Gabapentin (Neurontin) vs. Pregabalin (Lyrica)

[anita]

I use Voltaren Gel compound and it helps with mild nerve and arthritis pain in my hands, but not the major neuropathy pain in my feet, legs, etc 

[Nomad]

I've heard very good things about Voltaran gel...I'm glad you reminded me of that.

[grammad97]

Neurontin made me zombie like and Lyrica made me spaced out, lethargic and I gained weight.
My pain is controlled by a patch that has worked well with no side effects or sleepiness.It's called Butrans (bupenorphine). Once a week I change it. It gave me my life back.

[susanep]

I ran out of my gabapentin, and I seen the rhuemy and he called in all my meds, but forgot that one. I have been hurting with a lot of nerve pain, but can't call them until Monday. I can really tell a difference in my nerve pain level when on it.

susanep

[Carolina]

Susan, I hope you get your RX soon.  It isn't a good idea to stop Gabapentin suddenly.

Gramma, Buprenorphine is the ingredient in Suboxone, the RX used to treat opioid addiction.  It is also an opioid, which means the patch would probably cause me the reactions I get from all opioids.  But maybe not?  I'll follow up on this with my neurologist.

Hugs,  Elaine

[Jane]

I took Gabapentin for a month but was away with the fairies for most of that time so was taken off that and have now been taking Pregabalin (Lyrica) for a week. I have had no side effects and it is already having a positive effect on my neuropathy. So I am feeling hopeful.

I have to say I am astonished at the amount of drugs and supplements you take in the US reading your histories......many more than here in the UK.

[SJSman]

Hello Everyone,

For me (it obviously doesn/t work for everyone),  gabapentin is one the greatest pain relievers that has ever been invented for skeletal pain, neuropathy, and nerve pain.

I was very gratefully put on gabapentin for some years, then switched to Lyrica when it came out.  I was on Lyrica for about two years, then went back to gabapentin. 

Gabapentin and Lyrica are slightly different chemically, however, I found them to be very similar in effect and in side effects. 

After two years on Lyrica, I abandoned Lyrica to return to gabapentin for two reasons:  most important was that I believe gabapentin is a bit stronger for the equivalent dose, and secondly gabapentin has many more 300mg capsules for an equivalent dose of Lyrica so it is easier to spread the gabapentin dose smoothly over a 24-hour period.

One comment is that gabapentin didn't work for me until I hit 900mg/day.

I believe the medical gabapentin documentation says that it can be discontinued suddenly without any problems.  Of course, I could be wrong about that, however, I did research that issue in the distant past when I stopped gabapentin abruptly several times without any problems. 

Of course I agree that it is still a good idea to taper off any medicine of any kind slowly though - if you have luxury of time to do that, and are not in an emergency situation.