Posted by Fader on April 24, 2013, at 17:48:50
Hi Babblers (long time lurker here)
I feel desperate. My diagnosis is MDD and GAD. I'm currently on Lexapro, Geodon and Klonopin. And Lyrica (gabapentin).
My issue is that my MDD only fully responds to increasingly high doses of Lyrics (up to 600mg). After a while, though, the pregabalin tolerance poop out sets in and I'm left bedridden, quite literally so:
I get profuse sweating, GI upset, full on depression and a need to sleep 24/7 that can last for 10 days at a time.
My doc won't raise the dose above 600(and I agree with him) but tapering off the drug is simply useless, it doesn't help at all either. It's 2+ weeks of sheer hell, until I finally feel barely human again.
And then the vicious cycle begins again when I start the Lyrica again to treat my debilitating symptoms - which we plan to stop altogether after this round of withdrawal is over.
We've looked for alternatives, ranging from gabapentin of course, to upping my Klonopin, to trying other calcium channel blockers like flunarizine and cinnarizine, to trying other AEDs such as Zonegran and carbamazepine, to Mg Citrate and so on.
Nothing works!
Right now I want to quit Lyrica for good, but I'm dreading the withdrawal stage that has already begun (and is unresponsive to very conservative reductions). Tolerance builds so quickly and we haven't found a way of buffering it. The flexible dosing alternative (small doses as needed) don't work either.
Please, I'm desperate for some help here. I can't spend the next couple of weeks in bed.
Any withdrawal strategy suggestions that we might have overlooked?
Please help!
Regards - Fader.
poster:Fader
thread:1042607
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20130408/msgs/1042607.html