Side Effects For Nerve Pain Medications

A viewer tells us they started taking Lyrica after taking gabapentin for several years; they'd like to know the side effects for both. Doctor Lacy Anderson has more.

Lyrica, or pregabalin, is a medication used to treat nerve pain. Gabapentin is another medication in the same class. 

These medications treat things like pain in the neck and back due to pinched nerves, pain in the extremities from peripheral neuropathy, and pain from shingles.  

They work very well for nerve pain but may not help other types of pain like arthritis pain.  

They slow nerve conduction, which is wonderful for decreasing pain, but your brain is a giant bundle of nerves, so these medications can cause some side effects that you may not like.  

Some people complain of brain fog while taking them. Others complain of sleepiness or fatigue while taking them. They affect everyone differently, but we usually recommend starting at a very low dose and increasing the dose slowly as needed to help control the pain.  

Sometimes the side effects improve over time, but not always. Both medications can cause swelling of the feet and ankles and weight gain, but not everyone has these side effects. 

If your pain is under control, it may be worth continuing.