excrete the drug at a slower pace not because of steady state, but because of dosing.  Consistent long-term administration of Lyrica often results in users building tolerance to low doses.  After awhile, these individuals require upward titrations in dosing to derive the same therapeutic benefit that they once attained from low doses.

These increases in dosing lead to greater plasma concentrations of the drug and place an increased burden on the kidneys for excretion.  For this reason, long-term/chronic users of Lyrica may not excrete the drug quite as fast as short-term/infrequent users.  That said, the differences in excretion times between a short-term and long-term pregabalin user is unlikely to be as significant as it would be with other drugs.

This is due to the fact that pregabalin is highly hydrophilic, meaning it is soluble in water.  Therefore even in long-term users, the drug is unlikely to “accumulate” in bodily tissues.  Other substances that are classified as highly lipophilic may accumulate to a greater extent in the tissues (e.g. body fat) of long-term users.

Lyrica (Pregabalin): Absorption, Distribution, Excretion (Details)

Following oral administration of Lyrica, the active ingredient “pregabalin” is efficiently absorbed by the proximal small bowel and exhibits a bioavailability of ~90%.  Unlike may psychiatric drugs, pregabalin does not bind to plasma proteins.  It is distributed throughout the body at an estimated 0.5 L/kg by way of the L-amino acid transport system (as it is an L-transporter substrate).

Peak plasma concentrations of pregabalin are attained approximately 1.5 hours post-ingestion, with the specific concentration directly relative to the dosage administered.  Some sources suggest that co-ingestion of food with pregabalin may decrease its rate of absorption by 30%, thus slightly delaying the time to attain peak plasma concentrations from 1.5 to 3 hours.  Steady state concentrations are thought to be attained between 24 and 48 hours after consecutive dosing.

Pregabalin is not subject to hepatic metabolism, and therefore is primarily excreted unchanged by the kidneys.  Unlike its predecessor gabapentin, however, approximately 2% of a pregabalin dose is converted to form N-methylpregabalin.  In healthy adults, renal clearance of pregabalin occurs at a rate of 67 to 80.9 mL/min.

An estimated 90% of a dose is excreted via the urine as unchanged pregabalin, whereas 0.9% is the N-methylpregabalin metabolite.  Accounting for the 6.3 hour half-life of pregabalin, the drug should get fully eliminated from your body within approximately 1.44 days of your last dose.  Among those with renal impairment, it could take between 2 and 3 days to completely excrete pregabalin and N-methylpregabalin metabolites.

  • Source: https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Pregabalin
  • Source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20147618

Getting Lyrica out of your system

If you’ve stopped taking Lyrica recently, you probably want to ensure that it is fully cleared from your body as soon as possible after your final dose.  Keep in mind that the tips listed below may vary in efficacy among individuals.  Furthermore, it is always recommended to consult a medical professional to verify safety of these suggestions prior to actual implementation.

  1. Discontinue: If you want to ensure that Lyrica leaves your body, you’ll need to fully discontinue treatment. Discontinuation should be done gradually under supervision of a medical professional. Understand that the sooner you stop taking the drug, the quicker you can expect to have completely cleared it from your body.
  2. Urinary flow rate + pH: Expediting the excretion speed of Lyrica may be accomplished by increasing urinary flow rate and lowering urinary pH. Urinary flow rate can be increased by staying well-hydrated, whereas urinary pH can be lowered via acidification. Though increasing urinary flow rate and lowering pH may not make a huge difference in excretion speed, it could make a minor one.
  3. Activated charcoal: A useful supplement that can be taken to help detoxify your system after stopping Lyrica is activated charcoal. Obviously you wouldn’t want to take the activated charcoal until the pregabalin has been fully excreted after your final dose. Taking activated charcoal too soon may affect absorption of your final dose and result in premature withdrawal.  However, when administered later, activated charcoal can bind to toxins and remnants of the drug if you suspect that it may be lingering within your body after you’ve stopped.

