Does Anyone Taking Lyrica Have Memory Loss? (Page 12)
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I have been on Lyrica for about 8 months now and I am having fantastic results. My dr is trying to increase my dosage and I have been doing it in 50 mg increments. I am up 100 more now in a month, for a total dosage of 400mg. I find that I have very bad recall and loss of my vocabulary during conversation. It eventually goes away, but I was wondering if anyone else has this? If it keeps up, I just may have to drop back down 50mg until I get used to it? That seemed to work that last time I had to raise it.BTW, I have nerve pain in my ribcage. (not caused by shingles)

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I agree. If doctors prescribe Lyrica and notice these symptoms, then take the patient off and put them on something else. Doctors must be educated with the possible dangers of the side effects of this drug and if they come up, then, please put the person on another drug that can still relieve the pain without the dangerous side effects of Lyrica.

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i would not call it continued cognitive impairment, from my sons experience it is permanent brain damage .

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I was changed from Neurontin to Lyrica by my pain doc--he said because "Lyrica has fewer side effects." !! I was on the highest dose recommended (can't remember the dose...go figure) for approx 1 year. I also had brain fog, pronounced short term memory loss, difficulty finding words, weight gain, and hearing loss. I was switched back to Neurontin at a whopping dose and taken off if Lyrica for more than 3 years now, and have improved somewhat, but still have noticeable continued symptoms.
I know that some people with neuropathic pain find that Lyrica has "saved their lives," and I would hate to take this medication from them--but I can't think of ANY medication that has caused continued cognitive impairment after discontinuing the drug. Obviously, this isn't an isolated occurrence. I'd hate for ANYONE else to go through what I'm still experiencing.
Please post if you know of any hearing loss after taking Lyrica.

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I too have been taking lyrica @ 75mg x 3 or maybe x4 a day, as needed. It was prescribed by a physiatrist after sev'l years of searching for relief for lumbar & cervical spine pain with numbness , pain, burning & tingling in my legs, hips, sacro-iliac, deep tissue or bone pain in fingers, thighs, shins, excruciating pain in my neck, scapula, back of my skull. This condition kept me continuously out of commission, in bed w/ Colpacs, muscle relaxants & opiates. I was not living, I was surviving. Barely. Lyrica together w/ 20, now 30mg Cymbalta seemed like a dream come Tru; I had somewhat of a life back. I later had Cauda Equinas syndrome surgery, laminectomy @ L3-5, another miracle. So while I'm doing pretty well on that score, I have noticed more difficulty w word recall & other memory issues, but not as serious as the MIld Cognitive Dysfunction I experienced w estrogen deficiency, for which I am now being treated successfully.

I am upset about weight gain, 40 # in 1 yr., 10" added to my waist. It not only looks terrible, none of my clothes fit, but it is terribly uncomfortable, bloating, sometimes I feel like I can't breathe. (Also hv COPD.) I look 5 mo pregnant. I am 65.

I have read a lot of comments on memory issues and 30-40# wt gains, but hav not read same about gabapentin/Neurontin. Should I switch, and how do I find someone qualified? My physiatrist who initially prescribed Lyrica, Cymbalta, is long gone, my PC is not a specialist in neuropathy or fibromyalgia or the pregabalins, or pain management for that matter, neither is my neurosurgeon. The physical medicine doctors at the Stanford Spine Clinic are morons, and I refuse to go back. The Pain Clinic there does prescribe gabapentin, but they have no experience w Lyrica. So I need to find a doctor who is familiar with these meds. Any suggestions?

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Michael - I take Lyric too and it was your glasses you were looking for. But have you seen mine? LOL

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Thanks I , i greatly appreciate your efforts and time spent helping us , look forward to seeing what you come up with , we are keen to try just about anything ,as i just wont to see my son back to normal , he was prescribed Lyrica before his 17th birthday which is below the recommended start age for this dreadful drug and suspect that is the reason lyrica has hit him especially hard as the brain is still maturing into early 20s , it has been so long now that i would regard a return to normal a miracle .

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Hi Nick,

I can really sympathise. Early on in my recovery, a nurse colleague even said to me that I seemed to have post-stroke symptoms, without actually having a stroke!

The effect of the Lyrica was easy to observe shortly after I took each dose. The pain would disappear, but so too would my speech. It was as apparent to me as it was to those around me.

