pregabalin question

[atwitsendd]

hi, I was recently prescribed pregabalin and I’ve heard good things about it. For anyone who is already on it, do u drink alcohol while taking it. I like a couple of glasses of wine during the weekend (I’ve done testing myself and the wine is not an aggravating factor of my restless leg), I’m just curious if it lessens the effect of the med or increases the side effects of this med. my other meds are ok if I just have a couple glasses so just want to ask about this med. thank you.

[DataRN]

If you recently started taking Pregabalin I recommend avoiding alcohol until you see how it affects you or to see if you experience any side effects. Pregabalin makes me quite sleepy and can potentiate the impairment of motor skills and sedating effects of alcohol.

[atwitsendd in reply to DataRN]

Ok thank you so much.

[Joolsg]

I was on 150mg pregabalin for 5 years and always drank wine and spirits with no problems.

Pregabalin is sedating so just see how you react. Alcohol didn't reduce effectiveness for me.

I'm now on Buprenorphine and still drink the occasional glass of wine or spirits. Like you, alcohol doesn't have any effect on my RLS.

[atwitsendd in reply to Joolsg]

Ok thank you so much.

[Hidden]

I can manage about one glass of wine on pregabalin. Any more and i feel really unwell. But i'm possibly more sensitive to alcohol than most. As DataRN says, perhaps see how you tolerate pregabalin before trying alcohol with it.

[Pam34]

I like a glass or two of wine and have been on Pregabalin several years. I have no trouble with it.

[Nikos64]

For me pregabalin relieved my RLS symptoms but I was on a large dose, 300mg. With this dose I ended up gaining 12kg weight. Also it was very sedating. Getting up in the morning to go to work was so difficult and I felt sedated through most of the day. Another side effect was I had terrible PLMD and that alarmed / scared my wife and she demanded I get off this medicine. Although I was shaking around and freaking my wife out I will say that I didn’t notice it.

So please remember everyone is different but this drug is quite sedating and it is likely you will gain weight.

[veronal in reply to Nikos64]

I would be interested to know if anyone else has experienced insomnia (but no RLS symptoms) and/or extreme hunger/weight gain with Pregabalin . I came off a dopamine agonist and switched to Pregabalin a couple of months ago and it is now, thankfully, controlling my RLS. I take 250mg an hour or so before bed. But I am waking every couple of hours (without RLS symptoms) and in all of my wakenings up to around 3am, I am overwhelmingly hungry .

Best wishes everyone .

[charlie1234567890 in reply to veronal]

I wake up in the middle of the night and hungry also!!

[BAK524 in reply to veronal]

Yes I experienced terrible sleep issues on pregabalin. Initially it knocked me out. The real trouble started when I tried to lower the dose. I would sleep 3-4 hours only. Not enough for me. Couldn't nap. The drug made me extremely agitated. It controlled my RLS but the side effects were unbearable. I've been off it for four week now and still don't feel quite normal.

[Hidden in reply to Nikos64]

That's most unusual. Pregabalin generally works to reduce limb movements. I take pregabalin for PLMD. Did you have a sleep study while you were on pregablin?

[Nikos64 in reply to Hidden]

unfortunately no.

[Wiggler]

Hi,

I’ve found Pregabalin (plus a couple of other Meds for other issues) a game changer after trying opiates & Ropinirole

I take 50mg morning and Lunch Time and then 175mg at bed time. Alcohol used to really aggravate but now I get no symptoms at all and sleep well. My Doctor also prescribed 5mg of diazepam at night so that may help too.

Drinking alcohol (2 large glasses of wine probably about 3 nights a week) and no issues with it. Make dilute you’re up to your correct dosage first though.

[Munroist]

I was advised by the prescribing nurse that alcohol was ok with pregabalin but I should be careful at first and limit my intake because the two things have quite similar effects e.g slight disinhibition, worse co-ordination and for example you might want to avoid driving under the combined effects. However the alcohol didn’t affect the way pregabalin worked. Basically she said pregabalin has similar effects as mild intoxication which I presume is why it’s occasionally abused and now a class C drug.

[LFIT]

I am taking 100mg Pregabalin avoiding alcohol. I have not tried to test my alcohol tolerance with the drug however my limited experience has been more that it may reduce its effectiveness and timing / empty stomach might be important ie. not on an empty or a few hours before taking Pregabalin. Alcohol never effected by rls directly as an aside

[Simkin]

I am on a very high dose of pregablin.600mg mornings. 600mg at lunch. 900mg at night.

Still I drink wine!

[Hidden in reply to Simkin]

Surely you mean gabapentin?

[Simkin in reply to Hidden]

Of course I meant gabapentin! Not pregablin.

[atwitsendd]

I want to thank everyone who has commented on my pregabalin and alcohol question. It's nice to get different views on things. The gaining weight part has me more nervous than the alcohol actually, lol. I cannot afford to gain weight, but I will go forward slowly and see how my body tolerates it. Thanks again to all.

[SueJohnson in reply to atwitsendd]

Not everyone gains weight or at least not much. I gained only a couple pounds on 1500 gabapentin (equivalent to 250 mg pregabalin).

[Stiltonlover in reply to atwitsendd]

Hi, I hope you are doing okay. Your question and replies have helped me decide to try a glass of red wine with my stilton at Christmas!

[Maximus01]

Pregabalin does not go with alcohol.