How long has Lyrica stayed in your system after stopping?

If you’ve stopped taking Lyrica, share a comment regarding how long you think it stayed in your body after your last dose.  Do you think it stayed in your body for a longer time than usual or was excreted much quicker than average?  Share factors that may have affected its elimination half-life in your body such as: renal function, your age, and the dosage of Lyrica you took.

Understand that since Lyrica is highly hydrophilic, there is unlikely to be major interindividual variation in excretion times.  Most users will retain the drug for approximately 1.44 days after their final dose.  In other words, the drug should be fully excreted from your body (mostly via urine) within 48 hours of your final dose.  Only if you have compromised renal function could the excretion exceed 2 days.

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27 thoughts on “How Long Does Lyrica Stay In Your System After Stopping?”

  1. Had been prescribed Lyrica for almost a year now due to nerve damage. It was started at 150 mg by Pain Specialist and then upped to 450 mg daily dose by my PCP. Unexplainable things happened, swollen ankles, and legs, shortness of breath, and trip to the ER with no explanation as for these issues by the medical profession.

    I stumbled continuously, no balance, but significantly less nerve pain. I was fired from my job at Optima Health, because I could not remember simple words to do my job and made really inappropriate decisions throughout the day.

    I finally started reading up on this nasty drug after losing my job and since I didn’t have my health insurance any more, decided now was the time to break away from the lack of answers from the health professionals.

    I am still suffering from nausea, insomnia and tactile and auditory hallucinations if I can even sleep. I can’t stay hydrated and since I don’t have a colon, it is even worse. 4 days out from last dose and I feel like crap, suicidal, but see no end to this withdrawing… itching and not able to eat.

    Thank you medical profession, NOT, for making my life miserable!

    Reply
  2. I started Lyrica after nerve irritation from 2 surgeries in one week (one emergency) fusion and laminectomy and removal of bone spur that fell into the disc canal and on to the nerve. I am 100% sure that I would have commit suicide due to the unrelenting nerve pain in my left leg, had it not been for Lyrica.

    Lyrica reduced my pain immediately by about 70%. However, due to it’s addictive nature, I did have to continue to increase the dose each week until I reached 150mg 3x day. I’ve been on this dosage for 4 months, and although the side effects of extreme bloating and weight gain, confusion, memory loss and loss of coordination were tolerable at first in exchange for the pain relief; it’s reached a level that I have to stop taking it.

    Mainly my mind is beginning to feel like dementia. I can’t remember every day words and forget what I’m talking about mid-sentence. I think this is a good medication for some people who are suffering nerve pain due to spinal injury if used short term (1 to 6 months), but I have been unable to return to work, PARTLY due to the inability to concentrate, etc.

    I plan to take it very slow going off the medication, by reducing the dosage by 25mg per week. (6 weeks) and to take other medications to help bridge the pain management. And to take activated charcoal after the final dose to help absorb and eliminate the toxins.

    Anyone considering taking it needs to carefully weigh the alternatives and side effects. Try Gabapentin first, and if you can tolerate that – don’t take Lyrica. Everyone’s different.

    Reply
  3. I was put on Lyrica over two years ago, after an exercise injury. My initial dose was 50mg/day, then 50mg 3x a day. I still felt no relief and it took upwards 600mg a day for me to feel relief. Before I took it, I can’t describe the excruciating pain I was in, I could barely walk without crying.

    It took the pain away, and my anxiety was literally gone! I was also going through a few episodes of ‘euphoria’ which I didn’t understand until I made some research. From what I’ve read, Lyrica is great with anxiety and pain, but the thing is is that you need to up the dosage in order to keep the pain and anxiety at bay.

    Finally, the weight gain. I literally exploded! On my short frame of only 5’0″, weighing in at over 170lbs., I looked and felt awful. I was NEVER told the side effects of this drug by my doctor OR pharmacist and am so angry that to this day, I still see so many not told what this poisonous drug can do to someone.

