Article: Diane - Lyrica Withdrawal

Diane - The Pink House OTC

I weaned Bob off the Lyrica and Sunday was his first "Lyrica-free" day. He seemed to be handling it just fine.

Then on Monday morning, he didn't seem well, and when I asked him what was wrong, he told me he was "so sad". This is highly unusual for my usually upbeat, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed guy. He was also very tired.

Monday was also Bob's monthly pain management appointment. When the physician's assistant came in the room, she immediately asked if Bob was completely off the Lyrica. I told her it had been two days.  I also mentioned that Bob seemed depressed.

She said that Lyrica is in the same category as some of the anti-depressant drugs, and though not an anti-depressant, it could have been giving Bob a "little lift" and he might feel different now that he's off it.

We also talked about if Lyrica could be causing "torticollis" and, though, she had no experience with that particular side effect, she agreed with me that it was certainly worth a try to get him off of it and see if that helps his ability to hold his head up. She told me that Lyrica stays in the system "about 4 weeks" so not to expect any improvements until then. She also assured me that if Bob's pain increased, she would prescribe something else, maybe Neurontin. Then she said, "but I better look that up, make sure it doesn't have the same side effect!"

I told her that I already looked it up on the internet (Bob had been on that before Lyrica), and didn't see torticollis listed. But, of course, if she had a better drug reference than I did, she should look it up.

She sort of laughed and told me that "all the doctors" use the internet these days to look up drugs. "You've got the same reference we do!"

So, fiddley-dee on that neuro doc! ...

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