Opinions - Lyrica - Pregabalin for anxiety/depression to replace SSRI's

[youwillpay]

Hi all
SWiM has tryed most SSRI's for panic attacks, GAD, depression, etc & had realy bad reactions like freaking out, sweating exessively, realy vivid dreams to name a fiew!

Then SWiM's Psychiatrist mentioned a drug that has just been given licence in UK to treat anxiety, Lyrica (pregabalin).
It was used for Epilepsy & neuropathic pain, but now it can be used for anxiety.
Apparently SWiM was the 1st person she'd prescribed it too, so he was a guinea pig in my area.
It works on the receptors in the brain that Benzodiazepines do, but without the addiction.
SWiM feels he can function, get outa bed, & sometimes get a real high like on E.

I have been told it is going to be given to patients who have a bad time on SSRI's & withdrawl.

Has anyone had experiences with this drug & how it has worked on them.

YWP

Reputation Comments on this post:

interesting new subject/drug

[Broshious]

For anxiety SWiM was prescribed Gabapentin which is very similar to Pregabalin and it worked very well.

[paranoid_android]

SwiPA tried pregabalin (like the above poster said, very similar to gabapentin) and it worked miracles for anxiety, made him social. Unfortunately he tried it illegally, so he has no idea how to bring it up to a psychiatrist and actually get a script for it. Not to mention SwiPA lives in the states.

[bob_arctor]

SWIM has been on different SSRI, SNRI, TCA for years now, during a debilitating round of depressive returning episodes, mainly showing itself as social anxiety and general heavy dysthymia. Recently SWIM was prescribed Lyrica (pregabalin) and suddenly found himself able to handle a regular job in a food market. Now he has even persuaded his doctor to let him go off the anafranil (Clomopramin) so SWIM is flying free without help from those antidepressives for the first time in years. For sure mood is more variable, in a bad way, but it seems conclusively proven that social anxiety was the main problem for SWIM.

Also recently diagnosed with asperger syndrome, perhaps this has interfered with the slim action of the various drugs during the years. At least for this person, Pregabalin has worked as a (hitherto) non-addictive alternative to antidepressives and their negative side effects.

[branflakes]

yeah, i was wondering if a doctor would be hesitant about a patient asking for a scheduled V drug

[NeuroMD]

Originally Posted by branflakes

yeah, i was wondering if a doctor would be hesitant about a patient asking for a scheduled V drug

In such cases Gabapentin may work.

Reputation Comments on this post:

Informative

[imyourlittlebare]

I use pregabalin for fiber mylnosia or whatever. I was just diagnosed a week ago. I dont think it would help with depression. Surprisingly if you look online there is a recent article that talks about alprozam and how it greatly reduced depressive and anxious symptoms and the nice thing is you most likely wont have to increase your dose as long as you realize that the sedative effect is different from the anxiolytic effect. Anyway, pregablin effects certain chemicals that may not be beneficial for depressed people. It does kill my physical pain though along with clonazepam.

[Man5onite]

Pregabalin in conjunction with diazepam eliminated SWIM's anxiety.
Diazepam alone did not kill his anxiety.
Good combo for SWIM, but he did get a bit tired.

[p4oloz]

dosage ?

[paragoric]

anyone know if neuritonin (one of the gabas) works for this also

[paranoid_android]

It may, but dosing is fucked. The higher the dose you need to be on, the more spread out it has to be, since the bioavailability decreases as the individual dose size dose. Although, at this point you might be talking about euphoria/mania-inducing doses. The coolest thing about that effect is that all over your vision you start getting weird electrical-looking hallucinations like the jump scars in the movie Jumper.

[princesstalufa]

Lyrica was horrible. I started it (LEGALLY) when it first came out, and the doc put me on the "recommended" dosage, which was 300 mg per day, which is incredibly high (no docs really knew much about it then), and it f-ed me up! I was so bloated I looked pregnant, and I felt all weird and loopy, and not in a good way. It did nothing for fibro pain, and certainly not depression or anxiety!

[bob_arctor]

Originally Posted by paranoid_android

It may, but dosing is fucked. The higher the dose you need to be on, the more spread out it has to be, since the bioavailability decreases as the individual dose size dose.

Interesting - didn't know this, but seems plausible based on SWIMs experience. Do you have any references?