Pregabalin sets off RLS

[Derry323]

Hi, I'm on 300mg of Pregabalin each night which I take about 2 hours before bedtime. I also take Kraton about an hour before bedtime.

I've noticed that about 5 or 10 minutes after taking Pregabalin I start to get the RLS sensation in my legs which I spend the next hour walking off.

Also, I ran out of kraton for 4 nights and had bad nights sleep, I got more yesterday and had a great night's sleep. The Kraton without the Pregabalin doesn't work as neither does the Pregabalin on its own.

Just wondering does anyone else have the problem of Pregabalin setting off RLS.

[Joolsg]

Interesting. I took 150mg of pregabalin with 25mg Oxycontin for 5 years. I only took the pregabalin to stop Oxycontin induced panic attacks. After 4 years on pregabalin I started to get RLS in my left arm, shoulder & hand & recognised it as augmentation ( I'd been on Ropinirole for 10-12 years). Studies have shown pregabalin can cause augmentation so I came off it very, very slowly over about 9 months. The RLS in the arm disappeared.I'm now on Buprenorphine and again had to add a small dose (50mg) of pregabalin to counter panic attacks.

Why don't you take the pregabalin at a different time to see if it makes any difference? Maybe swap the timing of the kratom and the pregabalin?

Alternatively, you could slowly reduce the pregabalin to see if a lower dose- maybe 150mg, might alleviate the RLS as you might be suffering slight augmentation.

You say Kratom without pregabalin doesn't work and vice versa. Which did you start off with & for how long?

Have you been on any other drugs for RLS before pregabalin like Ropinirole or Pramipexole?

[Derry323 in reply to Joolsg]

Thanks for your reply Joolsg. I had been on pramipexole for 20 years until I augmented, then on Gabapentin and now Pregabalin. I'm going to try your suggestion of reversing the order I take pregabalin/kratom at night. It makes sense in that the Kratom may stop the RLS effect when I take the Pregabalin. I never thought of this, so thanks for the suggestion. I will let you know how I get on. Also I'll take on board the suggestion of reducing Pregabalin slowly to see what effect that has.

[Joolsg in reply to Derry323]

Interesting that you were in Pramipexole for 20 years. Dr Buchfuhrer has told me that people on DAs for long time periods who had augmentation and difficult withdrawal tend not to do well on pregabalin. I was one of them. It may be that pregabalin is not doing much good but the kratom is the real help because it works on the same receptors as opioids. You may be someone who does better on low dose opioids like Oxycontin or Buprenorphine. If playing around with timing doesn't improve, speak to your GP to discuss a switch.

[RCHD]

Hi I want to share with you that my husband used Kratom for several years and it turned out to be a very bad thing for him. It creates augmentation. So not only do you need to keep using it, but you will need to increase the dose as it will wear off. And, you will also suffer terribly once you stop. Please reconsider. He spent 6 weeks in a rehab getting off of it… he will never do it again.

[Butterflysun1]

Hi, I’m breaking my not replying publicly rule again twice in one day!But I’d be pretty sure that Pregabalin will not have had the time to be absorbed & start having an effect after 10mins if you did mean the 10mins you wrote, so from my perspective I would doubt that Pregabalin is doing as you fear.

I don’t have any specific knowledge of these timings though. Calling the medical info dept of the company making pregabalin ( name prob on pack ) or trying to access a pharmacologist at a med school might give accurate info.

[Derry323]

I hear what you are saying, and I too believed that it took time to be absorbed. However this happens every night within 10 minutes after taking the Pregabalin, I start to feel the crawling sensation in my legs and I'm up and down off my chair walking around the room until the sensation passes.

[Elffindoe]

If your symptoms start occuring in about 10 mins after taking pregabalin, since pregabalin takes about 2 hours to be absorbed, the symptoms are probably nothing to do with it.

It maybe simply that your symptoms are starting before the pregablin has time to take effect.

Try taking the pregabalin earlier.

[Doings]

I totally sympathise with you. Im now few months into Pregabalin and so far it is better than my last experience of rls medication. I was on Pramipexole for 25 years and only joining this site found out how bad it was and why i was suffering so much, i was virtually suicidal. My doctor at the time wasn’t that interested. I weaned off it slowly as per advice from this site, i found that lower doses were more effective so may be reduce yours a bit.

BUT to answer your question it certainly did set it off i got to stage of being wary to take it but of course not taking it wasn’t an option.

Now im on Pregabalin 200 mg per day split am and pm., to a greater extent it doesn’t set it off but i do get minor sensations which cause me great anxiety that it might eventually.

Please let me know how you progress.

[Derry323 in reply to Doings]

Hi Doings, thanks for the reply, sorry for the delay answering, broke my phone and have just got a replacement. In a way its a relief to know that I'm not the only one who suffers from this sensation upon taking Pregabalin but I'm glad that you have found a way to control it. Can I ask if you suffer symptoms during the day or just at night. I know other people on this forum split the dosage, however I was always afraid to do so in case it lessened the effect at night when I need it most.

[Hidden in reply to Derry323]

It's quite likely that within 30 minutes the Pregabalin sets off your RLS, possibly less time if you're thin, hungry when taking it and have a fast metabolism. This stuff is like rocket fuel. Absorption rate of greater than 90% and peaks after only 1 hour. Strap yourself in before you take it. Plus, at HIGHER doses (which you're kind of taking) it sounds like Pregabalin can have a paradoxical effect - meaning it might immediately make the symptoms of RLS worse (like Melatonin) rather than better. But then who knows, maybe in the long run these higher doses might modulate our receptors for the better???? Just a guess.

At low doses it seems to work exquisitely for the symptoms of RLS...in the short run. In the long run those low doses negatively impact our receptors and it sounds like it can lose it's effectiveness fairly quickly. Here's a paragraph from an article on Pregabalin absorption. You know your body Derry, and what's happening to it, just as I do. If you feel the twinges of RLS shortly after ingesting it I guarantee you it's the Pregabalin that's causing it just as you suspect.

"Lyrica is most commonly taken orally. Once ingested, its brain effects may begin to be felt within 30 minutes. Lyrica usually needs to build up in your system over the course of a week or so for it to be effective in treating nerve pain or seizures."