About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Precautions
It is very important that your doctor check your progress at regular visits, especially for the first few months you take pregabalin. This is necessary to allow dose adjustments and to check for any unwanted effects.
Stop using this medicine and call your doctor right away if you have swelling of the face, eyes, lips, gums, or tongue, or problems with swallowing or breathing. Also tell your doctor if you have hives or skin rash, redness, or blisters while you are using this medicine. You may be having a severe allergic reaction or a condition called angioedema.
This medicine will add to the effects of alcohol and other CNS depressants (medicines that make you drowsy or less alert). Some examples of CNS depressants are antihistamines or medicine for hay fever, other allergies, or colds; sedatives, tranquilizers, or sleeping medicine; prescription pain medicine or narcotics; other medicines for seizures (e.g., barbiturates); muscle relaxants; or anesthetics, including some dental anesthetics. Check with your medical doctor or dentist before taking any of the above while you are taking pregabalin.
This medicine may cause some people to be agitated, irritable, or display other abnormal behaviors. It may also cause some people to have suicidal thoughts and tendencies or to become more depressed. If you or your caregiver notice any of these side effects, tell your doctor right away.
Pregabalin may cause blurred vision, double vision, clumsiness, unsteadiness, dizziness, drowsiness, or trouble with thinking. Make sure you know how you react to this medicine before you drive, use machines, or do anything else that could be dangerous if you are not alert, well-coordinated, or able to think or see well. If these reactions are especially bothersome, check with your doctor.
This medicine may cause you to keep extra fluid in your body or cause you to gain weight. If this side effect is bothersome, check with your doctor.
Do not suddenly stop taking pregabalin without checking first with your doctor. Your doctor may want you to gradually reduce the amount you are taking before stopping it completely. Stopping the medicine suddenly may cause your seizures to return or to occur more often, and to decrease the chance of having discontinuation symptoms such as dizziness, diarrhea, nausea, headache, vomiting, irritability, trouble sleeping, nightmares, prickling or tingling feelings.
Report any unexplained muscle pain, tenderness, or weakness particularly if accompanied by a fever. For patients with diabetes, check with your doctor if you notice changes to your skin or skin sores while taking pregabalin.
Make sure your doctor knows if you are pregnant or planning to become pregnant. Your doctor may want you to join a pregnancy registry for pregnant patients taking seizure medicines.
This medicine may cause birth defects if the father is using it when his sexual partner becomes pregnant. Notify your doctor if you become pregnant, if you plan to become pregnant, or if you father a child while taking pregabalin.
Do not take other medicines unless they have been discussed with your doctor. This includes prescription or nonprescription (over-the-counter [OTC]) medicines and herbal or vitamin supplements.
Find Mayo Clinic on