January 14, 2008

It Wasn't Just the Lyrica

Even with a lower level of Lyrica, I continued to have memory problems and I continued to struggle to be awake and alert in the morning. I was taking Ambien at the time for sleep and quickly realized that the two drugs together were a VERY dangerous combination. I asked my other doctor to prescribe me a lower dose of Ambien. Within a few days I began regaining my faculties when I woke up.

There is no one person or thing to blame for the minor car accident I had. If you wanted to blame anyone, it should be me. I got behind the wheel even though I felt out-of-it. I honestly thought I was ok. You cannot blame one drug over the other. Both Lyrica and Ambien impaired my ability to function upon waking. Together they essentially incapacitated me.

I am now extremely cautious with my use of Lyrica. I have a personal limit and I try to stay well below it. I only take high doses on the weekends when I know I won’t need to drive. I continue to take this medication because I genuinely see improvement with its use.

If I am in a flare, I’ll increase my dose over a weekend and see my pain diminish with in a day. Sometimes the pain returns as soon as I go back down to my normal daily amount, but sometimes 36 hours on a high dose will be enough to knock out the flare completely.

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