Does Anyone Taking Lyrica Have Memory Loss? (Page 13)

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

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

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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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Thanks on your reply. "Permanent" is the key word here.

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I do. Take it now send again but it is a big but I am going to see a docter from oaks hospital were u have to. Pay and ask if I can try another one ,,,,this is mind blowing pill but it kills pain ,it. Said In the U,s,a states it was trying to be taken off ,,,,So what does that say ,,my mother is 88 she was in so much pain last week with every thing heart back body docter came to see her I told her docter if she can have them for a short time it kills her pain but she's on another drug for this so it works well with it but it makes her dizzy ,

for fits as she stuffed a stroke 11 years ago she never had them befor sad life is at time ,don't drive your car while on them as your mind is not on the roads please ..

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To Nick and all else who follow this site, with its painful drama of life: specifically here: the dreadful Lyrica issue—that which continues to disturb me—even though I am free of the stuff.

Lyrica pain relief hit me quickly, positively, at first. I felt an almost instant reduction to the level of my pain (which is largely due to cervical spine damage and disc compression & degeneration). For some time, though, I actually doubted that this drug was also the cause of my quite sudden loss of what has been a normally strong cognitive function.

I searched widely and passionately online nevertheless, first regarding other people who thought that memory loss might be linked to taking Lyrica. (What a powerful drug! I was lucky to learn, early, that my memory problems WERE, albeit from an anecdotal perspective, CAUSED by the taking of Lyrica. (I noticed I became worse in the brain as the dose increased—whilst the pain (so sweetly in all other ways) decreased! I stopped taking it—to my doctor's surprise (a fine doctor though, I must add: never did he push any drugs, or doses of same, as being any kind of solution. However, he had observed the lessening of my physical pain symptoms during the 6 months I had been taking Lyrica ... (many of you know the rest about the cost to our brains!)

Concluding, and firstly, to Nick—who has lost so much of his life only because of Lyrica's destruction (upon his obviously very bright son's capacity and future life—I just hope, mate, that time may yet, still, in your favour ultimately; time MAY slowly but truly help your boy to be well again. I (think) my brain power is again normal, enough for my age, 61, at least.

But I must finish ... although there is much more I could say about this topic. I just Keep strong everyone; we need to feel the sweetness of distant empathy. Perhaps we need to unite to stop this sickening drug ...and the damn company that makes millions and millions of dollars from it.

I also wish to thank the moderators of this very site for keeping it so alive and allowing it to grow. It represents, nay... it delivers... hope for all of us who suffer ongoing pain, as well as those whose suffering is almost as hard: those whose loved ones have to witness, and deal with too our challenges, our, pain, our drugs.

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The only way we can get Lyrica off the market is to find as many doctors as we can find who do not prescribe it because of the side effects. I think our best chance is with psychiatrists. I say this because I was on Chantrix to stop smoking from my family doctor. The psychiatrist took me off because he saw too many people in the psych wards who had been on Chantrix. They might be able to help. I have memory loss, mostly short term since getting off cold turkey in 2006. In 2007 I lost my job at a hospital where I had worked for 29 years because of the side effects of Lyrica.

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Thank you Graham for your comments and am happy to hear that you have recovered all of your cognitive power after taking Lyrica , i am interested to find out how long and at what dose you were taking lyrica as i believe that the length of time and strength of dose has a great bearing on how much damage lyrica causes .

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I am currently will all your symptoms. I have mentioned it too the Rheumatoid Arthritis often at the appointments. He was the one who put me on itafter two pills of Gabapentin were scary as I was in the 1 percent of side effect of it. I am on 200 mg three times a day. My insurance refuses to pay for it. The pharmacy charges 500-700 biweekly for it. I haven't won the lottery , my husband is the only money maker. I am one semester to a BA and working on a doctorate. I have trouble thinking, talking, hearing, seeing, and much more. I have the Fibromyalgia and Arthritis in my entire body from the spine. Then I have carpal tunnel , bone spurs on heels and top of feet , I have to have surgey as they are right by the archillies tendon. I have carpal tunnel 20 percent of right hand used and 80 percent of left hand. I have to have surgery. I also have to have bladder surgery and possibly OBGYN work. No one can do anything as they push everything off and the words of the doctor I just saw said" Lyrica cause no Brain Issues." " He also refuses to take me off of it. He stressed it is now for me to step up in getting LYRICA.

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Dear Jennifer

I am not clear about your very complex issues, but suffice to say that you must be suffering dreadfully. Read through all the messages re LYRICA --- all of those posting seem to have had/still have dreadful side effects. Your doctor cannot tell you what to do. He/she MUST say yes to going off a drug you do not want. Lyrica, truly, is a monster. What is so dam sad about it, is that (for me at least) it did stop a lot of my pain. BUT I want my brain, just ask Nick (many postings here), who is fighting hard because of what Lyrica did to his son. I am sure I would have become almost like his son if I had not gone off it quickly. My doctor did not argue.

All the best. (And I would like to what country you live in... for your doctor's "refusal" is unethical.)

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When I realized what Lyrica was doing to me, I went off cold turkey, despite her protests. II was following a previous order that a psychologist/neurologist had me do when another doctor had put me on a drug that wasn't needed. I kept the phone by my bed and some food by my bed and also my family kept an eye for on me. All the symptoms are gone except that I have no balance to ride a bike or even a large tricycle that they have for adults and short term memory loss. That was probably why I lost my job of 29 years. I loaded a lot of games on my phone to help retrain my brain, such as, mystery games where you find hidden clues and find the criminal, some cooking show apps for eye-hand coordination. I t seems to help but I still rely on my phone's calendar for appointments.

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I have been on Lyrica for years. My dosages is two 300mg. each. It sure helps with the pain but I only take it in the evening when I know I won't be doing any driving. They make so sleepy that "I" wouldn't feel safe driving. So I understand that but thank the good Lord that, that is the only side effect. I don't seem to loose words or sentences as others have referred too. Any thoughts on why I have one "drawback" but not the others? Just wondering. Thank you.

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People react to a drug differently. With Lyrica, some gain weight but that's it, others have memory losses but some do not. Also with people who are clinically depressed may try suicide. Please people respond differently to a drug like Lyrica. Unfortunately the most common side effect has been to the brain. Lyrica works by disrupting or destroying the neural pathways and what is the brain made up of...... nerves and neural pathways. That's how you know hot from cold, sharp from dull, or deciding whether to go to the store or not. I am glad that you have not experienced what others have. I was a nurse for 29 years.

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Hi Mary , you must feel awful loosing a job you successful held for 29 years all because of the corporate greed and corruption of Pfyser who never should have put out Lyrica , what an unnecessary waste , trauma and financial imposition Pfyser has imposed on your life and all of us who took this foul and disgusting Lyrica , medication is supposed to be of benefit , not cause permanent ongoing problems even many years after taking the last dose ....

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I have weened myself off Lyrica with the help of my doctor. I experienced memory loss, changes in attitude and behavior. All, of which were NOT positive!! This medication is to be feared!! The FDA needs to check out this drug and it's long term effects!!

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Hi Nick, how's your son doing? Have you tried any kind of brain games for your son? There is a free one on the internet called "fit brains". It is supposed to exercise your brain. I'm trying it because of the memory loss I suffered because of Lyrica. Try this site out for your son and see if it helps. It may rebuild neural pathways. I hope it helps.

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