FWD: RSDHope-New medication (Lyrica)

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From: byrd45 (Original Message) Sent: 10/19/2005 8:22 AM
LYRICA - NEW MEDICATION - WHAT IS IT AND HOW DOES IT WORK?

LYRICA is the first medication approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat the pain that occurs with both diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) and postherpetic neuralgia (PHN)-two of the most common forms of nerve pain. LYRICA is also approved as adjunctive treatment for partial onset seizures in adults.

How LYRICA Works

Diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) and postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) can be painful conditions. But the good news is that there is now a way to treat the pain. LYRICA is a new FDA-approved medication developed specifically to treat both painful DPN and postherpetic neuralgia (PHN)-two of the most common forms of nerve pain.

What Causes Nerve Pain?

The central nervous system is made up of millions of nerve cells. In people with nerve pain, some cells are over-excited because they are damaged. This may cause the cells to fire too many signals throughout the body, resulting in pain.

How Does LYRICA Help?

LYRICA works by attaching to a part of the over-firing nerve cells. This is thought to help to reduce the pain signals that cause the symptoms of diabetic nerve pain.

LYRICA may reduce the nerve pain that can prevent the enjoyment of everyday activities.

Can LYRICA be taken with other medicines?

Tell your doctor about all the medicines you take including prescription or non-prescription medicines, vitamins or herbal supplements. LYRICA and other medicines may affect each other.

Especially tell your doctor if you take:

rosiglitazone (Avandia) or pioglitazone (Actos) for diabetes. You may have a higher chance of weight gain or swelling if these medicines are taken with LYRICA
any narcotic pain medicine (such as oxycodone), tranquilizers or medicines for anxiety (such as lorazepam). You may have a higher chance for dizziness and sleepiness if these medicines are taken with LYRICA any medicines that make you sleepy

Know all the medicines you take. Keep a list of them with you to show your doctor and pharmacist each time you get a new medicine.

What are the most common side effects with LYRICA?
In clinical trials, the most common side effects were:

dizziness
sleepiness
dry mouth
swelling of hands and feet
blurry vision
weight gain
trouble concentrating

These side effects were often mild to moderate, and few people in clinical trials stopped taking LYRICA because of the side effects.

Some side effects went away after a few weeks of treatment. Tell your doctor about any side effect that bothers you or that does not go away.

When you first start taking LYRICA, do not drive a car, work with machines, or do other dangerous activities until you know how LYRICA affects how alert you are.

The information above is from the Pfizer website for Lyrica (generic name is Pregabalin)
http://www.lyrica.com/cwpb/appmanager/lyrica/lyricaDesktop?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=lyrica_main