Lyrica & Fibromyalgia questions?
Had FMS for almost 20 years now, tried almost everything. I'm considering Lyrica but I'd like more info.
Is Lyrica in the "steroid" family?
If you go on Lyrica for a while & see no improvement with pain, is going off of it a big deal like with other med's, or can you simply just stop taking it?
I take Ambien, will that have any interactions?
I'm seeing my Doc about this at the end of the month, but I was hoping to get some personal experiences about it.
Thanks for any thoughts!
I've been on Ambien for many years, it's the ONLY thing that helps me sleep. I've tried several other sleeping aides. Like I said, I've had FMS for 20 years & have tried many treatments, so Lyrica is yet another option I'm considering. Thanks for your answers, keep em coming!
Public Comments
1. Lyrica is not related to steroids. Steroids don't work with fibromyalgia. FMS is non-inflammatory which is why steroids and nsaids don't usually work. Rheumatologists usually include this test to diagnose FMS. If the steroids work, it's not fibromyalgia but something inflammatory.Lyrica is an anti-convulsant medication. It is not habit forming and will not interfere with Ambien. Ambien doesn't help with restorative sleep, the part typically missing in fibromyalgia patients. Drugs like Elavil, Trazadone, Pamelor, etc help with deep sleep. These drugs are usually first line for rheumatologist treating fibromyalgia.
Fibromyalgia must be treated with multiple modalities- sleep, pain, exercise, hormones, anti-depressants, massage, complimentary medicine like chiropractic, acupuncture, etc.
After several years, I'm on a great plan. It's taken a while but better late than never.
2. Crimsonhedemon has given great information. The only part unanswered was the part about stopping Lyrica.
Pregabalin (Lyrica) is an anti-epileptic drug. However, it has been very effective in decreasing the symptoms of FMS. Some points to remember are:
Lyrica does not work in most cases immediately, you need to be on the medication for a while, and stabilize on the proper dose before the effects are optimized. Usually the optimal effects are not seen for over a month.
Lyrica helps relieve the symptoms of FMS, but is not a "miracle drug". In most patients they will see an approximately 50% decrease in symptoms.
Once the symptoms are reduced the other modalities which Crimsonhedemon mentioned will be more effective.
Since Lyrica is an antiepileptic drug, many of us who use the feel that, if you have reached a high enough dose, you should be tapered off the medication. This is not necessary at lower doses.
I also agree that for long term management, proper sleep architecture is a key to management of FMS. Ambien does not allow you to obtain proper sleep levels, so you do not restore the neurotransmitters which are exhausted with chronic pain conditions. Another medication for sleep is a better plan. Some patients are able to use tricyclic antidepressants as Crimsonhedemon mentioned. But for many, I find that using a natural substance, such as melatonin is a better choice for long term sleep management.
Hope you feel better soon.
3. First, let me ask you if you know what fibromyalgia is or where it does it's work on the human body. My wife has the disease and I'll tell you what she takes. But first, while watching T.V. one day, on one of the news channels, a Doctor came on and was talking about Fibromyalgia. He stated that the best way he could explain it was, if you look at a piece of steak, and you see all those white streaks going through the meat. Your muscles have the same thing. It's when those white streaks begin to harden, you have Fibromyalgia. My wife takes Neurontin, which is similar to Lyrica, for the nerves in the legs that cause tingling and numbness. She also take 45 grams of MS Contin three times a day. She takes Soma, a muscle relaxer that does help but also makes you sleepy. If you are able, exercise is probably the best thing you can do to keep the muscles flexible. Like riding a stationary bike, stand and do a high stepping march with your legs and move your arms like a flying bird. Anything to keep flexible. My wife has to many other problems to even be able to exercise. I wish for you the very best dear lady and also the very best of luck. I know what you are going through from watching it take a toll on her. So don't ever give in to it, fight it the best way you can. You can alo go on a medical site like Medline P{lus Health or Web MD and look up everything you have and all the medicines and their side effects> I like medlineplus.com best.
4. lyrica is in the ANTI SEIZURE class
Cymbalta is inteh SNRI class
tehy are the only 2 specifically approved for FMS
you shoudl be able to easily taper off of Lyrica if it doesn't work/has bad side effects
you should be able to take it with ambien--you can call your phar\macist to check now--some websites even have interaction checkers online
