Pregabalin for Peripheral Neuropathy User Reviews

• Spa...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• April 21, 2020

"I've suffered from peripheral neuropathy for a year. I've tried gabapentin, tramadol, and pregabalin. Pregabalin was best for treating the burning, stabbing, pins, and needles in my hands and feet. It probably brought my pain down from a 6 to a 2. But, and it's a big BUT, were the side effects. I was taking 100 mg twice a day, but I was a total wreck. I walked around like a zombie, I would just stare at my computer screen, not really doing anything. Throw in some blurred vision and mild cognitive impairment, and you have a really useless drug in my book. If pain relief was the most important thing to me, I would stick with it. For me, after just a one-week look at my future self (30 years from now), it was too much to bear. I'm going to keep searching."

• Par...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• April 29, 2021

"I have had 12 back and hip-related surgeries in 10 years... approximately half were fusions from cervical to mainly lumbar area. My last L2-L4 fusion continuation was in Dec 2020. I am 56 years old, and for the last 3 months, I have been experiencing severe neuropathic pain in my lower legs and feet. I have had to ice them every night to get 1 or 2 straight hours of sleep. It was agonizing. Then, 3 days ago, I saw my neurosurgeon, and he put me on a mix of 600 mg ibuprofen 3 times a day and 150 mg Lyrica twice a day. I woke today after a night of solid sleep, completely neuropathic pain-free. I felt blessed, the most incredible pain reversal I have ever had. I just pray it stays like this. Although Lyrica made me tired a bit, the upside is so incredibly worth it for me. I hope you other folks get to feel this—and I am so sorry other folks have not felt this level of relief. I pray you get better!"

• Neu...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• September 22, 2019

"I was diagnosed with peripheral neuropathy 10+ yrs ago. Pfizer/Lyrica helped with much of the burning and electric shock-like stabbing pain. I was recently pleased to pick up the generic by Amneal Pharma. Almost immediately, I began getting painful shocks, toe stabbing pain, pain in hands, serious migraines, and the most scary of all, heart palpitations. After several days, I cleared all of the generic Lyrica out of my pill minder box and luckily had nearly a week's worth of the Pfizer product. I’m pleased to say that after only several days back on Lyrica, the shocking/stabbing pain and heart palpitations have been reduced. I still have migraines but am hopeful they will go away. I’ll provide an update soon as I believe many could benefit from this information before switching to generic."

• boo...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• October 26, 2019

"Have been taking Pfizer Lyrica for about a year. I order it from Kaiser mail order because I couldn't afford it otherwise. The Pfizer product was excellent at controlling lower back pain. Kaiser substituted a generic. It does not have desired pain relief. Science is apparently flawed here."

• Anonymous
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• December 18, 2019

"Lyrica had my fibromyalgia pain under control, where it was tolerable. The generic pregabalin came out, and I was automatically switched, and OMG. The pain is unbearable. Two months later, and the pain is as bad as it used to be."

• Pip...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• January 28, 2020

"After I started taking Lyrica, I finally felt hope. I felt validated. I thought, this is what normal feels like. This is what it's like to go a day and live pain-free. Then, my pharmacy switched to Pregabalin, and I'm back to 45 years ago. Daily pain. Hiding from the world, sleeping through the pain. I feel like that inner child that was confused as to why she felt so bad all of the time, and my alcoholic mother said I was just using a negative attention-getting mechanism to take away her attention. I AM in pain. I AM NOT making this up. Why can't I have the Lyrica back? I saw a glimpse of how I could be, and I want the feel-good ME back. The me I know I'm supposed to be. That I CAN be. I am so tired of being in pain. I'm just so exhausted."

• Mzz...
• January 22, 2017

"Just started Lyrica for pain with multiple sclerosis. Numbing/tingling/foot drop/balance issues all standard with MS. 75 mg per day and already noticed a difference... I can move my toes! Pain is reduced. Gabapentin did not help, baclofen or Flexeril same. So far, Lyrica is doing the trick for me. Dr. increasing Lyrica slowly each week to find the right dosage."

• Lon...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• March 27, 2015

"I have suffered with severe diabetic peripheral, proximal, and autonomic neuropathy for 7 years. The pain and dysesthesias were constant, I could eventually fall asleep for a couple of hours, but that was it. I was prescribed Darvocet, Neurontin, Tramadol, Codeine, and Cymbalta, none of which worked, not even a little. I had to fight the insurance company for over 7 months to get on Lyrica, and when it was finally approved, I figured it wouldn't work either... An hour after I took the first dose, I was completely pain-free. I slept 9 hours the first night and haven't slept less than 7 hours since. I actually have my life back."

