Does Lyrica Mess Up Your Liver? (Top voted first)

I started taking Lyrica for 3 weeks now for my Chronic Facial Pain. I had taken all the chronic pain meds and nothing work. I was diagnos with this illness since I had a root canal done, I even got 2 teeth extracted though the pain would go away. Anyway, I am now having some reaction, my feet and legs feels fat. However, my pain is about 4 in a scale of 10 being very painful. I take Lyrica 3x a day with 50 mg each along with oxycodon (if pain does not go away) and motrin 800 mg for head aches. I been on norcotic medicines for 2 years and now with Lyrica and etc. I am just wondering if the chronic pain actually go away? I am tired of taking all these medicine and scared that I will not have a liver left..............

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I recently stopped taking Lyrica for nerve pain in my right leg from a Schawnnoma tumor removed from my spine eight years ago. While initially helping, my neurosurgeon had to keep increasing the dosage so that the neuropathy would wane. I was on Lyrica for two years and within that time frame, developed elevated liver enzymes. I have had a liver biopsy and ultrasound recently, and was told that it was unknown why my liver enzymes were high - possible fatty liver may be the cause, but nothing definite. What's odd was that I also packed on the weight after I started taking Lyrica! I gained 30 pounds within two years.

Since coming off Lyrica, I have lost 22 pounds in 5 months. I will have my liver enzymes checked again to see if they are back to normal.

This drug also caused me to be disoriented and forgetful. My husband and children didn't like the side effects of the drug. I thought it was effective; however, I am so glad to be off of it!

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Lyrcia seems to have ruined my life..I was NEVER told this med could be so hard to get off of...I was on 100mgx3=daily and IT IS TRUE YOU "CANNOT" just STOP taking it..I stopped and thought I was gonna
DIE. I have gradually went from 100 to 75 to 50 over a month and I am down to 25mg..The past 2 days I have not taken any but have had some Ativan to help me. I have a week off work and I'm in bed. Even at just 25mg without the Ativan I could not do it. I HATE THIS DRUG LYRCIA..I could have taken Heiron and at least got high and knew I'd get a serious addiction. Lyrica also caused me to gain about 30lbs in less than a year..So even if it did help with the pain it has did nothing in the long run but HARM ME..I think this drug company is worst than someone in the street selling drugs. They have a license and the FDA is allowing them to harm people legally. Please DO NOT fall for this..It's not worth it..I have not had my Liver functions tested but I'm sure If I did they would also be elevated...I hope This will help One Person: DO NOT TAKE LYRCIA. kinddebj

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Hello Siberschamps
I have be taking Lyrica for many years now and do not notice any of the side effects people talk about. I did increase weight but I think that was more due to my lifestyle at the time, and my reaction to the onset of the facial pain.
I asked my doctor about Liver damage from Lyrica, he told me straight out that it does not go through the liver, so I was very relieved.
I also read here where people are complaining of teeth falling out, he told me this is not so.
I agree with you, it is not right to frighten people of the medication when the alternative is not good.

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my elderly mother has high blood pressure and recently had her gall bladder removed. Will lyrica cause her kidney and/or liver problems?

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Sienna, your post is the most sensible one I have read here so far. I am in my first week of taking Lyrics and it has already helped th lower my pain. Yes, I have cravings..in fact I've noticed a marked increase in appetite but I either get busy to distract myself or I munch on some raw veggies like celery and carrots. One of the GOOD hunger side effects is that I am really enjoying eating the healthy foods I had long neglected. Lyrics is NOT a narcotic to my knowledge. Last time I checked, narcotics could not be called in to the pharmacy. The reason why I cam to this site is because a friend and fellow HCV sufferer told me his team of doctors advised against it fie to liver dangers. I have not seen anything but mass hysteria until the post I mentioned at the beginning. When you post about a side effect you have experienced, one should not advise everyone to decline the use of a drug. We are are different and react differently to medications. I would hats to see someone who could see marked improvement scared away by these witch hunt like posts. Yes there are side effects and possible dangers with this and any drug. That is why they are controlled by requiring prescriptions. Most pharmacies give information sheets on possible side effects and dangers and are available for questions. Talk to your pharmacists or physician. Don't play the telephone gossip game when it comes to your health. Every post I've seen in this thread has been off topic and I would still like to see some INTELLIGENT responses about possible LFT elevations. Hopefully I will find some posts here about experiences with ACTUAL liver test result while on Lyrics here.

