Side Effects Of Pregabalin

What are the side effects of the drug pregabalin? I can't seem to find them.

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Pregabalin is essentially an acyclic analog of gabapentin which is more potent than gabapentin and has more linear pharmacokinetics. Neither drug is metabolized to any sigificant extent, and despite their names, neither drug acts as a GABA analog, or has any affinity for the benzodiazepine binding sites at GABA receptors. It's believed to modulate calcium gated ion channels. Drowsiness / grogginess are its most pronounced side effects, along with forgetting words or one's train of thought, and edema (swelling of the hands or lower extremities) and some degree of weight gain (2-5 pounds roughly). Naturally not everyone will experiece all of these to the same extent, if at all. Don't drive a car or other heavy machinery until your dose has been fully titrated / adjusted for your condition and you have developed tolerance to its sedative effects. Do not stop the drug suddenly, but reduce the dose over a period of a week or two with your MD's supervision. Although it's not closely related to any drug of abuse (nor is its putative mechanism of action completely known)--pregabalin was listed with the DEA as a controlled substance, albeit in the lowest schedule, C-V. People given it in high doses for social anxiety disorder, say, 600mg/day in 3-4 doses, found that the sedative side effects didn't completely disappear, even after several months, and the same amount taken at once produced euphoria similar to 30mg of Valium.

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I had a heart attack & since had a quad by-pass. It says something about heart failure. My Dr does not have my heart in his chest. So be very honest in your answer. I have delayed taking Lyrica for nerve pain.

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Sue, anytime you ask a question here, I will provide you with as honest and truthful information as I can possibly find. That is what I am here for, that is what this site was started for, and why I became interested and started participating, I am tired of the glossing over of prescription drugs. Too many places, including your docs and pharmacists do not provide all info, and in some cases, as per FDA regulations they are not allowed, but we have no such restrictions.

Now, the first thing I have to tell you, if you want ALL the information for any prescription drug, you need to look at what is called the Physician's Prescribing Info or sometimes called the full prescribing info.

They list a lot more details than you will ever see if you just rely on the info you get from your doc and pharmacist. Those patient leaflets you get from your doc or pharmacist are, by FDA regulatory law, only allowed to list the first so many common side effects and the first so many dangerous side effects from a med, there are tons of others that they DO NOT put on there. Their reasoning is that they do not want to scare people away from taking needed meds. Your doc and pharmacist are not allowed to volunteer this information, either, if you specifically ask they are supposed to tell you, but if they volunteer such info, they risk losing their licenses to practice.

Now that said, I am hunting some info for you on this med and the use of it in those with heart problems:

Here's a link to the full prescribing info, since it is 43 pages long, you can see how much it is different from the info you get when you pick up your prescription.

Pregabalin Full Prescribing Info Click Here

Now, glancing through this, I can see several ways it could cause problems and complications for a heart patient.

It can cause weight gain and edema, both of which are hazardous for a heart patient. And it can affect your heart rhythms, as list here:

PR Interval Prolongation
Pregabalin treatment was associated with mild PR interval prolongation. In analyses of
clinical trial ECG data, the mean PR interval increase was 3-6 msec at pregabalin doses
≥300 mg/day. This mean change difference was not associated with an increased risk of
PR increase ≥25% from baseline, an increased percentage of subjects with on-treatment
PR >200 msec, or an increased risk of adverse events of second or third degree AV block.
Subgroup analyses did not identify an increased risk of PR prolongation in patients with
baseline PR prolongation or in patients taking other PR prolonging medications.
However, these analyses cannot be considered definitive because of the limited number
of patients in these categories.
Information for Patients
Patients should be counseled that LYRICA may cause dizziness, somnolence, blurred
vision and other CNS signs and symptoms. Accordingly, they should be advised not to
drive, operate complex machinery, or engage in other hazardous activities until they have.

More: Cardiovascular System " Infrequent: Deep thrombophlebitis, Heart failure,
Hypotension, Postural hypotension, Retinal vascular disorder, Syncope; Rare: ST
Depressed, Ventricular Fibrillation.

Thus said, I would not recommend it for heart patients. I hope this helps you make your decision in an informed manner.

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