• Anonymous
• October 17, 2011

Pregabalin "I have been using Lyrica for about ten weeks. I increased my dose gradually until the majority of my pain is gone. I am now at 150 mg at bedtime and 75 mg in the morning. I have found the side effects to be minimal, the most noticeable are mid-afternoon drowsiness and a bit of vertigo. This medicine has also helped calm the need for frequent urination. Who knew?"

• Lis...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• March 8, 2020

"I was taking Lyrica for 2 years, 3 times a day. It helped the peripheral neuropathy and helped the pain and numbness in my feet, legs, and back! I have spinal stenosis, DDD, lumbar radiculopathy, and spondylolisthesis and was told it was hard to tell if the pain was coming from my back or the diabetes! The Lyrica was helping, and now they have changed to pregabalin, and the pain and numbness in my feet, legs, and back have gotten bad again!"

• She...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• November 20, 2023

"I have taken pregabalin for over 2 years due to nerve pain after 2nd chemotherapy in 20+ years. I take 150 mg 3 times per day. It has dulled the nerve pain on the front of my legs. It caused me to get hungry all the time; hence, weight gain. Over time, this hunger has settled down. What improved significantly? The over 20 years of terrible hot flashes due to the abrupt early onset of menopause due to my first experience with chemotherapy. In the past 20+ years, I have taken Prestiq to dull the miserable hot flashes to a bearable burn. As a 2-time breast cancer survivor, I'm unable to take hormone therapy for relief. The pregabalin has all but wiped out the hot flashes. Furthermore, it has eliminated my painful restless legs syndrome. My sensitive scalp pain is gone as well. I wish my neuropathy pain could be completely gone, but there is some relief. Breast cancer in 2001 with surgery and chemo, breast cancer in 2019 with surgery and chemo, brain tumor in 2023 with craniotomy and radiation."

• Ada...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• December 17, 2019

"I've had DDD (Degenerative Disc Disease) with bad sciatica that no medicine touched the pain until I tried pregabalin, it changed my life. I've been on it for one year and it still works fine. I had no side effects at all, I just hope it doesn't stop working."

• boo...
• August 7, 2015

"After suffering from painful burning feet for ten years, and due to the pain getting only a few hours of sleep per night (if lucky), I started taking Lyrica 75 mg twice per day. The very first day my feet started to feel better, but I thought it might be wishful thinking, however, after taking the second capsule before bed, I slept for nine hours straight and woke up to manageable foot pain. My life is back to normal."

• Tic...
• November 27, 2019

"On Lyrica for 4 yrs under Pain Specialist. Was taking one 100 mg capsule AM, one 100 mg capsule midday, and two 100 mg capsules before bed for a total of 400 mg/day. My non-diabetic peripheral neuropathy is unbearable without it. Only side effect is blurred vision, a small trade-off for the relief offered. Now I am troubled. Finishing the last of my brand name Lyrica from my last 90-day script, I just started 400 mg/day of newly acquired generic pregabalin. Something is wrong! Painful electric bolts to my left lower extremity have increasingly returned, albeit in a less severe intensity. Note that I had rated this new med a '7', doing so in contrast to calling the brand name Lyrica a '10'. I am distraught. Are there any other such reports? How can I continue to obtain Lyrica regardless of the cost? Thanks very much for allowing me to report this to you. My Lyrica costs $50/month mail order and the pregabalin is only $5."

• Anonymous
• January 1, 2011

Pregabalin "I've been taking Lyrica for about 3.5 years. Excellent pain relief and mood improver. The downside for me is cost, weight gain, and dependency. The withdrawal is worse than opiates, in my opinion. 300 mg twice a day."

• Yuk...
• August 20, 2010

Pregabalin "I used this for my last herniated disk issue. I had a sequestered herniated L5-L4 issue and suffered from nerve pain down my left leg and drop foot. Pain medications (e.g., 10 mg Percocet 3-4 times daily) did nothing for my leg pain, though helped my back. Lyrica at 150 mg twice daily did the trick for my leg nerve pain. The sciatica makes your leg kill while you know nothing's wrong with it, so with Lyrica, I was amazed to have the leg pain just disappear. No side effects. Sciatica went away by itself after 3 months, so no need for Lyrica anymore."

• Anonymous
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• June 17, 2020

"I have 2 herniated discs, degenerative disc disease, sciatica, and then found out I have scoliosis. On top of all of that, I've been taking pregabalin for about 6 months and have had no relief. I'm going to have to tell my doctor to increase it, and my feet are also swelling and tingly all the time. It makes it very hard to walk, sometimes I feel like I'm going to fall."