    I started forgetting everything, I could not concentrate, and then I started to literally disconnect from reality. That’s when I knew I had to do something and now! I’m down to about 50mg per day and plan on cutting down to 25mg next week and from there, in another two weeks, I’m planning on taking my last dose, hopefully forever.

    Lyrica is the same as any other hard drug on the streets, same withdrawal effects everything, at least that’s my comparison to what I have read up on. I also get the itchies, and my anxiety is coming back even worse, but if I can have my own mind back and lose all of this bloating and weight, I figure I would be coming out on top and winning the fight against this horrible drug.

    I can’t imagine how much money they are making off of this disgusting drug, in my mind, it is the same as what you see on the internet about meth and crack. Whoever developed this drug, and why it was ever approved to be administered to humans is beyond me. Then again, I only imagine the billions of dollars they are making off of it.

    Lyrica is addictive, there is no doubt about that. Just writing this took all of my concentration, half of the words I had spelled were wrong, so I had to edit. And I’m a teacher, can you imagine? Even simple words I cannot remember how to spell at times, I am hoping that all of this will come back when Lyrica is completely out of my system.

    Once I have taken my last dose, I’m going to wait a week and then get some charcoal capsules in order to clear all of it from my system. I hope all of you hang in there and keep going strong, you CAN and WILL get over this! Nothing is forever and there’s nothing you can’t do. Take care and good luck to all. ~Nathalie

    Reply
    • Hi Nathalie, My name is John and I was so glad to read your comment that I decided to reply and also ask you how you ended up after you completely stopped taking this medication. My situation is a screwed up one because I’m on medi-cal, which doesn’t cover the medication so I have to go down to Tijuana, Mexico where RX’s aren’t required.

      I purchase large quantities because it’s very inexpensive: 28 (capsules/box) x 30 boxes = 840 capsules for $220.00. The problem is is that I am taking 3000mg per day (Yes! You read correctly, (20) 150mg per day.) So I end up going back every month and a half or so to buy some more because of how easy it is.

      The only problem is getting past the border check not telling them how much I’m bringing in because I risk them having me throw away about 80% of it because you’re only allowed a certain amount so I don’t tell them. Now that I told you my situation, I want to ask you a few things because I once stopped taking the medication but went back on it and slowly built up to the amount I told you I’m taking.

      It says that it could take up to 3 days for it to fully be out of someone’s system, but back when I was taking the recommended dosage, it seemed like it took 2 weeks to get past the following:

      -Itchiness (all over)
      -Bloating (from no longer taking it)
      -Diarrhea
      -Headache
      -Sweating
      -Unable to sleep

      These are some of the things I had to deal with which were pretty bad and it seemed everything was okay after 2 weeks of Hell! But then I developed a sense of anxiety, of worrying to a point it almost drove me nuts that I decided to start taking Lyrica and in just a few minutes I was sleeping like a baby and ever since then I have not stopped taking Lyrica.

      That was about 7 years ago. I WANT OUT!!! Do you have any tips for someone in my situation? The worst feeling I felt was the itchiness and maybe the sweating and bloating but later, the anxiety I felt which drove me to start taking this horrible medication. Help! Help! Help! Please!

      Reply
  4. I am so mad I was ever put on Lyrica. I have been on it for 11 years. I went off cold turkey a week ago. I was on 100 mg 3x per day for the past 11 years. About 2 months ago it was increased to 150 3x a day because it was not taking care of the pain.

    I went off a week ago because my lips became very swollen, and peeling for about a month. My vision got very blurry. My head was itching, even inside my ears. My face skin was so dry. I did not associate all this with Lyrica until a week ago. I was put down to 100 mg 3x daily.

    But the side effects still continued. As soon as I quit Lyrica all the bad side effects have left. It has been a week now and I feel horrible. I was on this drug because an unlicensed driver crossed the center line and hit me head on and my body was crushed from head to toes.

