Lyrica (Pregabalin) withdrawal or addiction

[OhCasey]

Swim has taken Lyrica on and off for a couple years now but hes never really taken it for more than a couple months at a time. Swim notices after a month or two at doses in the 300-600 mg's a day when he stops he gets some diarrhea, some sweating and cold feet, nothing major. Swim also has had great results with lyrica eliminating all of Opiate withdrawals so it makes him think that over time this stuff might present some serious withdrawals if taken at high enough doses. I was wondering what some members have experienced in terms of either withdrawal or addiction with Lyrica.

[Dead-N]

SWIM has noticed that he gets a rebound anxiety/shaky feeling when he stopped his Lyrica too quickly. But SWIM was using Lyrica to fight off GHB withdrawal so it might have more to do with a return of those symptoms which Lyrica covers up well. SWIMs GABA system is all out of whack.

If SWIY has ever experienced a withdrawal from other GABA drugs you will probably get the same thing from Lyrica or related drugs that work on GABA (Benzos, GHB, Alcohol, Phenibut, etc). My aunt was on Lyrica for a few months and had no problem just stopping, she was never addicted to other GABA drugs though which seems to be the problem for SWIM.

The sweating and cold feet sound like a mild form of the WD that SWIM gets when stopping any GABA drugs. He gets sweaty palms and gets very shaky with panic/anxiety and insomnia.

Good luck, your body will tell you if you need to taper or if just stopping is ok.
-DN

Reputation Comments on this post:

Excellent answer to the question.

[missparkles]

I can't stress this enough, always check any WD of drugs with a medical professional.
No one can say what reaction you're gonna have after a couple of years.
Best to be safe. Take care.
Sparkles.