I have been on Duloxetine up to 120mg but I came off that due to the intense sweating and at the time I didn't feel it was doing anything in regards to my pain.
I was weaned off that pretty quickly, you may remember a previous post about this. Anyway after a month I told my GP that I did feel a bit brighter after a couple of week, but then the pain kicked in real bad and since that happened, my mental health took a turn for the worse again so I asked if I could be put back onto an antidepressant that was also used for pain, like Duloxetine was. He was being quite stubborn as he fully believed that if he gets my mental health on an even keel then my pain will settle. We had a debate about this, with me stating that he's looking at it wrong bcoz I only had issues with my mental health bcoz my health had taken so much of a turn and bcoz I'm in constant pain so if he looks at getting my pain levels down, my mental health will improve. Anyway, he asked me if it's just at least try another month on the Venlafaxine at a higher dose of 150mg. I agreed as I wasn't getting anywhere anyway. I started the 150mg Venlafaxine and then the sweats kicked in again and I was falling asleep everywhere, sat on the toilet, in other stupid places and positions, I was confused and acting strange so I've gone back to the surgery this week just gone to get a prescription and I told the receptionist my issues with the Venlafaxine and asked if I could have a quick word with my GP, but he sent out a note to me with a prescription for 60mg Duloxetine, telling me to go back down to 75mg Venlafaxine for a week then restart the duloxetine at a dose of 60mg.
I don't know his reasons for putting me back on Duloxetine but I do have an appointment with him on the 9th September and I've already spoken to him about possibility trying Gabapentin as I had been speaking to someone who said that was good for their pain. I've also been told Pregablin is too.
So my question is, those of you who are on either Gabapentin or Pregablin, or have been on either in the past, how do or did you find it? I got told Pregablin puts a lot of weight on you so if rather stay away from anything that does that as I've already put 8kg on since being diagnosed (medication weight as I've actually been eating less).
I would just like to know if either is any good, I'm so fed up of feeling like I'm in a constant flare-up 😥
TIA
Angela 😇 xxx
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misspicky82
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Hi Angela. I was put of pregabalin and ended up pre-diabetic with a 2 stone weight gain. Trazadone gave me severe lower limb swelling. Currently on duloxetine which seems to elevate my liver enzymes. This is currently being looked at as I have cihrossis. I think it's all trial and error. I wish you all the best.
Thank you for your reply. I be honest, I've alot of people saying they had huge weight gain on Pregablin so I'm not that keen on it due to that but I would like to know about Gabapentin as alot of people have said its been good for their pain but I've not so much heard about its effects for Fibromyalgia.Your response is very useful tbh as it's just given me further validation that is definitely a weight gainer. I've put 8kg on already and I'm sure that was due to Duloxetine so I'm not sure why he's put me back on that, unless it was because he just didn't have time to see me and didn't want to try me on anything new without speaking to me 🤷🏻♀️ I certainly don't want to stay on Duloxetine but I'm hoping at the lower dose than last time, I shouldn't have the sweats as badly as last time x
I've been on Pregablin for about 13 years. I did gain some weight but I put it down to inactivity as I was in severe pain. The benefits of Pregablin took a few weeks to cut in but it certainly helped with the burning, shooting pains that were ruining my life. With pain more controlled, I do still get quite a bit of pain but never as high as prePregablin I have been able to become more active. In fact I am nearly a stone lighter. I cut out several things in my diet, rarely eat bread and eat a lot of fruit and I think this has helped.Everyone is different and unfortunately the obly may yo find out if it helps and suits you is to try it. Often doctors prescribed Gabapentin as I believe it is cheaper but they have slightly different effects and one sometimes suits better than the other.
When I did mention Gabapentin to my GP last time, he said yes and there is Pregablin so he didn't rule it out, but was adamant that I have the Venlafaxine more time. I've gained alot more weight with the Venlafaxine though and he even said I've definitely got medication weight gain so I was actually surprised when he doubled my dose of it.
I agreed I'd give it a month and I have but it's not made no difference to my pain so I'm now on the wean down. My next appointment is 9th September and I will be pushing what I want then. He's looking at it wrong, he needs to concentrate on my pain before mental health bcoz imo it's the pain that's causing the issue mentally.
I agree the lack of movement and physical activity has definitely added onto the weight gain so I want something to take the pain levels down as much as possible so I can be more active then.
My main mission now is to work out which is best, Gabapentin or Pregablin?
Hi misspicky82I was stuck on Gapapentin for PAD I say stuck because everything I got see my gp I begged to come of them After about 6,7 wks they were not helping with pain I felt like I did when drinking swinging and swaying on my feet (imagine standing in tiny row boat in storm in middle of the ocean) it came and went no warning
Monty python would have been impressed with my walk
I was put on 12 a day along with 8 Paracetamol
Be careful I become very scared I thought I was going to fall most the time...
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