I will find a quiet moment to put together a list of some books on brain health and some OTC supplements that I've found helpful, that your son might also find of use in his recovery. I'll post them here. X

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Yes it's very good but it makes me put on loads of weight ,,, I would take it all the time but because of weight gain no l ttake it for my leg and foot as I had a. Surgery on it and it was done wrong in Harley st, so waiting to see what's the next step ,,good luck I am sure it's great for u it makes me so tired another problem. But it's ex for pain , U will be fine I am sure it sounds like it suits u ,,,to

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Hi I , my son took a similar dose of Lyrica for closer to six months , has not had a dose of Lyrica for over five years , is now 22.5 years of age ,plays his piano and guitar as a means of therapy and i can honestly say still suffers from cognitive impairment , he is no where near the sharpness of mind and memory and intelligence he had before taking Lyrica .

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Hi,

I am reposting, after reading a number of follow-up posts in my email for this discussion thread. I hope the extra detail may be helpful for some of you.

I am in Australia. I took 150mg of Lyrica twice a day for two months, following my spinal surgery. It was the only medication that provided any relief for the nerve pain; opiates could not touch it. There's the dilemma. I am a 43 yr old healthy and fit female, and according to my most recent blood work, I am neither perimenopausal nor menopausal. I have no nutritional deficiencies.

My surgeon informed me that a speech impediment was a known possible side-effect of Lyrica. I provided him with additional detail on my experience of this 'impediment': I had many years experience as a professional speaker and presenter; but during Lyrica consumption I often had a pronounced stutter and could not recall the words for common objects. I could no longer rely upon my memory in my work as a writer/researcher. It was a cognitive impairment, not a physical one.

I found the attrition of memory and speech even more upsetting than the nerve pain (which was excruciating) and discontinued Lyrica sooner than was planned. But when the forgetful symptoms persisted still almost a year post-op, I resolved to rebuild the memory I once had with various activities. For instance, I returned to regular practice of classical music. This is an activity known to increase neural connections, and to grow the hippocampus (which plays a big role in memory, learning, and language). I read aloud and tried to recite from memory. I also ordered supplements that have been clinically evaluated as nootropics.

The little schedule of brain gym I've made is additional to the physical rehab I undertake for my spine, and I consider it as essential, and am happy with the way it is helping so far. My Lyrica side-effects are receding. Every day, I recall more of what I thought I'd lost.

I'm confident that the inherently plastic and self-healing nature of the brain will respond to my efforts. I have an older friend for whom the process took a few years, so I know it is possible. I hope that some of you might be able to do the same for yourselves. I really do sympathise. Good luck. X

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I also experienced memory loss, confusion about where I put things, constantly reaching for a word that wouldn't come to me, sometimes for days before I would remember a common word like spatula, I had so much difficulty following doctors instructions or remembering anything at all a doctor may have told me during a visit. I wrote down as much as I could in a notebook I used daily and dated the page. I had a separate one for dr visits, but even with that, I was having serious difficulty dealing with my life. Did I already take my meds? Did I feed the cats? Where are my keys? My husband complained,"You are repeating yourself over & over! You are going around in circles as if you can't digest or settle an issue once you've talked it over 10 times already!" I had difficulty articulating a thought, difficulty formulating a sentence, with many false starts and prefacing and re-prefacing & forgetting altogether what I was going to say, and my words would drop off until I completely gave up trying to say what I was thinking. I had no recall of things I had done, such as emptying a past season plant pot, and where is the pot? Where did I dump it? I don't recall anything about doing it.
I thought it was Alzheimer's. I read up on it. I was 62. My symptoms matched all the symptom of Mild Cognitive Dysfunction (MCD), a precursor to Alzheimers. I read on. The symptoms lined up exactly with estrogen deficiency. I went out of net, found a Gyn who prescribed estrodial patch and progesterone. Like magic, gone was 97% of my symptoms and my fright about Alzheimers. I performed very well on an Alheimers test which ruled out Alzheimers. What a relief! I was diagnosed with estrogen deficiency and severe atrophic vaginitis.(I had shrunk, irreversibly.) ther were many other associated symptoms that I had been seeing my primary dr about that she completely missed, went over her head. I'm just saying all this so others may know it might not be Lyrica or aging causing your memory problems. Who's to say that the MCD I had resulting from estrogen deficiency wouldn't lead to Alzheimers? My doctors said "a link hasn't been proven." The symptoms were identical all the way down the checklist. I'm not waiting for "proof!"

