29 replies to this topic

[Apparelyzed]

Study finds Pfizer's Lyrica effective for spinal cord pain

A late-stage clinical study released Tuesday showed that Pfizer Inc.'s pain medication Lyrica was effective in reducing discomfort for people with spinal cord injuries.

The results, which were released without specific safety and efficacy data, boosted Pfizer's hopes that Lyrica will be approved for use in people with spinal pain.

Lyrica, discovered at Northwestern University and acquired when Pfizer bought Warner-Lambert a decade ago, added more than $3 billion in sales to the company's bottom line last year. It is on track to improve those results in 2011.

"We are pleased with the top-line results of this study and look forward to more fully understanding the benefit that Lyrica may bring to these patients," said Steven J. Romano, a Pfizer senior vice president, in a statement responding to the findings.

The study, which compared Lyrica to a placebo, looked at patients with central neuropathic pain, a condition often caused by spinal cord injury.

Pfizer said the study involved 220 patients in 10 countries.

Preliminary results showed the most common side effects included sleep troubles, dizziness, fatigue, dry mouth and blurred vision.

Currently, Lyrica's approved uses in the United States are for diabetic nerve pain, shingles-related discomfort, fibromyalgia and epileptic seizures.

[wheeliebear75]

It's really a shame they can't come up with some good meds that do NOT have all these side-effects. It's pretty bad when you have to ask yourself "Which is worse...the pain itself OR the pain in the arse side-effects of the drugs to 'relieve the pain'!" .

[Tinbasher]

Lyrica has been a wonder drug for me and luckily I dont get these side effects.



Tin

[hotwheelsinSD]

Just started using it, will keep every one posted.

[allis53ca]

been using 6 yrs...nothing else works...like Tin, lucky no side effects

[Smileyblue]

I tried it.. Twice! The second time was because my doctor didn't believe me when I told him it made me depressed.. 3 days in and I was ready to slit my wrists or find ANY other means of offing myself.. Soon as I stopped taking them I'd start feeling better again.. Guess I'm one of the "lucky" few who it affects this way.. ;-)

[pinkcloud]

They didnt ask me....and considering how many of us are banged on this, 200 odd is nothing.

I realised after I stopped taking it it was more like i was stoned and didnt have the ability to recognise stuff, no different to being blind drunk.

And the depression after getting off it nasty, as nearly as nasty as the weight gain.

Ban it, its nasty. Thats me review on it.

[dangerousdave]

Very few drugs are designed to target and destroy
These types of drugs are extremely expensive to develop
Star Trek is still a long way off

Until then we have to live with flood and drain compounds that are ok for some and not for others (but all hurt our internal filter organs)

So while cannabis works for my pain management - I'll use it - it's natural cellular bond works for me

[aainme]

That is a very interesting study......I know lyrica is a form of neurontin and I had such a hard time with neurontin I would never try lyrica......It gave me the feeling I had a stroke...talking was all jumbled up..... Thinking was difficult.....and I had a flat affect.....has anyone had this happen with neurontin....but was able to take lyrica?I still live with such pain....I'm almost willing to try anything new......a few months ago I changed my meds and it was the worst month I have has sense the accident....but one of the new meds finally got rid of my spasms....they were so bad every morning they were 10 on a 1/0 scale......so I kept the extended release morphine before bed and wham. No spasms......after a year and a half of spasms the moment I opened my eyes......I felt like a miracle had happened......but day time is still almost constant pain of some sort?....if lyrica could help that. I'd be forever grateful..........hugs Laura
...

[Trinity]

Lyrica is a different drug to Neurontin although they are both the same class of drugs, anticonvulsants. I did not tolerate Neurontin at all. I had really bad side effects from it and honestly though I was going to die! Lyrica, however, has been a life saver. I don't get any bad side effects and I take a reasonably high dose. The side effects I did get wore off pretty quickly. I am blaming Lyrica for weight gain but that could equally be a combination of a sedentary lifestyle and pure laziness! To be fair the degree of relief I get, it's worth it

I know others have had the opposite experience with it but it's worth trying in my opinion

[allis53ca]

allis53ca, on 27 June 2011 - 10:10 PM, said:

been using 6 yrs...nothing else works...like Tin, lucky no side effects

AFTER neorottin zombied me for 2 years

[aainme]

