My MD ordered Lyrica for chronic pain and post shingles pain. Is it just temporary or is it permanent?

Question

I have had chronic pain for 12 years and in April,2006 I developed shingles on Rt side of cervical area. Then in May I developed a Rt kidney infection, sepsis and pneumonia. I was in the hosp. for 12 days and still trying to recoup. Of course my chronic pain came back and I resigned from my employment because the thought of tolerating the pain at work anymore is frightening and causing much anxiety. I was just put on Lyrica for post shingles pain. Will this just help the pain or will it take it away for ever? I also had shingles when I was 27. I was recently sent to a neurologist, blood work, brain scan , MRI of neck(the pain comes from my neck due to degeneration,etc) and now to a neurosurgeon,who wanted to do an exploratory last year, next week. I am also restarting psychotherapy for increased depression. I am applying for social security disability.
Basically how much can Lyrica help and can it harm my kidneys? My kidney is normal.

Answer 1

I also have had chronic pain for 12 years. For most of that time my pain was managed by Klonopin (clonazepam) and several other drugs. Klonopin did a pretty good job, but I developed a tolerance to it. My doctor ordered me to taper off of it, but didn't provide me with enough Klonopin to do it safely. I suffered a withdrawal seizure and developed Benzodiazepine Withdrawal Syndrome. Now I am dealing with not only dealing with my chronic pain, unmedicated, but the debilitating symptoms of BWS. (Avoid benzos! Klonopin, Valium, Xanax and many others)

Recently I was taking a high dosage of Neurontin (gabapentin), 2400 mg daily, and it helped, but not enough. Neurontin is from the same family of drugs as Lyrica (pregabalin). I'm going to ask my doctor to try me on Lyrica because it is more bioavailable, so it takes far less of it to do the same job as Neurontin. Less has got to be better on the organs, I figure.

Another drug from that same family is Gabitril (tiagabine). I wasn't able to tolerate that drug. It made me feel as if I were losing my mind! However, just because I did badly on it doesn't mean you would.

Ideally, we could recover from our circumstances and not need to be on any meds in the future, but if that's not possible then my goal is to be on the least number of medications, at the smallest possible dosages that provide the most benefit and the least long-term damage to my body. I'm still working towards that.

Now, after I've preached that "less is more," I'm going to suggest you ask your doctor about being put on an antidepressant if you aren't already on one. Paxil, 40 mg daily, has helped me greatly.

Best of luck to you.

Answer 2

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Answer 3

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RE:
My MD ordered Lyrica for chronic pain and post shingles pain. Is it just temporary or is it permanent?
I have had chronic pain for 12 years and in April,2006 I developed shingles on Rt side of cervical area. Then in May I developed a Rt kidney infection, sepsis and pneumonia. I was in the hosp. for 12 days and still trying to recoup. Of course my chronic pain came back and I resigned from my...

Answer 4

I tried Lyrica a couple of weeks ago. It was a real disaster. I took a dose at bedtime. By morning my pain had worsened so much that even double my usual morphine dose didn't get it back to normal. The skin on one arm felt like it was scalded badly and my shoulders had burning pain and sensitivity I haven't had since starting methylb12 4 years ago and had been controled with dilantin for 13 years. I couldn't wear a shirt all day because of the painful burning hypersensitive skin. I take a diuretic otherwise I put on about 3 pounds per day of water. I gained 8 pounds in the first 3 days and 12 pounds in the 10 days following, all from one dose. Then in the past 3 days I've taken off 8 pounds of water and dropping. It sapped my energy. I haven't felt that bad overall since I was a basketcase with fullblown fibro 5 years ago, before methylcobalamin. As I took only the one dose, it started letting up the next day as my skin returned to normal over the next 36 hours. I'm glad it was a sample as I would have hated to pay for a months worth only to throw them out with only 1 taken. I no longer have the symtoms of fibro and a whole lot else. Jarrow and Enzymatic Therapy methylb12 saved and changed my life. I have one now. I lost about 80 pounds of water after starting the methylb12 and other nutriants. Most of the neurological pain is gone. Most of the muscle pain is gone. Most of my 70+ symtoms are gone or vastly reduced. Lyrica brought many of them back very quickly.

Answer 5

Lyrica is a fairly new medication that is like Neurontin. It can help with seizures and also nerve pain (like Shingles and Peripheral Neuropathy.) It's not a cure, but has been found to greatly reduce nerve pain better than Neurontin.

Another suggestion (and I'm serious) is finding a good hypnotherapist. One on one sessions. Someone who has been doing it for years and is certified. A couple of sessions per week can also help immensley with pain. Most insurance companies will cover part of the cost when it is medically necessary. Please check this out.

Also: http://www.drugs.com/lyrica.html

Answer 6

Hi!!! I'm in kind of the same situation as you.........i have chronic pain b/c of severe scoliosis........last yr. i had 2 major back operations and they finally had to fuse my lumber.....well, it's still hurting....i KNOW your pain!!! And i have been on SS disability now for 3 yrs. Anyway, one of my dr.'s ordered Lyrica for nerve damage.....but...i took it for like 2 weeks and my ankles and feet swelled up like an elephants!!!!!!!! It tells you on the sheet that you get from the drugstore that it could cause your hands and feet to swell so just be careful..........i thought it was helping until that happened so i had to quit taking it.........GOOD LUCK!!!!