Lyrica (Pregabalin). My experience

I found myself searching the net for other people's experiences of taking this drug and could not find much so if anyone comes across my situation, you will have something to read.

Pain, Ibuprofen, Oxycodone

One day I started to experience neck pain. The strange thing was that it just got worse and worse as the day went on. I'm going to skip a bunch of info here, basically I had a pinched spinal nerve. My whole left arm was in pain 24/7 and it got to the point where it's natural state was tightly curled up against my chest. It was terrible and went on for many weeks. The doctors gave me ibuprofen and paracetamol+codeine (panadene forte) to start with. At one point I was awake for 2 days due to the pain - So I took the ibuprofen at smaller intervals in desperation to numb the pain and get some sleep, but it only messed up my stomach to the point where I threw up blood (not much). After this happened I went to the hospital and they gave me Oxycodone (Endone) - this stuff actually numbed the pain a bit (and did not cause me to throw up blood). I don't think doc's like prescribing Oxy to males in their early 20s because it's addictive. I'm sure I looked like a drug addict when I saw the doctor, but I wasn't. I was just a young engineering student in insane pain. I did not find Oxycodone addictive. It made me drowsy and numbed pain a bit. After weeks of numbing the pain the issue sort of faded away and I stopped taking the painkillers, easily weening myself off them over a week.

Enter Pregabalin

The neck issue would come back every couple of years or so, but not as bad as the first time. It's always pretty tight and I am constantly stretching it, but it's not a real big issue. During one of my more intense regressions a few years back, I went to the doctor and told him my story. I wanted an alternative to Ibuprofen because I don't like killing my stomach (stomachs are important). He recommended that I try Pregabalin (Lyrica). I started taking them (75mg) twice a day. I was amazed with how well they made the pain go away. I really liked a few aspects of this drug. It does not kill my stomach, it does not make me drowsy to the point at which I can't work and it makes me feel very slightly 'high'. This stuff is apparently for nerve pain. I don't know why the doc's didn't give it to me all those years back.

I read about the side effects of Pregabalin. I found it strange that one of the side effects were suicidal thoughts because I had experienced the opposite effect when I first had it. Not that I was really having suicidal thoughts. I mean I was a Math/Science Teacher at this time and my job regularly sucked. I was pretty much constantly overworked and stressed, so at times I got pretty damn down. I work in IT now and I don't regularly feel shit about my job anymore, so if you just so happen to be a teacher, trust me; the grass is actually greener on the other side (quit asap). Anyways back to Pregabalin (PG) - it sort of chilled me out and reduced my feeling of stress. When I take it I feel as though my limbs loosen a bit. I get the feeling that they're not loose after PG , but they were simply just tight before PG and have released to their natural state. The other good thing is that when I take it before bed I seem to get a deeper sleep and seem to have dreams that I can recall. I suck at sleeping so I'm really happy to have this stuff lying around at times.

I don't feel like I abuse PG, but lately I've wondered if I'm a bit dependent on it to go to sleep. I don't feel like I miss it when I don't have it, so I guess I'm not feeling addicted to it. I don't want to be an advertisement for this stuff. I just thought I'd share my thoughts and experiences on this. It's not all rainbows and roses anyway. I think it gave me a headache when I stupidly had a couple of drinks while on it the other day.

Keen to hear anyone else's experiences with this stuff!