Thanks Trinity, from my stay in the hospital until now pain has been my constant companion.......I would have gone out of my mind if not for the people on this site.....knowing I'm not alone some how makes it easier..... I thought if I tried switching my prn vicoden to extended release whatever that would help my with my pain......I was so wrong. My leg and back pain became so bad I had to be helped up to sit on the side of the bed ......I cried if I had to work..... But my morning spasms went away....... I begged the dr to put me back on the vicoden as needed like I had been on..... And darn if the spasms did not come back full force...... So back on extended release morphine before bed......spasms gone....that month of mixing things up was so terrible......so I have stayed on the same old same old......afraid to change again..... It's hard to explain that I'd rather have pain than experiment again and be nonfunctional.......this SCI is so weird everyday is a new set of challenges ......hugs Laura

[KayDub]

I've been on Lyrica since May and honestly I don't think it's helped much, because when I'm not on methadone I'm still in pain. I don't have the side effects either though, I've actually lost a ton of weight. I find all my meds combined make me somewhat nauseous so I struggle to eat the right amount/keep it down. I was hesitant to take it at first because I'm already on Lamictal, another anti-convulsion med that has off label uses (in my case supplementing Lithium for bipolar I). I don't think it's effected those drugs either. My doctors want me to stay on it though. I still have pretty bad spasms (last night was particularly horrible). But I figure my docs want me to stay on it because they think it's helping combined with my other pain management treatments.

[aainme]

Well I sucked it up and asked the DR for lyrica, I didn't change my other meds, to scared. I would be nonfunctional again......the lyrica has helped me so much with my pain it's like day and night. I slowly weaned myself all the vicoden I was on 8 a day to now 2 in the morning. . Mornings I still feel like I have been run over by a truck.....I see a lot of people have tried lyrica and have had bad side effects.....I had some too but the pain relief was worth the side effects and now after a couple of weeks they have gone away. Just a short update of my life with a spinal cord injury..........hugs Laura

[Tetracyclone]

Useful thread- thanks to all.

I finally had the opportunity to try cannabis and was reminded that one bag can be quite different from another. It did help somewhat with my symptoms, but the increase in my concentration was amazing. Good grass, it was!

[manda6843]

This is interesting, although a study of 200 people seems like a very, very low number for making any definite claims to success.

My husband has gone through the whole neurotin/lyrica thing. To avoid rambling I'll leave it at Neurotin darn near killed him and Lyrica seems to work, always has had at least some effectiveness. Unfortunately thanks to kidney problems he has to be kept on a lower dose than is truly effective. Such a shame with SCI that if it's not one thing it's another to battle. His pain levels just keep getting worse with time. I was hoping to get on here and see some new wonder drug being discussed but it looks like we're all trying the same things with varied success rates. Best of luck to all of you, this sucks.

[j2cool]

Ive been taking Lyrica 300 mg 2x a day for almost 2 years. Tried Neurontin before that, didnt have any adverse side effects but it didnt help with the pain. Lyrica seemed to work a little bit better but as most of you probably know when you compare life after SCI to life before, any pain SUCKS. Although Im not to sure how much it is actually helping I am afraid to try going off of it (even though I would like to know because if it isnt helping then why put my liver through this, right?)

[lonebobseytwin]

I was placed on lyrica before they knew my injuries were SCI, they gave it to me for the nerve pain and loss of feeling I was having in my arm and leg. I took it for about 6 months, but it stopped working about mid way through. But I do remember feeling really good while I was on it, but my nerve pain was still raging away in my arm. The bad part was I gained like 20-30 pounds, I'd never looked so fat or weighed so much. I went off it because of the weight gain, it just wasn't worth it.

[Tetracyclone]

Tinbasher, on 22 June 2011 - 11:09 PM, said:

Lyrica has been a wonder drug for me and luckily I dont get these side effects.



Tin

So happy for you , Tin.

[Tinbasher]

Lol thanks. It's such a relife to be almost free of that morale sapping nerve pain.

It took a long time to find the right drug and I do realise it doesn't work for everyone.

[russ1]

Had a long discussion with my Brother who's a consultant in neuro rehab about this and the advantages of changing from Gabapentin to Lyrica some time ago. He uses both with his patients and was firmly of the opinion that while Lyrica id a good drug there was no point changing from Gabapentin if it was working for me without noticeable side effects which it is.

[Mrs Wisteria]

I was taking Gabapentin for almost a year at the max dose of 3600mg per day, and taking amatriptyline at night.I had some minor side effects (dry mouth, weight gain, increased blood pressure, rubbish for first hour each day)My pain doc advised change to Lyrica (its a rising dose and currently taking 1200mg per day) and Nortriptyline - I have settled this one at 70mg at night.

