I believe I may have TN2. My lyrica dose is now at 300 mg and I still experience more pain than I'd like to live with. I am super clumsy these days - dropping cartons of eggs, dropping and breaking dishes, etc. (Has anyone had to just stop driving while on lyrica?). Just after raising the dose, my side effects seem exaggerated - I have zillions of email typos, trouble retrieving words in conversation, I get more discouraged, I feel like I'm slower to accomplish things, etc. Anyone on lyrica just feel generally "foggy" all the time? Is there any point to raising the dose? I read that 300 is the max dose for TN pain - but if anyone has found relieve at higher doses, I'd love to know that. Also, I found minimal or no relief on pamelor (nortriptyline) - and am asking my doctor about starting on amitriptyline. Is that something I should take on top of the lyrica, to augment it?
I take 300 mg/day and have the common side effect - can't remember words or put sentences together, forget what I'm saying in the middle of a sentence, have brain fog and feel like a nursing home resident. I take .25 mg Xanax, one pill a day, That helps with the face pain, the Lyrica helps with the eye pain. I am VERY concerned that I'll never be smart again. Also I'm 60 and my mother had Alzheimers. I have such a hard time retrieving words, it feels like when I talk my mind is whirling around trying to put things together. I want to get onto lumosity.com and try training my brain. At this rate I will be drooling in a few years.
I would take 150 mg/day for my ATN, and I had very similar side effects. I stopped taking Lyrica around Christmas last year as I was feeling much better. My worst side effect then was daily nightmares and night sweats, I would wake up in the morning feeling as if I'd spent the night in a fight ring. Unfortunatelly, it seems that I'll have to start taking "something" again as my pain has recently badly increased and I'm due to start a new job in April (can't be in this much pain for it). This is a bad situation, as I remember the typos I used to make and how slow I was looking for words, I so don't want to go back there and at the same time I hate having this pain. I wish there was a surgery for ATN.
The good news is - when you get off the meds you get your brain back.....of course had to have surgery for that to happen.
I could not drive on Lyrica - it was like I was drunk....I had to quit my job as a state social worker --part of my job was driving around foster kids--also messed with short term memory bad!
Could not spell/type/find words/ while on trileptal....Neurontin only made me soooo dizzy
You might be able to lower your meds if you ask for prescription pain patches -- lidocaine - numbs it for 12 hours for many.
Cut them to the size you want and put them on your face -- saved my life!