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Been taking lyrics 200mg 3 times a day for at least a year. I'm at maximum dose you can take for nerve pain along with other narcotics. Still I carry pain around all day everyday but I have tried other drugs like gabapentin and tramadol but found lyrics was the best. But now I have absolutely no memory almost to the point my head feels empty of any process. It's like it's blank, nothing is computing! I have to pause to find words mid sentence and I can't remember anything. But in my job which I lost 5 years ago due to the pain I had to remember lists, meetings, appointments but now nothing. I have to write everything down and I mean everything else I have no clue! Been to the doctor and waiting for blood results to see if there is an issue but I've already taken myself off lyric but fear after reading everyone's comments that's my brain has been messed up.

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Hi, I've been on this drug for almost 2 years and my recall and word loss has become much worse. It stops me from taking part in conversations because I invariably end up feeling like an idiot. Over the 2 years I have cut down from 400mg daily to 100mg. It's knocking my confidence what with word loss and weight gain. I can't reduce any more, the pain won't allow me.

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Thanks Graham , would like to know the dose you were on for the 6 months you were taking Lyrica , my son started of with 75mg x 2 per day , then when it was increased to 4x 75 mg he looked very ill so we gradually weaned him off lyrica but was never the same person after that , his memory was shot and his ability to write brilliant essays and master complex mathematics were all gone , Lyrica also triggered a very severe anxiety disorder that he had no sigh of before he took lyrica , this has been a nightmare of magnitude far worse than the whiplash pain the lyrica was meant to treat , his all up time on Lyrica was around 4 months but his side effects continue more than 5 years later .....to see an only son suffer like this has been heart breaking ...

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NIck, I have no doubt you are right, and I deeply feel for you and your son. I am from Australia, so the problem is not just in the US. ... I was on Lyrica for only 6 months for nerve pain associated with a neck injury and disk prolapses. It really (and quite immediately) helped with the pain - where everything else had failed. However, correspondingly, I began to realize that I was genuinely losing my mental faculties. Although I have been off it now for over a year, I am still much slower mentally than I was. I cannot stress enough my sincere advice to all others now on this drug, or considering using it: get off it asap, don't touch it (unless you happen to be a terminally ill patient), no matter what level of pain you may be suffering. Severe pain, though so very nasty, is still preferable to the frustration of an increasing loss of brainpower. Please: DON'T TOUCH LYRICA.

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Hi it has been over 5 years since my now 22 year old son had his last dose of Lyrica and still has not recovered what was once a remarkable memory and intelligence , Lyrica is with no doubt a dumbing down drug that causes permanent changes or damage to the brain , it has ruined our lives ...

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I took Lyrica after my spinal surgery. It blocked the neuropathic pain, but caused much forgetfulness. Specifically, I could not recall the words for things, people or ideas. I know that I know an answer to a problem, but cannot summon it from the fog. It's a very particular kind of cognitive impairment. My surgeon told me that this is a known possible side effect of the drug.

It has been a year since I stopped taking it and although things are much better, some of the effects still persist. Words are my profession, and I always had a bankable memory, so it really smarts to be wrestling with this part of the recovery, over a year after the surgery. I have a friend who had a similar experience and said it took her two years to feel as if she was back in her own skin again and remembering things. She recommended engaging in enjoyable hobbies that would help reinvigorate the memory, like practicing a musical instrument, singing, or writing.

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If we want Lyrica investigated as a bad drug, I think our only chance is to get a form from the Attorney General. He covers a lot from bad drugs to abuse of the elderly. It may take some time, however. But we might get Lyrica off the market. Then maybe the legal suits can happen and or civil suits. Nick does your country have a government official similar to our Attorney General who looks into the health care like drugs abuse and neglect of the elderly? If so contact him and I think all of us should contact our Attorney General and pass the word on other web sites.

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Hi, I was started at 150mg twice a day. I went to bed, woke up a few hours later feeling the most euphoric I've ever felt in my life. Like "all is well in my world" - I spent 2 years like that - when in reality, all was NOT well in my world. In addition to my false sense of reality, I was stumbling into walls, had word finding problems, and I'm pretty sure my cognitive skills in general have tanked. 3-4 years later, I'm no further ahead than when I started. Increased numbness, tremor, and very poor balance.

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I stopped cold turkey in 2006 and I still have short term memory loss MD some long term loss. Lyrica caused me to lose my job. I wish someone could find a lawyer for a legal suit. Maybe if we all write to our state attorney general's, they might help since Lyrica is a bad drug. I am waiting for s form from them because they are going after a certain nursing home for abuse and neglect. My husband spent 14 hours there and died. He was doing fine in the hospital but he needed long term care so he was placed in this home. I personally think l they ignored him and therefore he died. But with Lyrica call the Attorney General. He may be able to help.

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