Precautions

Drug information provided by: Merative, Micromedex®

It is very important that your doctor check your and your child's progress at regular visits, especially for the first few months that you take pregabalin. This is necessary to allow for dose adjustments and to make sure this medicine is working properly. Blood tests may be needed to check for any unwanted effects.

This medicine may cause serious allergic reactions, including angioedema, which can be life-threatening and require immediate medical attention. Tell your doctor right away if you have a rash, itching, hoarseness, trouble breathing, trouble swallowing, or large, hive-like swelling on the face, eyelids, lips, tongue, throat, hands, legs, feet, or genitals after using this medicine.

Check with your doctor before using this medicine with alcohol or other medicines that affect the central nervous system (CNS). The use of alcohol or other medicines that affect the CNS with pregabalin may worsen the side effects of this medicine, such as dizziness, poor concentration, drowsiness, unusual dreams, and trouble with sleeping. Some examples of medicines that affect the CNS are antihistamines or medicine for allergies or colds, sedatives, tranquilizers, or sleeping medicines, medicine for depression, medicine for anxiety, prescription pain medicine or narcotics, medicine for attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder, medicine for seizures or barbiturates, muscle relaxants, or anesthetics, including some dental anesthetics.

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 or to become more depressed. Also tell your doctor if you have sudden or strong feelings, including feeling nervous, angry, restless, violent, or scared. If you or your caregiver notice any of these side effects, tell your doctor right away.

This medicine may cause respiratory depression, a serious breathing problem that can be life-threatening, when used together with narcotic pain medicines. Check with your doctor right away if you have pale or blue lips, fingernails, or skin, difficulty or trouble breathing, or irregular, fast or slow, or shallow breathing.

Pregabalin may cause blurred vision, double vision, clumsiness, unsteadiness, dizziness, drowsiness, or trouble with thinking. Do not drive or do anything else that could be dangerous until you know how this medicine affects you. If these side effects are especially bothersome, check with your doctor.

This medicine may cause you or your child to have edema (body swelling) or to gain weight. This may cause problems for people with heart failure. Talk with your doctor if you have concerns.

This medicine may increase your or your child's risk for cancer (eg, hemangiosarcoma) and bleeding. Talk to your doctor if you have concerns.

Do not suddenly stop taking pregabalin without checking first with your doctor. Your doctor may want you or your child to gradually reduce the amount you are taking before stopping it completely. Stopping the medicine suddenly may cause seizures or side effects including dizziness, diarrhea, nausea, headaches, vomiting, irritability, trouble with sleeping, nightmares, or tingling feelings.

Call your doctor if you or your child have any unexplained muscle pain, tenderness, or weakness, especially with a fever. These may be symptoms of a serious muscle problem called myopathy.

This medicine may cause sores or other skin problems (eg, skin ulcers), which may be more likely to occur in patients with diabetes. Talk to your doctor about proper skin care.

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.

From Mayo Clinic to your inbox

Sign up for free and stay up to date on research advancements, health tips, current health topics, and expertise on managing health. Click here for an email preview.

To provide you with the most relevant and helpful information, and understand which information is beneficial, we may combine your email and website usage information with other information we have about you. If you are a Mayo Clinic patient, this could include protected health information. If we combine this information with your protected health information, we will treat all of that information as protected health information and will only use or disclose that information as set forth in our notice of privacy practices. You may opt-out of email communications at any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link in the e-mail.