Does Anyone Taking Lyrica Have Memory Loss? (Page 7) (Top voted first)

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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Thanks , it is nice that everyone is so willing to help. I have actually gotten a lot better, I can't say that I am the old me yet. I am well enough to go back to school . I have noticed with me , once I stopped the meds , which I wouldn't recommend anyone doing it how I did but I am now having the beginning issues that I had before the " Fibromyalgia " took my life over . I am changing my insurance , so this month I have no insurance which is fine. But I have found that you basically pay for the health care that you get through insurance which for me means I will have a doctor that cares and comprehends that we (the human ) are not the same and text books can be wrong. I still think that it is related to thyroid issues as doctors are so full of the " book says" and forgot that the symptoms are. I hope to make it through the next 4 months and then I will have my 3 surgeries this summer. I am still taking my Cymbalta , I have found that I become very worried, scared and depressed when not on it.

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Hi, I have experienced the memory loss, when I was in lyrica, very strong side effects.

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Lyrica is quite simply a lock on your mental file cabinet. You will never regain your proper memory while taking Lyrica. The hesitancy, the stumbling for words, names, etc. will always be with you as long as you take this drug, and you take a lot of Mgs. The decision to be made is whether you can accept this in place of your pain/ discomfort, or is there another drug which will not have this effect and do the job? Most likely not, but you should inquire.
Good luck!

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I was on lyrica for 3 yes. I had those symptoms an also had swelling of my feet legs an ankles and a lot of weight gain. It made me gain 60 PDS in 9months. So I had to stop taking it because for one it wasn't working an the side effects was to much. I didn't no it was a narcotic, so when I stopped taking all at once it was horrible. Was sick in bed for almost 3 weeks. It actually took 3 months to get back to normal an not b sick an tired all the time. Dr didn't tell me anything about the side affects or that I would have withdrawal symptoms for months. After that I look up every new medication any Dr gives me.

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hi karel
yes i myself am on 150mg x2 daily for chronic back pain and although it does work, i forget things and sometimes get lost during basic conversation!! i do not want to stop as it helps my pain but now my family have started to notice which is embarassing but need the pain relief, do u get me?
tommy

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Mary r Z,
I'm so sorry that happened to you, and especially losing your job to top it off. What a tragedy.
I'm down to (1) 75mg pill/day and working toward zero. Meantime, I'm bummed about the weight gain, maybe 45#'s overweight by now. Even though I am very disciplined about my diet, as my dietician has said, I just can't budge the scale downward. The only suggestion she had to make was to switch from 2% milk to nonfat. I already eat only zero fat Greek yogurt. Meantime, I've developed another troublesome health issue (ibs) which is now known to be caused by food intolerances to various complex carbohydrates of varying chain lengths found in 6-7 different food groups. I'm now on the FODMAP elimination diet and it's sufficiently complicated to require some guidance from a nutritionist (who specializes in FODMAP intolerances). I have appt next week, and a breath test (for hydrogen) coming up that requires an even more restricted diet followed by 12 hr fasting. It's just more complications, discomfort, pain, appointments- and I can't help but wonder if this too is related to lyrica. I seem to blame everything on lyrica at this point! (My weight gain, memory problems, and incontinence have been diagnosed by specialists to be lyrica side effects, not just my imagination.)
I read that there is a "very high comorbidity rate with ibs and fibromyalgia." Lyrica is often prescribed for people with fibromyalgia. I also suspect that fibro is really just a more expansive condition of neuropathy, for which I was prescribed lyrica. A connection? Who knows?
I wish you better health and hope you can enjoy an early retirement since losing your job.

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I was on a medium dose of Lyrica for four months and experienced memory loss, significant cognitive impairment and severe anxiety upon withdraw. It's been about a year since I went of the Lyrica and I am still experiencing cognitive impairment. I didn't know about the dangers of this drug until I started having problems. There really should be a legal case against the manufacturer because there are a lot of people that got really messed up by Lyrica.

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I was prescribed Lyrica approx. a month ago for an as of yet undiagnosed illness - either a virus of some description or fibromyalgia (although this has been discounted by a number of healthcare professionals).

I stopped taking the medicine approx. 4/5 days ago and started to become unwell. On Monday this week, I was in my kitchen at home and had a rather unusual episode. My girlfriend told me that I suffered from something resembling a stoke - droopy left side of face/unable to speak/loss of strength in arms etc.

Ended up at hospital. After a 6hr wait I saw a Doctor. He kept saying "Lyrica is a great medicine" and advised that I start re-taking the medicine. We left thinking: who is paying who here? Did he have shares in Pfizer?

Followed up with a GP on Tuesday - said I had a "fainting episode." Got another month's supply now.

Feel absolutely awful - couldn't remember my phone number/postcode yesterday and feel seriously foggy head-wise.

