Pregabalin

[Hoochybaby]

Any advice?

[Madlegs1]

It's an expensive version of gabapentin.

[Hoochybaby in reply to Madlegs1]

Did you mean gabapentin?

[Madlegs1 in reply to Hoochybaby]

You asked about Pregabalin.

It is an alpha 2 delta ligand medicine, as is Gabapentin.

I was just pointing out ( during my short break- as allowed by our house rules on inet access procedures, subject to preratified third party oversight.) That Pregabalin is a darn sight more expensive than Gabapentin.

There may be different side effects, but ,as everyone has different experiences, you may have to find out for yourself.

Whichever you go for, titrate up slowly.

Horizant is a more effective form of Gabapentin, but also more expensive and not available in the so called civilised half of the Oceanic Corporation.

Good luck.🧐

[Madlegs1 in reply to Hoochybaby]

You asked about Pregabalin.

It is an alpha 2 delta ligand medicine, as is Gabapentin.

I was just pointing out ( during my short break- as allowed by our house rules on inet access procedures, subject to preratified third party oversight.) That Pregabalin is a darn sight more expensive than Gabapentin.

There may be different side effects, but ,as everyone has different experiences, you may have to find out for yourself.

Whichever you go for, titrate up slowly.

Horizant is a more effective form of Gabapentin, but also more expensive and not available in the so called civilised half of the Oceanic Corporation.

Good luck.🧐

[Hidden]

If you're prone to depression, watch out for signs of it worsening. I'm actually on my way off Lyrica for this reason. Everyone's affected differently, though, so this is more of a "heads up".

[Hidden]

Hello again.

I recall you may have started on pregabalin a couple of months back.

50mg?

If you're still on 50 mg, it might not be working so well. I believe 150mg is the minimum effective dose for RLS.

I also recall you've had some nightmares and possibly sleep paralysis which may or may not have been due to pramipexole withdrawal or gabapentin.

You also mentioned zopiclone, which although some people apparently take it for years, but my GP would only prescribe 10 tablets, and no repeat prescription.

I don't think it was ever completely clear why you had nightmares/sleep paralysis. It's possible that these are unrelated to any medication.

I read that the short acting sedatives, Z drugs, can cause sleep disturbances.

I also found that when gabapentin was beginning to be more effective for me, I had more dreams. Not necessarily nightmares however. I put this down to the fact that I now sleep 6 hours plus instead of 3 hours which in turn means I get more chance of having dreams. The longer you sleep the more dreams you have

If you're wondering if there's differences between gabapentin and pregabalin, there's not much difference They both act in more or less the same way and they have more or less the same side effects.

Pregabalin is different in that it is more easily and consistently absorbed and is less variable in how long it takes to wear off.

Some people apparently find pregabalin suits them better than gabapentin and other people find it vice versa

Does that help?

[Hoochybaby in reply to Hidden]

Yes thank you. I do find that pregabalin does make me prone to dreams but thankfully as yet not nightmares. The problem I have is not being able to get to sleep although when I do I get about three hours.if I go to bed at say 10.30pm it's usually 1am before I get any sleep. I am taking 150mg pregabalin at bedtime.

[Hidden in reply to Hoochybaby]

If you take it at bedtime, i.e. at 10.30pm, then it takes at least 2 hours to become fully effective i.e. 0.30 hours. If you want it to be effective at bedtime, take it at 8.30 pm.

The problem with taking it earlier is that it will wear off earlier.

In addition, good sleep hygiene would suggest that if you don't fall asleep within 15 minutes then it's best to get up. If you're lying awake for 2 1/2 hours, this isn't good sleep hygiene.

In which case, I'd suggest you go to bed later.

150mg, also, doesn't seem to be enough.

It's probably a matter of trial and error. Use sleep hygiene measures, find the best dose, the best time to take it and the best bedtime.

Dreams are good, they perform an important function. Part of the effects of sleep deprivation are due to not dreaming which can lead to cognitive and mental health problems.

[Hidden]

I was on pregabalin for years and I found it effective. It definitely worked for me but I ended on the maximum dose. I would stick with it if you can, side effects are the usual though weight gain/lose, headache. The same old crap xx good luck