Lyrica Withdrawal/Tinnitus Getting Worse!

Hello,

I discovered this forum last night whilst trying and failing to get some sleep!

I have had tinnitus for around a year now, I have been coping well with it up until now.

I have been taking Lyrica for about a year, to help me with an anxiety disorder. My GP and I have decided to taper me off it as I have had CBT and am learning to deal with my anxiety without the help of drugs.

I stopped taking Lyrica fully about a week and a half ago. I have been dealing with the side effects, I have been using exercise to help me and have been doing well! However, these past few nights my tinnitus seems to have got worse, I have had hardly and sleep and it's really getting me down. Last night was so bad that I slept through my alarm for work and have had to call in sick today, I am so drained and I couldn't face the 21 mile drive to work with how I feel!

Has anyone else experienced louder and more intense tinnitus when withdrawing from drugs? I feel like I am going insane and I don't see an end to this! Ideally I don't want to go back on any drugs to take the edge off, this would be the worst case scenario for me as I have done so well with withdrawing so far.

Many Thanks,
Stevie

 

Lyrica withdrawal seems to cause me brain fog and fatigue. I need to taper more slowly. Trying to get smaller capsules.

 

Sorry for resurrecting an old thread but I would be interested in this. I seem to be experiencing louder and louder tinnitus while tapering Pregabalin.

Has anyone else had the same experience and has it calmed down once off the drug?

 

I have the same question.

 

I am tapering off Pregabalin and my tinnitus has definitely gotten worse. That's how I found this thread, by looking for information to see if withdrawal is the cause. I'm glad, because that means it will most likely get better when I'm through the withdrawal period.

 

What's your current dosage? I'm at 25 mg from 150 mg and the tinnitus is insane. This Friday I'll jump to 0.

 

Tinnitus will go insane if you have hit tolerance or are withdrawing from these drugs.

I have read many stories and spoken with people who have been through this and the majority stated that their tinnitus settled after ceasing the drug.

The time frame for this to happen varied considerably though anywhere from a few months to a couple of years.

I am four months benzo free last week and I am seeing improvements but I had horrendous tinnitus throughout my 8 month taper.

Hang in there, sadly things usually get worse before they start to get better, especially with these drugs.

 

Same question!

 

Hi all,

I'm going through it at the moment. My tinnitus was triggered by ototoxic meds - Prozac, Zoloft, then Effexor was the one that left me with ongoing tinnitus, after half of one tablet. Insane!

In April I had emergency spinal surgery and started on Lyrica. Initially 75 mg x 2 daily, then I upped it to three times daily, so 225 mg per day. I'd read a paper that said Lyrica can reduce tinnitus, and in my case, it did! I was pretty pleased with that, but I knew I could not stay on Lyrica forever.

I started tapering down in June, by 25 mg each fortnight. I'm back to 150 mg per day and the tinnitus is worse than it was before my surgery.

I don't really understand why nobody in the medical field seems to know anything about ototoxic drugs. I should have gone with my gut and stopped with the SSRIs. I wasn't that depressed! But it's a big issue, and there seems to be a lot of us living with tinnitus caused by medications. But let's be real, there's too much profit to be made from the sale of these drugs, and big pharma is not going to concern itself with side effects that nobody can see. Neither it seems, are any governments, medical associations or research institutes. We should be compensated for the injuries we've received from these drugs, but as if that's ever going to happen, we can't even prove we've got tinnitus! It's the best gaslighting trick ever.

On the upside though, I do feel more clear headed the less Lyrica I have, once the harsh effects of not being able to sleep and being very wired wear off after each step down. It's nice to know I'm not the only one though

Heidi

 

I took one dose of or this medication as my doctor thought it would help and it spiked my tinnitus permanently! So I never took more then one dose. I don't know the drug well enough to know how it can help or make things worse as everyone is different. I've been on Ativan for over two years and when I try to stop my tinnitus increases quite a bit along with a lot of agitation and feeling very ill. Hope things are better for you now.