I still have dry mouth, higher blood pressure (being monitored) and annoyingly more weight gain, but feel really well otherwise. wake up instantly and don't feel sluggish at all. Lyrica definitely feels a 'smoother' drug for me than Gabapentin. I still feel the pain really quickly if I am late taking a dose.I see my pain doc in Feb - I am hoping he will let me raise Lyrica one more level and hope that I will then have reached my optimum dose. I do not want t have to take more than I need. And I honestly feel that the few problems I am having because I need pain relief, are worth having.

take care
V
aka Mrs W

[Niceparalegs]

I take Lyrica bc neurontin gave me seizures and its phenom! Only side effect is swollen feet.

[ClaraTaylor]

Niceparalegs, on 06 March 2012 - 06:41 AM, said:

I take Lyrica bc neurontin gave me seizures and its phenom! Only side effect is swollen feet.

Do you do anything to help drain the swelling in your feet? Assisted exercising (to get the blood pumping), raising them for periods throughout the day, popping a pillow under them in bed... It always sounds such an uncomfortable thing (well if my pregnant friends are anything to go by).

I'm just ramping up my lycria tablets again as the pain is taking grip. I can't tell if the nausea is from the pain or the tablets. But by gods am I grateful to have these tablets.

Also can't tell if it's the pain or tablets that's responsible for my more waffle than normal waffle. Sorry.

[brockit79]

If I have a restless night for what ever reason; pain; spasm; pain and spasm, like last night, I tend to feel pretty wired and in the past when I have needed to take more Lyrica I get the same wired too much caffeine feeling. I have also had low blood sugar which can cause such feelings too. That said, overall I am happy with the results as I use this in combination with Amitrpitylne and usually I sleep all right and get a sufficient reduction in pain.

Luckily I don't get swollen feet but I on occasion get freezing feet that stay freezing all night. In the past it has been suggested that this is linked to the low blood sugar issue.

[Niceparalegs]

ClaraTaylor, on 06 March 2012 - 07:40 AM, said:

Niceparalegs, on 06 March 2012 - 06:41 AM, said:

I take Lyrica bc neurontin gave me seizures and its phenom! Only side effect is swollen feet.

Do you do anything to help drain the swelling in your feet? Assisted exercising (to get the blood pumping), raising them for periods throughout the day, popping a pillow under them in bed... It always sounds such an uncomfortable thing (well if my pregnant friends are anything to go by).

I'm just ramping up my lycria tablets again as the pain is taking grip. I can't tell if the nausea is from the pain or the tablets. But by gods am I grateful to have these tablets.

Also can't tell if it's the pain or tablets that's responsible for my more waffle than normal waffle. Sorry.

Hey Clara! I take lasix to decrease swelling and exercise reg. Also prep up my feet. I must just be super sensitive to the drug.

[lavenderthistle]

I'm a gaba girl. Lyrica didn't work well for me. It was tried pre surgery. Gaba makes me really drowsy but keeps the nerve pain largely away. I went months with nothing aside from herbals. Then nerve pain became pretty much unbearable over the summer and set up camp.

[harlton]

Hi all,
I wish this forum had been around when I got hurt, it would have cut the crap I've had to put up with, to a fraction. I bet a lot of the long timers would agree, Thanks.
Things have not been as good as they use to be for me recently. My GP is trying to find a solution, and He has suggested switching from my gaba/neuro diluadid mix, to lyrica, but my insurance company has refused to cover that type of medication, period.
The mix of gaba and dilaudid has worked well for me over the past 10+yrs, but since over doing it more than a bit, a couple of yrs ago, something is out of wack.
I am very drowsy now, most of the time, although the pain is mainly under control again. Celebrex has been added in for the arthritic segment of my very buggered spine, plus a general increase in my levels from, 5000mg to 6000mg daily and 4mgx4/day to 8mgx4/day.
I wonder if the change to lyrica he would like to try, is worth the fight. As I already know it's no small feat, when they dig in, like they have. Stating that lyrica and or cymbalta, "has no record of working on central nervous system pain". I've found all your comments very interesting, thanks again.

All the best Ian

[Wobbly]

I did gaba and lyrica and both gave me bad ide effects. I now have cymbalta (duloxetine) plus celebrex plus tramadol eorks well for me. I can categorically state that cymbalta works on nerve pain

[mamabas]

I'm on Gabapentin it does help me sleep, iffy still on whether it helps on nerve pain for me.But definetly better than lyrica it just made me feel so quizzy.