Severe pain & ?’S About Lyrica
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May 25, 2011 at 5:34 pm
HI All,
My new neuro told me I have significant neuropathy. I am currently takin 200 mg of Lyrica 2 x a day & Baclofen 20 mg 3 x a day. I take Lyrica because I’m allergic to Neurotin.
I have constant neuropathic pain, burning, tingling, feeling of bugs on me , beeing stung by them, spikes going in feet, walking on glass , can’t feel feet or hands the also get numb, & muscle spasms.
When the weather changes or when we have thunderstorms it gets bad. thunderstorms are the worst my pain goes to a 9 or 10 on 0-10 scale. I just curl up in a ball & cry, sometimes like a baby !! my breathing exercises don’t help. I have taken narcotic pain meds they don’t help.
I’ve been keeping track of the barometer & it don’t move much at all.
Also my new neuro suggested to increase Lyrica to 600 mg , but my family DR told me it can cause kidney damage. HE wants my new neuro to RX those meds. Don’t know why he don’t want to anymore he has done it for 3 1/2 years & I had a neuro the whole time I’ve been sick.
I found an MRI report of lumbar area a 1 or so old & it said there was a lesion on my right kidney possibly a begine cyst. Don’t remember hearing anything about that, I could be wrong or not, I have memory problems.
I don’t go to hospital when in severe pain because the neuro there was my old one & he don’t know whats going on so he’s the one who sent me to OSU. & I figure their not going to know anything so what will they do …. probably NOTHING !! So I DON’T GO. I just CRY !!!
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May 25, 2011 at 8:24 pm
You poor thing, I am so sorry you are struggling so much with your pain. I have been in your position. I was diagnosed with CIDP in April of 2010. I was started on Lyrica, which seemed to help, but my insurance would not pay for my prescription until I had failed two other drugs. I was prescribed gabapentin, which did nothing. For weeks my family physician increased the dosage, and even at 3600 mg a day it didn’t touch my pain. The burning and stinging were so bad that I couldn’t lie or sit down; over President’s Day weekend last year I paced in my house the entire time. I did a lot of vacuuming! I then tried Elavil, which didn’t work. After weeks of unremitting pain I consulted with a pain management specialist. He finally got the insurance company to approve payment for Lyrica.
Lyrica seems to work very well for me. I take 150 mg three times a day. When I get a flare-up, we jack up the Lyrica dosage. I have taken as much as 900 mg a day, which is a huge dose. My pain management physician never mentioned any kidney or liver issues, and encourages me to take as much Lyrica as I can tolerate when my pain flares. He also put me on Metanx and Lovaza to help with my nerve pain/inflammation.
You might want to consider consulting with a pain management specialist. My “team” consists of my family physician, my neurologist, my pain management physician, my rheumatologist,and my infusion nurse.
As for Cymbalta, I have not tried it. I know some people who have, and say it really helps. I wouldn’t hesitate to try just about anything rather than suffer with this terrible neuropathic pain. I also wouldn’t hesitate to increase my Lyrica dosage (in the short term, at least) as high as I could tolerate. Good luck and God bless you.
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May 27, 2011 at 2:20 am
istaroaz,
When my CIDP was really bad, I suffered with pain. My neurologist prescribed a tricyclic antidepressant, nortriptyline, in low doses. Taking it does not mean you are depressed; just that it has been found to help with some forms of pain. It worked well for me, except for one weird side effect: anything sweet tasted bad. Bitter, sour, salty, umani, were all unaffected, just sweet. It is a very uncommon side effect, though, so it would be worth trying either it or a similar drug, either alone or in combination with the Lyrica.
Godspeed in finding a solution to your pain.
MarkEns
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