Don't want to be taking this for something no-one has been able to diagnose! Seems rather ridiculous!

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hi guys
i take lyrica 150mg twice a day for neuropathic pain and to ease my epileptic seizures. i find them a great help and they do also give me a great sleep. with regards to memory loss and forgetting words during convo u are definetely right because i have found myself talking to family about the night before and my memory is very fuzzy.
tommy

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It's so hard for people with Fibromyalgia to really tell sometimes with forgetfulness because I was having such Fibro Fog (bad forgetfulness) before I ever started taking Lyrica so Lyrica has been a godsend to me. I also have Ehlers Danlos Syndrome and bad Osteo Arthritis so I have nerve pain throughout my entire spine and joints. Nerve pain down my legs, in my rib cage, in my feet......Lyrica is a great medication for so many people. As with any drug you have to weigh side effects with the benefits of any drug. My husband also takes it for similar reasons. We lead normal lives, both of us are successfully self employed. Someone commented that the only people that liked Lyrica were disabled, stayed at home and basically didn't have to use their brains, well that's crazy talk, you can't speak for others who have been really helped by Lyrica. I'm glad that its helping you, you may just do better on a lower dose, some people just don't need the full 100mg X 3 per day.

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Hi Ginger76, I took lyrica for about 3 yrs, and it was a godsend at the time. I was wracked with pain, spending most of my hours & days in bed w Colpacs , TENS Unit, Vicodin, and over 200appointments to neurosurgeons, acupuncture, physical therapy, etc. I could barely function and was so serotonin depleted I was suicidal. I cried everyday. I was elated when a physiatrist prescribed lyrica, and after initial side effects wore off (unsteady balance, exhaustion, I slept for 3 days straight, foggy mindedness) I was then elated. Over time I developed incontinence to the extent of nonstop drip- drip 24/7, and memory issues, such as word-reaching, loss of fluidity of speech, as I so often struggled to recall a word or name I just knew I knew, but it wouldn't come to me. That worried me. I read here that people got off lyrica, and I tried, but too much pain, burning hot feet wouldn't let me sleep. I thought people who could stop lyrica must not have needed it in the first place. Not true. I kept trying to reduce my dosage, eventually tapered off and was free of it in 3-4 months. I still don't like the neuropathic pain, but it is much less severe than before lyrica. A urologist ascertained incontinence was caused by lyrica, and indeed it too went away. The memory issues have now begun to improve .
I thought it might've caused permanent brain damage, as it seems to be for some unlucky people. But I am getting a noticeable improvement, noticeable also to my husband. My recommendation to all is to get off it as soon as you are able. Best wishes to everyone who has ever suffered so much as to have needed lyrica in the first place.

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My pain wasn't severe.... It just prevented me from being able to run on my feet in the ER for 12-16 hours straight. Which is why I had pain management to begin with. I suppose for people that need pain control as the number one priority, then it may be the answer. It wasn't for me. I'm glad you are on the mend. I just believe this drug is dangerous and should be re evaluated.

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Yes, I encounter that too. Loss and slow in forming words and find it difficult to express myself at times. Weight gain and loss of appetite too.

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Lyrica is frying your brain , many people are never the same after Lyrica ...

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Hi. I take Topamax 200 mg per day. I was told and have found that it actually is responsible for the same effects. I hope you don't experience this. It is so frustrating! I am given this for migraine prevention, however, and have found that the trade off is well worth the side effects.

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Words are my thing, but it is so frustrating when one eludes me and that happens all of the time with lyrica.

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I am on lyrica, 75mg @ night, 50mg by day for dreadful pain head to foot. I am seeing some benefit but my pain is still certainly there. I also take painkillers, & amitriptyline. I too, am suffering memory loss. Twice losing my keys while walking my dogs. Some days are worse than others. After reading your stories, I wonder, but what else can we do? Had pain for past 30 years, tried everything alternative meds, prescription meds, etc. Any advice out there would be welcome.

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I've been on lyrica for four years. l do have memory issues, cognitive problems trouble remembering things, confusion. It has helped with pain as I suffer with severe diabetic neuropathy from my knees all the way to my toes. My Dr has changed the mgs from 100, 75, 50 & 25 now I'm back to 75. It has crazy side effects but nothing else helped me so I'm stuck and may loose my job who knows. This is my life now.

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I've been on Lyrica for 6 years, I experience no side effects. I had memory issues from Fibro Fog long before I took Lyrica and it has not gotten worse, it's actually better since the Lyrica helps with the Fibro. Lyrica helps a lot of people so I really don't see them getting rid of it.

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Travelgal I am happy lyrica has helped you but having said that , you are an anomaly to this drug , a very unusual exception to the rule , my 23 year old son has not had a dose for 6 years and his once brilliant memory has not returned , he tries to memorize his work and two weeks later can not remember a thing , this is seriously bad .

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