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Is Lyrica a narcotic? I think i saw that it is a controlled substance. What does that mean and what is the difference between that and a narcotic? One of the reasons i ask is I had been on high doses of narcotics for severe leg pain from my waist all the way down to the tips of my toes caused by my 3 failed back surgeries. The Morphine helped, but didn't take the pain away completely. My new doctor put me on Lyrica, 100mg. 3 times a day and i cannot believe the difference. He also diminished my narcotics way down so that i am still taking Morphine, but so much much less. I had no withdrawal, nothing. Just almost complete pain relief. I cannot believe this. I had been on these high doses for 10 years. I was taking 1000mg. of slow release morphine per day. I also took Morphine sulfate IR 60 mg. every 4 hrs. totaling most days 240mg. or more. I also took 4 Soma every 4 hrs. total 12/day. I am now down to 300mg. of Morphine Sulfate SR, and 120mg. of Morphine Sulfate IR per day and 3 or 4 Soma per day. That adds up to only 3 (100mg. tabs) of Morphine SR; 8 (15mg. tabs) Morphine Sulf. IR; and 3-4 Soma per day. I also take 3 (100mg.) Lyrica per day now. I accomplished this in less than a month's time. I had some doctors who knew nothing about chronic pain tell me it would take me years to get off of all that medicine. I never knew they had anything on the market that was not a narcotic that could help me feel this much better. I am so grateful i can hardly believe it and wouldn't had it not happened to me.

Please let me know the answers to my questions. Thank you.

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Myra-
Did you have your lab values checked after coming off of the lyrica? My husband has been on lyrica for 11 months and has been told his liver enzymes are high. lyrica is the only med he takes and I am highly suspicious it is the cause.

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Some of you people are alarmists! The bottom line with ANY medication is that IF IT MAKES YOU FEEL BETTER, TAKE IT!.. No drug would get through the FDA if it were harmful to the degree that most of you articulate. Some people have bad livers from drinking too much and then they blame their medication! Get real, people.. If your antidepressant PREVENTS you from committing suicide.. TAKE YOUR MEDICATION. If your narcotic pain reliever EASES YOUR PAIN.. TAKE IT !!!!!

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Please don't be influenced by alarmist posts. If you want and/or need correct medical advice, that's what your doctor is for.

As for putting on weight, Lyrica may just make you crave carbs and sugar, but truth be told, it doesn't make you buy the junk food and it doesn't make you put it in your mouth. You are in control of what you eat.

With Lyrica, I have very little pain and am able to move better than before (I had a spinal fusion 3 months after my 5th child was born due to an accident at work) and now I'm running around with my 14 month old son and being more active I'm fitter than I was before I got pregnant with him.

At first I was dopey and drowsy but I started on a low dose and then built up to it. I am lucky that I have other people at home at night to help me with my baby.

And I'd love some Krispy Kreme doughnuts and a huge bar of chocolate, however I'm not going to let some insignificant cravings ruin my life and then blame it on the medicine!

I can pick up my child now. I can take him for a fun walk in the park and push him on the swing. I am off the Oxycontin and Oxycodone that I was on for many months before and after the surgery. Yes I have replaced those drugs with another. But I am so happy to be able to sleep better, feel happier now that I have taken it long enough to have adjusted to it and because my pain is almost gone, I can bolt around and move move move!!!

At the end of the day - ask your Doctor. And if you aren't happy with your Doctor's advice, find another one. It took me 5 goes to get the right Doctor and he's changed my life for the better.

I'm a happier mum now and my family is benefitting from my higher energy and happier countenance.

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I'm glad I don't have the problems the other people have with Lyrica. I already had high liver functions when I started taking it, that aren't any higher after starting it. I have fatty liver from having a large BMI. They tell me if I can lose weight I can get over the fatty liver. Before taking it I was hurting so horribly I could barely move. The first week of taking it I felt like a different person, no pain at all. I have been on it for 2 or 3 years but the pain relief isn't as good as when I first starting taking it. I feel like sometimes it is not helping so I miss it for 1 day, I wake up the next morning and can't get out of bed because I am in to much pain to move. I take 1 75mg a day. I wish I could afford to take more a day but at least that takes the edge off the pain. I also take tramadol. I did have swelling in my ankles and legs at first but haven't had that for some time. I have fibro, bulging disks, arthritis, bursitis and rotator cuff tendinitis.