    The worst was my knees and ankle and toes. I tried to go off so many times but I would only last 2 days and had to go back on because of the pain. Now I feel better knowing I am off but feel like my body and mind still have a lot of recovering to do.

    The weirdest thing is that Lyrica swells up your feet and caused me to walk like a drunk. The swelling has gone down and actually the pain has subsided considerably. Don’t ever take this drug.

    Reply
  5. How long will it take to recover strength in legs? This medicine has been the drug from hell for me. Everything that could happen has happened to me and I still have no relief from the nerve damage.

    Reply
    • I had the same problem, it didn’t help with nerve damage unless I was on a high dose. When I was on the high dose I gained a lot of weight pretty fast and also felt very confused all the time. The low dose helped with my very bad anxiety BUT switched me off to the point I didn’t care about anything.

      I kept making bad decisions or found it hard to my decisions at all, kept forgetting what I was doing, what I had done and what I needed to do. Then found out that it’s also classed as a Class C drug.

      I was taking it for almost 3 years and took my 6 months to finally come off completely, but now my anxiety levels are through the roof and my pain is worse than ever, feel like I can’t win.

      Reply
    • You gotta understand that Lyrica only works for so long I was up to 500mg a day and so now I am home free from it. It wasn’t easy to come off of and the last thing you want to do is drink to help ease the withdraws it will make you angry.

      You need to keep busy and try not to think about it and do what I call “your time” and don’t swap drugs for drugs in your system that will only make your recovery longer. Think about it this way your body has to do a reset now and reboot back to normal, but take it slow do not quit right away.

      I went down to 200mg for two weeks, then 100 for two weeks, then 50 for three weeks, 50 mg every other day and then I knew I had to wait for my brain to turn on the things Lyrica shut off. Now listen, your body is different from mine – so do what feels right to you, but break it down in stages that best fit you.

      The pain you feel is your body telling you something is wrong and that’s not going to go away.

      Reply
  6. I was on pregabalin for early 3 years for pain and anxiety. Started off on a low dose of 25mgs then switched to 50mgs. I found that it didn’t help with my pain a lot but really helped with my anxiety. After a year and half I made an appointment at the pain clinic and spoke about how it didn’t help my pain much.

    Turns out it was because I was on a low dose, so they put me on 150mgs 75mgs at night and 75mgs in the morning. I started gaining a lot of weight and kept getting confused with day to day tasks, couldn’t even remember what I was wearing unless I looked at myself in the mirror, I couldn’t remember what I was doing most of the time.

    It switched my over thinking off BUT also switched ME off. I suffer from really bad anxiety/borderline Personality disorder and agoraphobia. It took me nearly 6 months to come off it completely and now I’m finally off it my anxiety is back times 10.

    I can’t sleep at night, I’m paranoid, I’m itchy. I keep getting the craving to start taking it again so I’m switched off again. I REALLY HATE THIS MEDICATION!

    Reply
  7. Following a hysterectomy due to endometriosis I was on gabapentin for a year then switched to pregabalin 3 years ago. I tried cutting down my dosage in order to stop, but this made me feel nauseous between doses and flared my pelvic pain.

    I stopped cold turkey a week ago and have hardly slept, feel like I have flu – sweating then freezing over and over, nerve endings on fire, skin crawling with bugs. BUT I feel like my mind is my own again! I’d just like to feel comfortable in my own skin.

    Reply
  8. I’ve been off Lyrica now for 11 weeks and still have gross withdrawal symptoms: itchiness, numbness, shortness of breath, insomnia, tingling, brain shivers/zaps, heavy twitching in my legs at night as if things are crawling inside them, and more. This drug should never ever have been approved. It is a poison and pure evil.

    Reply
  9. I have been on 300 mg of lyrica a day. I switched to Savella and my doctor started me on a lyrica elimination plan. I am down to 100 mg every other day. I just started 100 mg every third day and by the 3rd day I have flu-like symptoms to the extent that it is unbearable.

