Pregabalin (Lyrica) for Low Back Pain and Muscle Spasms

[Missus835]

Has anyone tried Lyrica? Rhemy prescribed 75 mg at bedtime which makes no sense to me or Pharmist? Pharm has reached out to her about splitting the dose. It would seem in addition to all the other joys I have possibly a herniated disc.Thanks.

[piglette]

Can’t they take an xray to confirm for a herniated disc.

[Missus835 in reply to piglette]

Well they can but wait is a few months unless I yet again go to ER.

[piglette in reply to Missus835]

I hope that you are booked in for an xray.

[Missus835 in reply to piglette]

Rhemy is supposed to be doing that but ER IF er does it you get results immediately

[piglette in reply to Missus835]

I suppose they don’t look at it as an emergency??

[Missus835 in reply to piglette]

Rarely do they do much of anything Piglette

[piglette in reply to Missus835]

So it looks like you may have to push your rheumy??

[Missus835 in reply to piglette]

Yes. But getting hold of her is totally impossible. Even pharm has difficulty by fax. Right now I'm stuck in bed but will go to ER if I must. I am not a good bed ridden person. In Nova Scotia you have to be a self advocator and it's tiring and stressful.

[piglette in reply to Missus835]

UK is pretty bad too.

[HeronNS in reply to Missus835]

You can book on-line, DGH. First date I saw just now (noon 27th) was July 14. You do need a requisition.

[Missus835 in reply to HeronNS]

Ruddy Rheumatologist has the req. Otherwise I would have booked immediately. Perhaps they would email a copy to me. I will follow-up.

[Monkey321]

Hi, I'm very new to the forum so this is only my experience and that is very limited. The Dr put me on pregabelin which I took for around 6 weeks in early 2020 for nerve/ back pains which were undiagnosed at that time. Personally I found it it played with my mind and emotions and I stopped taking it as soon as i could. I wouldn't be keen to take it again. I couldn’t really say it helped overall with pains either. That was my experience anyway.

[Blearyeyed]

I've been on Pregabalin for several years for Fibromyalgia and nerve spasms , I began on a much higher dose , 100mg three times a day. I was given Pregabalin instead of Garbapentin because it can help manage the pain on lower doses than the Garb and is gentler on the stomach causing less constipation.

I take Pregabalin in combination with other Pain medications now which means I have reduced my dose to 50 mg three times a day. It has quite a short duration in the system which is why two or three lower doses a day are preferable to one big dose . This also helps reduce the amount of drowsiness or brain fog that some people can have on it. Doses can go up to as much as 300mg a day for some to get enough pain relief but this is tapered up over a number of months.

I personally couldn't tolerate doses of more than 100mg in one go it numbed the pain but made me very " spaced out" and good for nothing all day.

There is some sense in what your GP is doing as long as their plan is to increase you dose. By giving you one dose of Pregabalin at night at the moment they could be allowing you to get used to the drug while reducing the amount of initial side effects in the day. Taking a dose before bed can help to relax your muscles and reduce the spasms from effecting your sleep. A better night's sleep with less pain in itself will help reduce the pain and tension in your muscles as well which could mean that as they include a daytime dose you would not need to have very high doses. But that is only of sense if their plan was to taper you up to two or three doses a day.

Personally , if you've been on the 75 mg Pregabalin with no significant side effects but little change to the pain for a week or more , I would get back to the GP point this out and request that you have the dose changed to 50mg two times a day for two weeks and then increase to three times a day from then on. This dose is low but can be beneficial at that level , especially if you also take paracetamol at the same time for its effect on any inflammation. This is because the Pregabalin only works on the nerve pain and spasms and doesn't do anything to help reduce any inflammation, although any steroid dose you are on currently should also be helping that,

Pregabalin doseage does start as low as 25 mg tablets , so it would be possible to split your 75 mg into three 25 mg doses a day , but to be honest that dose is unlikely to make much difference for severe back pain or spasms. You also need to consider your weight and height as this can make a difference to how high a dose will be effective for you.

You could , of course , choose to get 25 mg tablets from the Chemist and take one dose of 50 mg and one dose of 25 mg , but again that may still be too low while you get the pain under control .

Hope that helps , Bee

[Missus835 in reply to Blearyeyed]

Just the info I was seeking. Thank you Bee.

[HeronNS in reply to Blearyeyed]

I don't think acetaminophen (paracetamol, tylenol) is an anti-inflammatory.

