Hi Everyone,
I am taking 300mg of pregabalin at night and have now no rls at all and sleep well. But I wanted to ask whether anyone who is taking this medication has noticed any changes in mood. I seem to be feeling very tearful and am experiencing a loss of confidence. It could all be due to other things going on in my life but I just wanted to ask if anyone else has had mood changes
Can’t say exactly, because I don’t take and have never taken pregabalin. However, I have taken and am about to restart gabapentin, a very closely related medicine. I will go back to 100mg once a day. A year ago I tried gabapentin for a long time (>6 mo) but the doses higher than 300mg once daily (which is generally thought to be a low dose) didn’t suit me well. Apart from the daytime exhaustion, it indeed changed my mood; I tended strongly towards negativity and depression. Which is not at all like me! I can’t remember about loss of confidence by itself as the depressed feelings made me feel that way too.
In sum, yes, I can relate to what you report, and at much lower doses (pregabalin is better absorbed hence much stronger than gabapentin).
I’ve been on it about 6 weeks with no noticeable mood changes. Only on 150mg. Very pleased with how it is going at the moment! I don’t look too far ahead....
Pam
Hi Pam, thanks for the reply, it is very good at eliminating symptoms!
It is. And I suppose because of that I try and overlook other issues. I guess I do feel tired but then I’m working, not getting any younger and I feel far less tired than I did on Tramadol.
With regard to my mood, my withdrawal from ropinirole and subsequent misery and depression through the withdrawal makes anything else seem like a walk in the park. And nobody has complained yet! (Unless they’re scared to!!)
Pam
Hi Pam, good to hear your still doing ok 👍🏻 I do think about all us sufferers!! X
Hi, yes it’s still pretty good. I get the occasional breakthrough but am trying to keep the dose low. I suppose I’m always anxious I may have to withdraw - still got bad ropinirole memories. I’m sure you can relate to that! I feel really for you 😢
Yes, I took it and experienced mood changes, with tearfulness in the first month or so. I cut back and am experimenting with leaving it out because it was a bit like a tranquilliser. It suppressed whatever liveliness I had left over after battling RLS.
I take it for back pain (doesnt help my RLS ) not had any mood problems from it but my dose is much lower x
I started on Gabapentin about a month ago and haven’t experienced any mood changes or problems. I think it’s helping my RLS too. I went down to 0.25mg of Mirapex last night from 0.5mg without any leg symptoms, I did however, have insomnia! I know that Gabapentin isn’t the same as Lyrica. Along with the Gabapentin, I took Kratom 1gm and inhaled cannabis. What a combo! Hopefully, your mood disturbance will go away as quickly as it started! Wishing relief and peace for you...🙂
It's hard to know for certain because of what else is/was going on in my life but I do think it affected my mood. I only ever took 150mg which eventually stopped helping my RLS so I gradually cut down and stopped it.
It is marketed also as a treatment for generalised anxiety but I think in some way it made me more anxious in that when there was something concerning on the go it seemed to make me more anxious or somehow I lost my sense of perspective and could't work out how worrying whatever it was actually was. i sort of couldn't judge properly and would panic inside and find it hard to bring my thoughts into order. I don't think it made me invent worries but it made it hard to judge when they were present
I started with 25 Pregabalin, going gradually up to 125mg maximum. Since it is prescribed also against anxiety - I felt numb and without much interest in anything. Which for anxiety patients makes some sense (anything better than "angst"). But I didn't like this feeling at all, a bit walking around like a zombie. And it did not help against RLS, though afternoon naps were possible again. On the whole I did not want to raise because the side effects at 125 mg were already too much for me.
I can totally relate to that experience. Pregabalin turns me into a mindless, numb zombie. I can still tell the pain is there, it just seems far away and bothers me less - just like everything else! I'm also very much unable to responsibly operate a vehicle in the morning upon taking it the evening before. I just it only as a last resort because of all that.
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