Hello doctor,
I am a 40-year-old female recovering from eating disorder. My body mass index (BMI) is 16. I am suffering from clinical depression and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). I was diagnosed by a neurologist with migraines approximately two years ago, and have been on Lyrica 75 mg twice daily. Recently, I started having trouble swallowing (endoscope was normal), so I returned to the neurologist who prescribed Topamax 15 mg SC. I suddenly switched to Lyrica 75 mg in the morning, and Topamax 15 mg at night and developed the most insane premenstrual migraine I have ever experienced. I have never experienced that intensity of migraine symptoms, ever. I had shimmering or flickering vision, sometimes a white haze, paraesthesia across forehead (with or without a slight headache), paraesthesia down right side of body, upper back or neck muscle pain, irregular heartbeats, sudden whooshing sensation and feeling like I was going to faint accompanied by feeling of doom, confusion and mild hallucinations (almost like I was having a seizure), dizziness and nausea (especially with light and smells), dehydration (could not eat or drink because of nausea and swallowing issues), occasional twinging in chest. It got so bad that I got the family to drive me to the emergency room (ER). By the time we arrived, I was unable to answer simple questions, and the attendor was concerned about transient ischemic attack (TIA), so they admitted me, and I was seen by my neurologist, who ordered a computed tomography (CT) scan. My results were blood count, platelet count, ESR, urea, creatinine, a lipogram, glucose fasting, thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) were normal except slightly low kidney function. Electrocardiogram (ECG) was normal (normal on the previous admission too, so were cardiac blood tests), chest X-ray, CT scan were normal, blood pressure (BP) was consistently low (between 95-105 over 65-75 mmHg) lowest 88/45 mmHg while in hospital. The temperature was consistently normal. Since being discharged, I have had nausea, dizziness, sweating, urea kind of smell through my back, extreme muscle pain, low blood pressure. I returned to my general practitioner (GP) twice because I was concerned about these symptoms. It suddenly dawned on me that theseopiate-like withdrawals could be due to me suddenly stopping all of my medications before admission, the Lyrica in particular. The more I read, the more concerned I get. I saw a study where a woman had gone cold-turkey on Lyrica and ended up with cerebral edema. I guess my question is, can I safely continue weathering these withdrawal symptoms? Would the CT have picked up edema and would there be a danger of it randomly happening now that I am a few days cold-turkey off Lyrica? I do trust professionals and do not like to self-diagnose, but my anxiety levels are through the roof, and I am now certain even the hospital visit was a result of the sudden drop in dosage and combination of Lyrica and Topamax. I would appreciate your input.