[Blearyeyed in reply to HeronNS]

It isn't an anti-inflammatory but has an anti-inflammatory effect.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Blearyeyed]

That is disputed - older reviews assert no anti-inflammatory effect, then it was alleged there was some and now they are swinging back to no effect. I find it pretty useless ...

[Blearyeyed in reply to PMRpro]

Yes. it's swings and roundabouts , it really seems to depend what your dealing with and which combination of drugs it is put with, and the individual reactions of the patient , of course.

[HeronNS in reply to Blearyeyed]

I was given paracetamol for the first time years ago when at a family gathering in the UK and had no aspirin on hand. It worked brilliantly. But I think my headache must have been from stress and dehydration, and together with the glass of water and the placebo effect, it worked! I bet a sugar pill would have worked in the same circumstances.

[Blearyeyed in reply to HeronNS]

Probably dehydration which generally isn't an inflammation related headache in which case the paracetamol would have helped as much as an aspirin because of its effect on the pain pathways , a sugar pill in that situation unlike a usual placebo situation probably would have made it worse. 🤪

[HeronNS in reply to Blearyeyed]

Uh, joke!

[Missus835 in reply to PMRpro]

Are we referring to acetaminophen or pregabalin?

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Missus835]

I was replying to Blearyeyed - says that on the comment - and she was replyng to HeronNS who commented about paracetamol and antiinflammatory effect.

[Blearyeyed in reply to Missus835]

We talking about paracetamol at the moment not Pregabalin

[Missus835 in reply to HeronNS]

If it is at all it's minimal.

[HeronNS in reply to Missus835]

I find it generally useless. The only time it helps me is when it's with codeine! I don't think codeine is anti-inflammatory either but it is a strong painkiller. For my dental adventure I had the choice of ibuprofen (which I've always avoided as it is more prone to cause cardio or stroke issues than aspirin) and tylenol. No aspirin allowed because of risk of bleeding. I thought I wouldn't waste my time with tylenol and took ibuprofen, which was effective. But today with the thundery weather I have a migraine and even ibuprofen isn't cutting it. Probably aspirin would be okay by now, so if I'm not feeling better in another hour or so I may take some.

[Missus835 in reply to HeronNS]

You can get Tylenol 1 without a Rx. I do not find it that effective even with the caffeine and codeine. Sobey's Pharm sells it.

[HeronNS in reply to Missus835]

I used to get a kind of codeine with aspirin and caffeine, then they must have changed aspirin to tylenol, and I'm sure they've reduced the amount of codeine. Think it used to be 15 mg but it's 8 now. Ironically I have none at home these days because first of all it was so hard to find a bottle with fewer than 50 tablets in it, and secondly not likely to expire long before I'd used them up. OTC at the pharmacy, and last time I asked the bottle offered had the same expiry date as the one I'd just finished - the one which had taken me three years to use up (30 caplets), so it wasn't worth buying.

[Blearyeyed in reply to HeronNS]

Gets harder still with the migraines , all depends what is causing it. I was agreeing the other day with someone else on HU that having Migraines is like being a human Barometer, as it's the swings in air pressure rather than changes in temperature itself that seem to trigger worse symptoms.You are right about the effect of weather and dehydration both are big triggers.

The combo of paracetamol and aspirin might be more beneficial for the Migraine with the aspirin for any inflammation and paracetamol working on the pain pathway. You will know anyway but I'll still give you a Mumsy reminder to eat a little yoghurt to line your stomach , migraines can make you feel even more nauseous than usual while taking meds. You should be alright mouth wise as long as your aspirin isn't soluble.

I have to have specific medications for different migraines now only one of those is anti-inflammatory and it's the one I use least. I get oxygen and a Vagus Stimulation device each day to use as a preventative. Anti-inflammatory meds alone generally don't cut it with Migraines.

[Missus835 in reply to Blearyeyed]

Oh my we do go thru a whole gamut of junk don't we all. Oh well such is life. Take it as it comes. Thank everyone for so much info and support. Xx

[HeronNS in reply to Blearyeyed]

I have used aspirin forever and always have food with it! I understand aspirin and am comfortable taking it. Thanks for advice, but in this case not needed!

Fortunately migraine is a rare event in my life now.

[Blearyeyed in reply to HeronNS]

Yes, I just added it in in case someone else might read the replies and didn't know , I knew you would know , we are old hands at juggling various health issues all at once now aren't we ... Unfortunately, I would love a day off !

[HeronNS in reply to Blearyeyed]

Good point - I do that sometimes too. Btw, I ended up taking another dose of ibuprofen several hours later, not aspirin, and hope that now I won't need any painkillers for a while!

