Lyrica is helping the pain, but making me absent-minded — does this side effect go away?
I took Lyrica for about a year before my back surgery. At the time, I was very disabled and on several medications, so I honestly had no idea what was helping and what wasn’t. The dizziness went away pretty quickly, and I don’t remember noticing any other major side effects. I also wasn’t working then and spent a lot of time watching Turkish soap operas on YouTube. (Highly recommend—they’re cheesy, overly dramatic, and a great distraction from pain.)
A few months after surgery, I no longer had nerve pain, so I stopped taking Lyrica.
Unfortunately, I’ve recently started having some stenosis-related nerve pain again, and my pain management doctor suggested trying Lyrica for a few weeks. I’m taking 75 mg twice a day.
It is helping, which honestly annoys me because I was hoping I’d never need it again.
The dizziness is already gone, but I’m having an absent-minded/cognitive side effect that is driving me crazy. I don’t really feel “foggy”—I actually feel clear-headed. I just overlook obvious things and make careless mistakes, including at work.
My job requires a high level of attention to detail, so this is a real problem. I’m wondering if I had this before and simply didn’t notice because I wasn’t working or doing much that required concentration.
For those of you who had this kind of cognitive side effect from Lyrica: did it eventually go away, or did it stick around as long as you were taking it?
If it tends to improve after a few weeks, I’m willing to keep going since it is helping the pain. If not, I may need to cut my losses.
Thank you for your kind input!