    I know that it is the lyrica because I had to cheat and take one. My symptoms immediately disappeared. How do I beat the 3rd day struggle and how long until this completely disappears? Ricky

    Reply
  10. I was on 50 mg Lyrica for 2 weeks (switched from Gabapentin which I was on for more than a year). Had miserable side effects of nausea, diarrhea, imbalance and chills with no fever. It has been 2 days after my last Lyrica dose, and still can’t rid off the said side effects. Any similar experience?

    Reply
  11. After taking 450 mg of lyrica a day for three months. I am now withdrawing slowly. Sweating, shakes, would like to scream and upset stomach. Cannot wait for this drug to be out of my system. Still suffering after 75 mg every two days. The good news is I have lost the bloat and weight gain. Will suffer through the traumatic nerve pain and the horrible withdrawals.

    Reply
  12. I had extensive back surgery at L4 ,L5 and S1. The surgeon had to deal with 30 years of a horrible back then a bilateral ruptured disc but was able to use my own bone spurs instead of donor bones. It was more complicated and rather than going home I went to a rehab hospital. My sciatic pain was bad so the dr put me on Lyrica 3 times a day 75 mg.

    I noticed my feet started to swell but thought it was from the prednisone I was taking. However it only got worse to the point that I had no shoes that fit. I had another MRI and was cleared to take my brace off. My surgeon told me to stop taking Lyrica and got me re admitted to the rehab hospital.

    My feet feel like there are fire ants in them. It has been 3 days since my last dose. I have gained so much weight in my legs it is hard to lift them. I have them wrapped now to help move the fluid and I am taking a water pill. Has anyone else had a similar experience and how long before your feet were normal size again?

    Reply
  13. I was on lyrica for 1 month (75mg twice dailey and then 3 times daily). Did not help my ATN. 2 weeks in I got the “flu” and now I’m wondering if it was lyrica side effects. Week 3 it felt like I aged 30 years overnight… Joints ache and couldn’t stand up and down.

    I stopped cold turkey. 2 days later I developed a rash all over – pinpoints red marks. I don’t know if its Lyrica withdrawal or new med Trileptal. I regret trying lyrica. Rash and horrible joint pain… Hope it goes away soon.

    Reply
  14. As soon as I started taking Pregabalin it gave me excessive fluid retention and constipation within the first 24 hours. In that first 24 hours I also experienced uncontrolled shaking of my right leg for 40 minutes non stop and a tingling pins and needles sensation in my left hand pinky finger and my left hand side of my ring finger. The fluid retention made it hard to breathe and the constipation made it hard to poo when you are on fluid restrictions. It was a viscous circle the first week.

    I actually was in and out of hospital for 11 out of 14 days for 4 admissions when I started Pregabalin/ Lyrica. It was found that it was also causing me to suffer from Pancytopaenia. Being hospitalized several times in 2016 my blood counts were recorded and fine according to the hospital records. Then as soon as I commenced Pregabalin the hospital noticed my white blood cell count deteriorate rapidly over this short period of time (leukopenia).

    I was ceased off Pregabalin after a couple of weeks usage and the hospital has even written down in black and white that Pregabalin (Lyrica) is the cause. I started Lyrica on 75mg for a week, then dropped to 25mg for a week before I ceased it completely. Here I am 5 weeks post my last dosage of Pregabalin and my low white blood cell count is still very alarming. Examinations do not reveal lymphadenopathy.

    Now the hospital has referred me to a specialist hematologist because it warrants further investigation – more than what the hospital can provide. May I ask, how long can it take for Pregabalin to exit the body? I only had taken it for a short period of time and at a relatively small dosage, but it has affected me considerably. I still feel pins and needles in my left hand pinky and ring fingers (which doctors say is caused by the ulnar nerve in my elbow).

