# This medication saved my life



## Sniper50 (8 mo ago)

Hi , I've suffered from both depersonalization and derealization for 20 yrs , back in my early 20s I came to forums like these with that beyond relieved feeling of finding out what it was , for 20 yrs I found nothing helped with crushing dissociation and it evolved into a full blown existential crisis in my mid 30s and I was sure it would kill me.

The thoughts and distortions were so severe I truly wanted to die .

I'm only coming back on these forums to share my experience of being through 40-plus medications and multiple therapies to find that pregabalin-also known as lyrica has been a life saving treatment.

Iv taken it for 8 months and it took time to get to a dosage that's right for me, 150mg 3x daily . Also it's important to note that going off lyrica will cause it all to come back and it will feel worse so I'm careful with it. Perhaps it's inappropriate but I split my dose in half 2 or 3 times a week to prevent tolerance build up.

Nothing else took it away .

I hope this might help someone.


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## Debora17 (Oct 4, 2021)

Sniper50 said:


> Hi , I've suffered from both depersonalization and derealization for 20 yrs , back in my early 20s I came to forums like these with that beyond relieved feeling of finding out what it was , for 20 yrs I found nothing helped with crushing dissociation and it evolved into a full blown existential crisis in my mid 30s and I was sure it would kill me.
> 
> The thoughts and distortions were so severe I truly wanted to die .
> 
> ...


Thanks for sharing. I've heard about them but now I am considering to try them.


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## Aridity (Jun 12, 2011)

You are one of the many I have seen getting better by Pregabalin.. it's a horrible med from what I have read especially withdrawal but yeah. Maybe stay on it for life.


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## Sniper50 (8 mo ago)

Aridity said:


> You are one of the many I have seen getting better by Pregabalin.. it's a horrible med from what I have read especially withdrawal but yeah. Maybe stay on it for life.


Absolutely true about withdrawals , it's a medication that needs to be used with caution. I do plan to stay on it for life .


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## Aridity (Jun 12, 2011)

I wish I dared to try anything, I am not a fan of meds at all. And I don't really believe in them as a cure, they always create more problems in the end..


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## Sniper50 (8 mo ago)

Aridity said:


> I wish I dared to try anything, I am not a fan of meds at all. And I don't really believe in them as a cure, they always create more problems in the end..



Iv been through so many medications , I agree with you , this is the only med I will take , I went through a 7 yr battle with clonazepam dependency, I now absolutely hate that med and it was a nightmare to taper off of , my doctor had me up to 6mg a day of it . It did more harm than anything .

Iv had very severe dp/dr chronically for 20 yrs , also I have generalized anxiety disorder , this med for sure wouldn't be for everyone. But if the condition is debilitating and someone is desperate to have those strange thoughts and perceptions completely minimized then it may be worth it. 

My dp/dr hit me after using pot as a teen and it never went away .

It really depends on the person .


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## Aridity (Jun 12, 2011)

Sniper50 said:


> Iv been through so many medications , I agree with you , this is the only med I will take , I went through a 7 yr battle with clonazepam dependency, I now absolutely hate that med and it was a nightmare to taper off of , my doctor had me up to 6mg a day of it . It did more harm than anything .
> 
> Iv had very severe dp/dr chronically for 20 yrs , also I have generalized anxiety disorder , this med for sure wouldn't be for everyone. But if the condition is debilitating and someone is desperate to have those strange thoughts and perceptions completely minimized then it may be worth it.
> 
> ...


Only med I want to try is just a "simple" SSRI. Don't want to experiment with too many combinations or other meds. And yeah I know an SSRI has also a lot of side effects and dangers. But Idk, I am familiar with them as I have tried them in the past but never for a long time.


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## Aridity (Jun 12, 2011)

And what have you tried besides medication? Do you really think pot was the only cause of this, no traumas etc? Or did you have a traumatic response to the pot


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## Chip1021 (Mar 24, 2018)

Thank you for sharing your story with us, Sniper. Given your username, I will try not to get on your bad side, lol.

I was wondering, if it’s not too much trouble, if you could perhaps explain in a little bit more detail your experience. DPDR, like most psychiatric labels, is an umbrella term, and people on this forum experience their problem in a wide variety of ways. So could you talk more about your specific experiences? What exactly were these “strange thoughts and perceptions?” Was your DP constant since that time you smoked pot? Or did it fluctuate a lot over those 20 years, especially with all those meds you were experimenting with? And then, what exactly changed about your experience as you were using the Lyrica? Did these “strange thoughts and perceptions” just go away? Did you start to slowly feel more grounded in the world around you? Did you find yourself just stop engaging in endless existential rumination without any conscious intent to do so on your part? Did you regain a spontaneous connection to other people?

I know those were a lot of questions so try not to feel overwhelmed. But given that Lyrica as you said can be a nasty drug (which is also true for most of them), it might be helpful for people here if you went into more specific detail so we can make a more informed decision as to whether or not we think it might be beneficial for us.

I’m happy for you that you’ve finally found something that seems to work!


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## GoacaEblac (6 mo ago)

Omg, so sorry you had to deal with these terrible illnesses on your own. I had a light form of depersonalization caused by work stress and extreme introversion (I mean, people were freaking me out). It was the hardest four years of my life, dar and desperate. I was thinking of suicide. Then I got treatment at a good place, and I have completely recovered mentally. However, I’m not completely healthy physically. Stress causes visual problems, and I want to cure it, but appointments and medicines are extremely expensive. I was thinking of taking an advantage plan https://www.medigap.com/faqs/top-medicare-advantage-plans/ it might be cheaper. What do you guys think?


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## Emptyflask (Jun 29, 2019)

Makes sense. It helps calm activity in the brain from what ive gathered and it seems to me that dissociation is caused by an overactivity in the brain. Whatever causes that overactivity is different for every person cause all kinds of things can cause it. I took Ambien to sleep for a while because of the stress and realized after taking it for the very first time that my dissociation was anxiety and stress related because it went away when i felt super calm and content from the sedative.


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## floydfedde (4 mo ago)

Hey, Sniper50. Thanks a lot for sharing the info. I think your post has already helped many people here. So, it’s helped at least one person for sure. I have a close friend at The Finity Group (here’s our website Financial Planning for Physicians | The Finity Group ). We work together. So, his friend has been struggling with depersonalization for about 6 years. A few weeks ago, I showed him your post. So, he said he felt much better the last time we met. Thanks a lot for your help. That’s just priceless. Hope you’re doing good. Best wishes, Sniper50!


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## GeorgeFanel (1 mo ago)

On average, such insurance costs 3000, but this is all very individual.


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