• Ber...
• April 10, 2010

Pregabalin "I just weaned myself off of Cymbalta/Neurontin and started taking 50 mg Lyrica capsules twice a day. I have been taking Lyrica for only two days and have had amazing results. I may be reporting on this drug too soon, but I am finding my pain receding greatly. I am feeling almost 'normal', my spirits are definitely rising, and I hope that I can avoid nerve-cutting surgery, which would be my last choice for relief. I am an optimist by nature and am so hoping that 100 mg a day will keep me pain-free and away from the scalpel."

• Ray...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• January 9, 2016

"I've been using Lyrica now for almost 3 years with great success, and until this week, I was able to get it with no problem using my insurance. Some POS doctor working for Express Script denied coverage. He got overruled by a doctor with a brain, but Doctor Weisman seems to think Lyrica doesn't work for the treatment of peripheral neuropathy. His reasoning was because the doctor didn't put diabetic in front of peripheral neuropathy. Lyrica won't work. The thing this doctor doesn't understand is that Lyrica is treating only the peripheral neuropathy. The diabetic part means nothing except that the peripheral neuropathy is being caused by the diabetes. If this doctor had taken just say five minutes and read a little bit more of the notes!"

• Puf...
• September 13, 2010

Pregabalin "It is difficult to rate this medication. I have all forms of neuropathy, very painful, and Lyrica has been the best so far at eliminating pain, allowing me to overcome the insomnia from the neuropathy and opiate medication, even at very small doses. I take 50 mg once daily before bed, and it works. The problem is the side effects, the worst being that after three days, my eyesight is so degraded that I cannot drive, I cannot read anything on the television 6 feet away, there is some eye pain, and my eyes seem dry and burning. Eye problems can be serious: wandering eye, crossed eyes, and most commonly blurred vision. It also causes peripheral edema in my legs and feet."

• Cai...
• November 3, 2009

Pregabalin "This, used in conjunction with Cymbalta, is about as good as it gets for nerve pain. In the past, I was given Neurontin, Gabapentin, and many others, but none were as effective. On the downside, I found that the Lyrica in higher doses (150 MG - 600 MG) left me tired and unable to enjoy my days. I found that I received no greater pain relief taking the larger doses, just more/worse side effects. Even with Lyrica and the Cymbalta, some people with extreme pain may still need to use some other type of pain relief in addition to this drug. I take 300 MG of Lyrica spread over 4 doses per day, and the Cymbalta, and 120 MG of OxyContin and up to 40 MG of Oxycodone for breakthrough pain. In severe cases, a second antidepressant may be needed in addition to the Cymbalta to help fight the depression that comes with chronic pain. The big downside to both of these name-brand medicines is the cost. A month's supply of Lyrica with no insurance is over $330, and the Cymbalta will set you back just over $300 each month. Even with insurance, these both will end up on the top tier (my co-pay is $50.00 each), and neither of them has a generic equivalent."

• Der...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• April 23, 2016

"Only one 75 mg dose took me out of the most severe pain from Dercum's III, a rare genetic disorder. I would still be on this medication except I had face swelling from it. I wish I wasn't one of the few to suffer from this side effect and could still be on this medication. But there are very many other people that can be helped by it, and I wish you all to be free from pain."

• R50...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• July 16, 2017

"Have been on 300 mg pregabalin for neuropathy and brain zaps for 12 months, not too bad at first on a very low dose of 50 mg but still having brain zaps. Went up to 300 mg a day in stages, then 6 months ago started getting bad tinnitus, then loud drumming in the middle of my head constant. In short, sent to an ear specialist and given painkillers, told I have lost low tones in my left ear, problem with pregabalin, permanent loss. As the side effects were now getting worse than any benefits, I decided that I should stop this drug, which I did over 3 months. Now off, but no sleep, sweats, headaches, pain worse than before. My advice is to stay off, look for alternatives, coming off is worse than starting. 2 stars given for the start of treatment."

• Anonymous
• October 27, 2011

Pregabalin "75 mg made me uncoordinated, cross-eyed, and VERY sleepy. Did help the neuropathy but went back to gabapentin, on which I have no side effects at 200 mg x 3 a day. It doesn't completely take the tingling away, but enough so that I can work."

• Pai...
• July 11, 2010

Pregabalin "The real problem I had and still do is dosing. I started out on 150 mg twice a day and found it too much at first. The GP reduced the dose to 75 mg three times a day and 1 x 75 mg when needed. That is my current dose, and the side effects are worth it based on the fact that I've had painful neuropathy in both my feet and lower legs. The breakthrough pain was the main issue I was having trouble with and did not want any more narcotics than I currently take... 60 mg. MS Contin x 24 hours and 2 Statex when required per 24 hours. It can mess with your head a little, like feeling like you are a bit spaced out. Works wonderfully, and I hope I don't build a tolerance."