Tag: lyrica

Meds & Supplements, News & Research, Treatment

Lyrica Aids Sleep

Kerrie Smyres

In addition to its role as a chronic pain reliever, Lyrica (pregabalin) may also be an effective sleep aid for people with chronic pain. In turn, better sleep may also help relieve chronic pain. These findings were presented at the American Association of Neurologists’ annual meeting.

The results of the study, which was actually a review of findings from 14 previous Lyrica clinical trials, indicated that “pregabalin treatment significantly decreased pain and pain-related sleep disturbances by week 1 in patients with all except those with osteoarthritis. These improvements persisted throughout the trial.”

In my notes from a visit to the headache specialist last spring, I wrote that Lyrica is the first drug that mimics natural sleep patterns. This study is the only place I’ve found support for this claim. The article says that healthy trial participants had significant increases in stages III & IV sleep and woke up less in the night while taking Lyrica vs. a placebo. Have any of you heard anything like this elsewhere?

Meds & Supplements, Treatment

Lyrica Now Available to Patients

Kerrie Smyres

Pfizer announced today that Lyrica (pregabalin) is now available for doctors to prescribe to patients. The drug is indicated for use for neuropathic pain and seizures, but has also shown to improve patients’ sleep patterns. A successor to Neurontin (gabapentin), the two drugs act similarly in the body. Of course the chemical structure is slightly different (and beyond my understanding), but one obvious difference is that Lyrica is more potent, which makes it effective at lower doses. This in turn decreases the likelihood of side effects.

The FDA won’t let Pfizer mention this, but Lyrica, like Neurontin, is likely to be prescribed to headache patients off-label. And, based on a conversation with my headache specialist, it’s a potentially exciting new option for prevention.

Even with his endorsement, I’m a little skeptical. You see, the FDA has approved the manufacturing of gabapentin as a generic. Once the generic is available, sales of Neurontin, also a Pfizer drug, will drop. Lyrica could become to Neurontin like Clarinex is to Claritin.

It’s too soon to tell if Lyrica will be a significant new drug for headache patients or if it will another name-brand moneymaker. For all our sakes, I’ve got my fingers crossed for the first option.

Some interesting details about the drug are also available.

Meds & Supplements, Resources, Treatment

Epilepsy Drugs (and Headache Preventives) Explained

Kerrie Smyres

The Epilepsy Therapy Development Project‘s website has the most comprehensive information on anticonvulsants that I’ve seen. It is thorough and broken down in a clever way, so that you can see the basics or intermediate or advanced information.

Here are links to the site’s descriptions of epilepsy drugs that are frequently used migraine and headache preventives:

Many thanks to Pam for pointing out the site!

Coping, Mental Health, Treatment

Depression, Illustrated

Kerrie Smyres

I’ve only mentioned my Lyrica trial in July briefly. I was on a low dose of the drug for 10 days and it took nearly a month for me to recover from the massive depression it triggered. Fortunately, I was aware that antiepileptic drugs can worsen depression and cause suicidal thoughts, so I knew that the medication was the culprit.

Having a medication change they way you think is scary, though not as terrifying as when the thoughts seem to come out of the blue, as they seem to with a typical depression. Hyperbole and a Half brilliantly depicts how depression can hijack your thoughts. The cartoon is worth a look if you or anyone you know struggles with depression, which pretty much covers everyone.