I’ve seen it happen to my patients

ANXIETY and long-term pain are two of the most common problems I see in clinic.

They can be life-destroying – as Miranda’s story shows. But they’re also, often, extremely tricky to treat.

We were hopeful when pregabalin, as well as a similar drug called gabapentin, came along.

Back then, patients had limited options, for pain at least, and many were willing to try anything to get a semblance of their old life back.

Today I’m much less enthusiastic. Last year the UK medicines watchdog published a safety warning about the drug’s risk of addiction and withdrawal.

This matched up with many of my own patients’ experiences. Although many had seen lifechanging results, some had found the side effects very severe and withdrawal a real problem.

Many said they felt ‘out of it’ – confused, tired, unable to concentrate or to remember anything.

This made daily life – work, being a parent, even leaving the house – very difficult and in many cases distressing.

Nowadays GPs are advised to prescribe pregabalin only for pain once other options have been explored, or on the suggestion of a specialist pain clinic consultant.

Our guidelines also make it very clear that patients must not mix the drug with alcohol and that it should never be used in people with a history of addiction.

And it wouldn’t be common for a doctor to prescribe pregabalin for anxiety these days, either.

There is a wealth of other medications out there such as sertraline or escitalopram, which are not addictive and have far less severe side effects.