[Susieblu in reply to Blearyeyed]

I have just come across this very informative input , thank you Bee. Since having an op. about 5 weeks ago my back has been so much worse and I have struggled to get satisfactory pain control despite ringing the surgery several times . I take Pregabalin 50mg at night and now feel encouraged to try a daytime dosage. The amount of codeine they tell me to take makes me feel ill. I take paracetamol as well. I have given up trying to reduce Prednisolene for the time being. Must stick at 7mg for now . Unfortunately the op was for bladder cancer which came out of the blue.

[Missus835 in reply to Susieblu]

I have switched to day time as I really don't have nighttime pain...so 50 mg in the morning and 25 mg around 4 pm. This is only a few days so pain relief has not yet kicked in. Fingers crossed. xx

[dancersize2]

My brother in law was given lyrica for fibro. Said it made him suicidal so won't take it.

[benhemp]

My experience with taking pregabalin for fibromyalgia was that it lowered my pain but it made me sluggish. I eventually decided that I'd rather have more energy and more pain than less pain while feeling sluggish, and I stopped taking it. By the way, pregabalin (and also gabapentin, the similar drug before it) works by slowing down nerve impulses, which is why most folks find it makes them sluggish. It was developed to treat seizures, a situation where nerves are firing wildly.

[Carathedog]

I’m o Pregabalin 75 mg morning and night, but I have spinal stenosis and three herniated disc’s. Can’t sat or really helps, on the process of coming off to see if there’s any difference

[Missus835 in reply to Carathedog]

Yikes. Hope it helps my lower back disc issues. Worth a try. Most pain meds are no longer effective.

[Griggser]

I was on 300mg of Pregablin twice a day for nerve pain. I recently weaned myself of it but the symptoms came back with a vengeance. I’m now back on 125mg twice a day and the nerve pain is much reduced. Hopefully I can stay at 250mg a day. I was on Amitripyline, 40mg a day, at the same time as Pregablin but have managed to come iff this altogether.

I had a herniated disc at L5 many years ago which was completely debilitating and I ended up having surgery to repair the disc. I hope you get some relief from the pain soon.

[Missus835 in reply to Griggser]

Same Griggser L5,S1 and think I just messed it up a couple of days ago. On my way to ER this morning. Incapacitated

[Hidden]

I took Lyrica for about ten years for peripheral neuropathy - and when I finally stopped taking it - since two of the side effects were loss of balance (I needed no help with that) and ..... peripheral neuropathy -I found no difference in the PN. However, I did lose about 30 pounds; it is notorious for weight gain. I think it was originally designed for epilepsy - it's an anti-seizure drug used off-label for various things. Definitely didn't do much for me . . .

[Missus835 in reply to Hidden]

Hi. This is supposed to help with lower back/disc pain. Hope it works. Thanks.

[Hidden]

I guess I didn't make myself very clear - any pain I had from the PN was not relieved at all with Lyrica - and it didn't do anything for my chronic back pain either - but we're all different. Good luck with it - I hope it does work for you!

[Croft9232]

I take 200mg twice daily for nerve (burning) pain and have for several years. It does help me. The only side effect is a little drowsiness for an hour after taking.

[Missus835 in reply to Croft9232]

Thank you. I'm ergiving it a try. Better than crying in pain. All the best to you.

[Missus835 in reply to Missus835]

I do have burning pain. Hopefully the Lyrica will kick in soon. Only been a few days.

[Hunter134]

My son has been taking it for over a year and it really helped with his pain in his back.He would cry with the pain and couldn't move.He works part time now but he's happy to provide some income for the family.

[Missus835 in reply to Hunter134]

Thanks. Im giving it a try. I too am crying with the pain. At ER as we speak. All the best to your son. XX

[Hunter134 in reply to Missus835]

Wishing u the best of luck too.Getting older sucks!!!

[Missus835 in reply to Hunter134]

Yep. A lot can happen in a year and a half. I still say I'm a spring chicken. It will get better.

[Hunter134 in reply to Missus835]

Yes it will.Just hang in there!

[BeachsideVia]

i have neuropathy from chemo and I have been on many meds, but started lyrica several months ago. I take 50 mg st night and it really helps calm the pain, the stabbing, and discomfort. I find that during the day I am not bothered much by it. I have oa and ra and that keeps me busy! For now I will stay low dose. A while back I took gabapentin, and when I got up to 400 mg I was forgetful and absent minded! I tucked some chicken salad in the dish closet…. And when I later found it I freaked out and went off the gabapentin!

[Missus835 in reply to BeachsideVia]

Thank you. I'm giving Lyrica a try. Take care.