Lyrica's Hidden Power

This is a 5-minute excerpt (instant replay) from my recent "Insomnia Armamentarium" video, discussing an important, but rarely discussed, off-label indication for Lyrica (pregabalin).
I myself use this medication for neuropathic pain, and what I have discovered is that, even after I developed significant tolerance to the sedating effect, and even though I take it during the day (usually not at bedtime), taking Lyrica on a daily basis has cured my lifelong trouble with falling asleep.
Inspired by this favorable outcome, I tried it for a patient experiencing refractory initial insomnia despite a whopping 3.5mg of lorazepam; within days of adding Lyrica and increasing the dose, the patient's insomnia remitted completely, and to-date, many months later, she continues to sleep well, with no morning after-effects.
I felt this information warranted a separate video, but please be sure to check out the parent presentation for a discussion of the various available classes of sleep remedies.

[@notonanemptymind]

@ 4:17 the synergy that we have to be careful about is actually also the effect we are aiming for, the reason the combination strategy is effective

[@jasongendron8309]

Great video Dr. Thank you. Im in the middle of a gruelling benzodiazepine taper and struggling with many symptoms. My doctor had recommended Lyrica to treat my GAD symptoms a couple times in the past . I have declined for the fear of dependancy. Do you use Lyrica in your practise for GAD? If the drug needs to be tapered off of at some point for various reasons do you see that as being very problematic for some people? Does being dependant on a benzodiazepine increase the severity of withdrawal that one could experience tapering off of Lyrica?

[@notonanemptymind]

Hello, thanks, and thanks for watching! I have used Lyrica for GAD with favorable results. Lyrica is a schedule V drug, so it has the lowest risk of abuse/dependency among scheduled substances. It is _not_ cross-tolerant with benzodiazepines, so no, tapering off of one would not affect the tapering off from another, if we are talking about at separate times for a given individual. Having had a hard time with benzodiazepine withdrawal or even having Sedative-hypnotic use disorder, would not make Lyrica use or tapering also difficult. Thanks for your question.