Lyrica: The Side Effects Are Worth the Relief from Pain

I've had back surgery twice now, the first one was 6 years ago. I was left with severe pain in my legs and thanks to Lyrica that pain is kept under control.

My problem was spinal stenosis, which caused two of my vertebrae to collapse, crushing the one below the other. The surgery was successful at first, leaving me with titanium rods, nuts and bolts in my back holding my repaired spine in place. My nickname according to my husband, is bionic woman.

It was a complete recovery, though a long one, but, when I felt better, I really didn't have any more back pain. I was able to go back to my exercise, walking 3 miles a day and was able to swim many laps. I felt it was worth it. But,2 years later, I started having extremely bad pains in my legs. Mostly my thighs and around my knees. There was terrible tingling which at times got so bad it felt like someone was jabbing me with a knife or scissors.

My Orthopedic surgeon sent me to a Neurosurgeon to see what was going on. I was tested for ALS, MS and other possible problems. When the results came in it turned out to be something called Peripheral Neuropathy which was caused by damage to my nerves while in surgery. I was told that sometimes it takes a while for the problem to rear its ugly head. They gave me Vicoden which helped overall and Neurontin but the Neurontin didn't really do much for that stabbing pain. I went to a pain center where they gave me shots right into my leg muscle..ouch! I also started using Lidoderm patches which I put right on my thigh where it hurt the most. These helped a little but only while the active ingredients were fresh in the patch. I was miserable, couldn't exercise and gained weight.

Then I received a phone call from a friend of mine who knew of my condition. She had recently been given a new drug she told me, which helped her considerably for a similar problem that she had. It was called Lyrica. We both went to the same doctor so I called him right away. He thought I could be a good candidate for this medication so he told me to come to his office and pick up some samples, which I did.

I read all the literature and was a bit concerned about some of the side effects but decided to go ahead and try it anyway. Within a few days I noticed that my pain had subsided a bit and wasn't as bad as it had been. The tingling and numbing was still there but it didn't feel like I was being stabbed with a knife. That's a good thing, I thought.

I did feel a bit woozy in the beginning but that feeling soon went away. I was afraid to drive since it was listed on the warnings that it could effect your driving at first. But it wasn't long before I felt confident to do so, going short distances at first. I gained some weight which is also listed as a side effect. One of the good side effects though about Lyrica is that I sleep well at night since I take one pill in the morning and one at night, 75 milligrams each time. One of the side effects listed is that it can make you sleepy so I guess that's probably why. When I take it in the morning it is always with a big cup of coffee or two so that must be the reason it doesn't make me sleepy during the day.

But best of all, that terrible pain in my legs is gone for the most part. Some of the tingling is still there and yes, I do have the numbness in the front of my left thigh, but I can live with that. Even after my most recent back surgery last year, the horrible pains didn't come back in my legs. I just continued taking Lyrica during that recovery time as well.

I see ads now on TV for Lyrica for Fibromyalgia so I guess they have found it works well for that condition as well as for Neuropathic pain which is my problem. Until recently Lyrica had been used primarily for diabetic neuropathy but it seems the usage of this little red and while pill is growing.

This is an expensive drug though and costs me $30 for 60 pills with my insurance, but a dollar a day is certainly worth it to keep my pain at bay.

The biggest side effects that I have are that my legs do get tired and start to hurt when I walk or sit too long, that pain just hit's the back of my thighs, especially when I sit at the computer for hours so I have to get up to move around and of course, that insidious weight gain, I'm working on that now by trying to eat less but it is so hard not to be able to exercise the way I used to. The difference in those two drugs, Neurotin and lyrica, was really considerable for me so if you have any of these type of problems I would recommend talking to your doctor about Lyrica.

Good health to all.