    This drug has had an extremely adverse effect on me and I am still suffering the consequences. It should have been long gone and excreted out of my system by now. I was put on it originally to treat upper central neuropathic abdominal pain believed to be caused by xiphoidalgia as I am 41 year old male who has had heart surgery over 15 years ago.

    Reply
  15. I have been on Lyrica for 6 years. Now stopped taking three days ago… feel horrible. Getting cold shakes very close to the flu, but much worse.

    Reply
  16. My feet starting swelling slowly, then my face and ankles got huge. I was so nauseated, and extremely tired, I thought I was dying. It took 3 days for the swelling to go down but now 2 weeks later I am still nauseated, and tired. Lyrica is a bad drug.

    Reply
  17. I stopped lyrica 3 weeks due to stomach flu… then took 1 dose of 150mg & thought I was dying due to numbness, tingling, dizziness… feeling of “high”!!! I’ve never felt worse!! Never again will I take this EVIL DRUG!!! Can’t Wait for this to pass from me!!!

    Reply
  18. I have been taking Lyrica for 2 weeks now for nerve pain as I have a pinched L5 nerve in my back causing me horrible sciatica through my glutes and down my left leg. I take 2 X 25mg per day, one in the morning and one in the evening. The first week was awful. I felt sick, dizzy, wobbly on my feet (banging into things) and like I was walking through water…very seeerrrrloooooowly.

    I initially started on 1 a day for a about 3 days before taking 2. After one week the nerve pain (burning, pins and needs, grabbing) subsided tremendously along with those horrible side effects. I changed my morning does to after breakfast and when I got into work so it wasn’t first thing in the morning anymore. This small change seemed to help diminish the side effects.

    I am naturally on the low end of the blood pressure scale so this may have been a reason why it helped. I am 2 weeks in and no side effects and 70% reduction in nerve pain. I saw my Dr yesterday and she was would like me to stay on this dose and not go up to the initially prescribed 75mg for now. This is helping me a lot until I decide whether a microdiscectomy is for me or not regarding the pinched nerve.

    I have no other medical conditions and have never had a back problem before. One thing that I have noticed as well, from an anxiety perspective, this drug seems to have helped. It also could be because of the reduction of pain levels I am able to think more clearly and not be so overwhelmed with this whole ‘sciatica saga’ which I have had for 4 months now. I hope that my post has helped at least one person.

    Reply
  19. I have been taking Pregabalin for 5 and a half years. After two weeks at 100mg and one week at 25mg. That’s from 150mg per day. Yesterday was my last pregabalin. I’m so glad. However what can I expect in the way of side effects? Regards.

    Reply
  20. I took lyrica for a little over a month 75 mg. I was ok the first 3 days then the drunkeness started. Some days it lasted 3 or 4 hours. One day it lasted all day. I was miserable. All I wanted to do was sleep. I have drove a car since I started the drunkeness. I have been off of it almost 2 days and I am still in a drunken state. I hate it.

    Reply
  21. I’ve been on Lyrica this time only 3 months. On about day 6 or 7 and feel horrible. I had already over a month cut the dose in half.

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  22. I have been on lyrica for almost a year. I have MS. It worked but after around 8 months I got bad side effects. I feel like I am going to die. It has been 8 days since my last dose. And I still am having withdrawals.

    Reply
    • I have MS 2 years ago I was prescribed lyrica took 1 pill. I thought I was going to actually have a heart attack. Tongue swelled up couldn’t breathe had to call poison control. Today against my better judgement my doctor prescribed me a low dose, after I told him what happened last time I tried it. I took one 150mg dose.

      It completely shut down my body, I can not stand on my own 2 feet, dizzy, nausea, hard to breath, and shaking with chest pain. It’s slowly wearing off. 5 hours now. I am bed bound until it gets out of my system. Never ever will I let a doctor convince me to try this medication again! I feel so sick, and helpless.

      Reply

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