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P.S. I am dieting now as I want to get off the extra kilos, I am having no trouble getting it to drop off.
Lyrica does not cause the weight gain, giving in to cravings does, and not exercising contributes.

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Hi Sighberscamp. I think you might find that I am correct. The drug does not assimilate in the liver, it is filtered by the kidneys. Maybe you could research this yourself and let me know if you find this is the case. I have no reason not to believe what my Specialist tells me.

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HI Siberscamp,

Thanks for replying, good to know we can all feel liver healthy!

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I would like to personally thank you for your note on the difference between 'dependence' and 'addiction'. I have attempted to write on the subject for over 20 years, having found myself in a medical situation that I, unfortunately, do require help with permanent pain. I finally gave in to describe it in simple terms: "If I was in severe and permanent pain, whereby my pain sensors ceased to work either somewhat or completely for the strain of 24 / 7 relief, and you gave me an apple, which relieved that pain. I would be dependent on that apple forevermore to function each day. However, I would not go stealing bushels of them because they made me 'high'!" For medical conditions, it does not matter WHAT the drug is for us. It only matters that whatever it is, enables us to keep on living a 'somewhat' normal life. Having said this, do not ever imagine we are pain free, as we are not. We are prescribed the dose that works for our particular bodies, but not in order to get 'high'. Street addicts on other hand, who have pain sensors that work quite well, are providing their bodies with many, many times above the natural opiate production of their body, as well as provide themselves with as much as their body will physically and mentally tolerate, without causing death. The addict calls this 'getting high' and really it is, as the body is taken to the extreme level of toleration, thus causing inability for other body functions to work as well as they otherwise would. THESE are they who have made things very difficult for those of us who do need some form of relief just to get through life, as I say, somewhat functional.

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Dear Does Lyrica Mess Up Your Liver (root canal). Read the book the Root Canal Cover Up and locate a doctor/dentist - preferably a dual degreed as in MD & DDS to assit you. Good luck ...

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I wish I could get off Lyrica. 1) I have gained 30lbs in 2 yrs. while taking this drug. 2) It has put me in the "dough-nut hole: twice. 3) Lyrica keeps increasing in price. Compared to last yr. it has gone up almost a $100 more a month for me. 4) It's very addictive. You just can't stop taking it. Does it work? YES. I have firbo and Lyrica has helped with the pain. But, I also have become forgetful and moody. I have been on low to high doses. The high doses have almost caused me to fall asleep at the wheel. One blink at the wheel and I'm almost sound asleep. I take 100mg 4 times a day now. I wish I never started taking it. I can't afford gaining all this wieght and I can't afford the expense in the d-nut hole. After reading all these posts I'm going to try to get off it again.

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My friend, don't get all of your teeth pulled. You probably have a condition called Trigeminal Neuralgia. Please look it up. I have it, but not on that part of my face. No matter where it occurs, it can be horrible, but you are probably needlessly pulling out your teeth.

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I dont know who posted the quote "u only get addicted if u take more, than perscribed" thats BS im a substance abuse counselor, and a very severe former opiate addict. I know of 100+ clients who came to us for help dealing with pain killer addiction, and they took their meds as perscribed. The reason whoever said they were taking 100's of mg's of morphine either took them for an extremly short period of time. Or (and id bet money that this is correct) took nowhere near the ammount stated. Like I said I'd IV bundles of dope per day, or tons &tons of opiates/opoids, and I being that hooked couldnt take that much morphine per day. As for the somas, I can believe the 12 pills per day. If ur gunna post about opiate/opoid addiction. KNOW WHAT UR TALKING ABOUT!!!!

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Oh dear, I have been taking lyrica for 5 or six years and do not have any significant side effects...why do you think neurons is better?
G

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Oh dear, I have been taking lyrica for 5 or six years and do not have any significant side effects...why do you think neurontin is better?
G

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