Thought I warned you about that Knight. If not my apologies. I'll be the first to say it not the perfect med. First time a learned they don't mix I pissed myself, while conscious, that was a first. You can get away with a couple beers with dinner, but no table dancing. My Doc, after three years has figured the whole shock thing is scar tissue. She says the scar tissue rubs against the nerves creating the shock sensations. I'm not sure I'm buying it yet, but it's the closest I've had for an explanation.
Hmm, could be possible but it must be way more complex than that!
Post by kilg0retr0ut on Apr 19, 2014 6:41:41 GMT -8
Feels like it's more involved than that. She's pretty sharp though, she also said its all caused by the L5 nerve, and the shocks always happen in the path the nerve would take. Who knows, it's pretty much over my head.
On the wondering if it's more harmful than it does good. I'd eat fresh Yak crap to stop the shocks, so for me it's worth it. Plus I heard Yak crap tastes like s***.
Feels like it's more involved than that. She's pretty sharp though, she also said its all caused by the L5 nerve, and the shocks always happen in the path the nerve would take. Who knows, it's pretty much over my head.
On the wondering if it's more harmful than it does good. I'd eat fresh Yak crap to stop the shocks, so for me it's worth it. Plus I heard Yak crap tastes like s***.
I'm with ya. That's why I'm still on the med. I needed to quit drinking anyway.
Post by kilg0retr0ut on Apr 23, 2014 4:57:47 GMT -8
Well I've been shocking more and more lately. So I either up the meds or here we go Fairladylimpsalot, I'm going to ween myself off my meds, and give the ALA a whirl. This may be the dumbest thing I've done in awhile but what the hell. This should be interesting, I'll let you folks know how it's going. I'm sure I shouldn't go so fast but I stopped using Tramadol a couple of days ago and down to 150mg of Lyrica a day. I feel like a turd. I'm shocking almost everyday..fun..fun.
So, Lyrica has turned my short-term memory to sh**.
I forgot a phone conversation I had with my mother 5 seconds after I hung up. I had to call her back right away and recap the conversation. This is frustrating!
Perhaps this is the reason my walker is M.I.A.
I can sure identify with the short-term memory loss and cognition issues in general. I've been taking 300 mg of Lyrica in the morning and 150 at night for almost two years, before that it was 300 at night as well. Tried weening off to go on Cymbalta but it didn't touch my nerve pain. Now my new physiatrist wants to try Cymbalta again only a higher dosage, I'm willing to try as I worry about the long-term issues with Lyrica, in other words, what is it doing to my brain.
I'm lucky, I have no issues with drinking alcohol but again I don't drink that much, an evening out would consist of no more than 3 glasses of wine.
On a positive note, my physiotherapist and I are working on using magnesium to help with nerve pain, tingling, burning, heaviness in legs and feet and it seems to be helping. There are many varieties of magnesium, (who knew) so I'm experimenting with different kinds, dosages and times of day. So far the only side effects are upset stomach and/or diarrhea and that I can control by moderating the amount I take.
Post by kilg0retr0ut on Apr 24, 2014 5:42:47 GMT -8
That didn't last long, I caved at 3pm yesterday. Walked down to the bus stop to pick up my daughter, by the time we got home I was toast. I have no idea how I went so long without meds. The normal neuropathy seems way worse than I remember. I guess the lesson here is don't start. Once you start it's hard to turn back. Sorry if I dissapointed you Ladylimpsalot, I wanted to give ALA a try, guess I'm just soft.
Gave up on Lyrica. I am tired of having hives all over my arm, sores on my scalp, and missing whole chunks of my day. I would rather have nerve pain than this crap.
My next choice is to find an antidepressant that works on nerve pain.
Post by kilg0retr0ut on Apr 27, 2014 8:36:45 GMT -8
I'm back to 50 mg of Tramadol and 50 mg Lyrica, 4x a day. I can't function on the level I want without it. Sounds like you had many more side effects than me Knight. I hope you can find something else.
kilg0retr0ut - you mentioned Tramadol, I tried to get rid of my Vicodin and my doctor prescribed Tramadol. I've been taking it for around 2 weeks and it doesn't seem to do anything at all for the pain. I guess different stuff works for different people. Does anyone else here take Tramadol? Did it take a while to work? I hope your shocks get better kilg0retr0ut. Gabapentin keeps those tolerable for me.
Post by kilg0retr0ut on Apr 28, 2014 6:53:47 GMT -8
Thanks Kish5, The Tramadol doesn't work for me without the Lyrica. Gabapentin made the tingling worse for me. All the Tram seems to do for me is make my already numb legs a little less sensitive, I feel less pain when walking. I tried both on their own. You are so right about different things work for different people. I hate meds, but I like walking.