Alex Silva, left, kept thinking of killing himself after taking pregabalin, while Jordan Cox, centre, and Chloe Caton, right, died from overdoses (Pictures: BPM / GETTY)
Pregabalin – an anti-anxiety and pain medication linked to a third of British drug-related deaths – left users ‘losing their minds’ and wanting to kill themselves.
Mother-of-two Penny Carroll was prescribed pregabalin to treat pain related to spinal spondylosis six months ago.
However, she experienced problems with it as her tolerance increased, MailOnline reported.
The initial alleviation turned into a ‘horrendous experience’ when a sudden drop in her dose sparked a wave of anxiety, sweating and skin crawling that left her ‘losing my mind’.
Penny, 53, said: ‘My doctor had increased my dose as the pain was creeping back in, so from 100mg I went to 150mg.
‘It worked really well, the pain began to easy off, but my body needed more.
‘The reality of what I was on started when my doctor did not put my repeat prescription through, so I was forced to use the lower dose.
‘Then the withdrawals started and I felt like I was in hell. The anxiety and panic attacks were the worst, sweating, insomnia, skin crawling, I went through absolute hell.’
Alex Silva, was prescribed pregabalin after suffering a slipped disc on his neck.
But ‘after two months on it, all I could think about was to kill myself’, he told MailOnline.
He said: ‘No doctor ever informed about suicidal thoughts.
‘Thank God, I read about it and stopped taking it straight away. Horrible drug but the worst of all, was that no one told me about the suicidal thoughts.’
Dental receptionist Chloe Caton was found dead at the foot of her mum’s bed after overdosing, with pregabalin, tapentadol, diazepam and zopiclone found in her system (Picture: Stoke Sentinel / BPM Media)
Other users reported experiencing erratic behaviour, blurred vision, mood swings and suicidal thoughts after taking the medication they claim has ‘robbed them of their lives’.
Sold under the brand names Alzain, Axalid and Lyrica, pregabalin was prescribed to more than 8.5 million people in England in 2022.
The drug is mostly prescribed for anxiety, depression and nerve pain. It’s also used to treat epilepsy, but it is no longer a first-line treatment.
However, despite many patients hailing the relief it offers for their mental and physical symptoms, its use has come under scrutiny due to its side effects, highly addictive nature and its association with drug-related deaths.
In severe cases, affecting ‘very few people’, pregabalin can cause hallucinations and thoughts of self-harm or suicide, according to the NHS website.
The health service also lists withdrawal as a long-term side effect for people who stop taking the medication after they’ve become addicted to it.
It says: ‘When you stop taking pregabalin, you’ll need to reduce your dose gradually to avoid withdrawal symptoms.
‘Do not stop taking pregabalin without talking to your doctor’
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But Penny’s GP was closed for the weekend when her symptoms began.
She said: ‘I didn’t understand what was happening to me.’
The 53-year-old only realised what was happening to her when she found a Facebook group where people shared posts about their own ‘experiences ‘nightmarish stories’ with pregabalin.
The group’ admins informed her she was experiencing withdrawal from the drug, something no one had previously told her.
She said: ‘Looking at the posts in that group…I was one of the lucky ones. Some people have been on it for 15 years….people lost their teeth, went into complete psychosis, had suicidal thoughts.
‘I can’t drink alcohol. If I have two drinks, I have massive panic attacks. My anxiety has trebled, and I’m clear of it. I wrote to my GP to say this is the worst thing you could have given me.’
Penny’s withdrawal symptoms were so bad she had to miss work, and her husband had to move out of their bedroom because of her anxiety waking her up several times a night.
Her ‘awful’ experience with pregabalin means she’s ‘not the same person I was before this hideous drug’.
Penny survived her experience with pregabalin, but others haven’t.
More than 3,400 fatalities have been linked to pregabalin in the last five years when it was legally classified as a class C drug.
The number of fatalities linked to pregabalin have soared in recent years, rising from just nine in the UK in 2012 to 779 a decade later.
Such a rapid change gives pregabalin the fastest rising death toll of any drug in the UK.
It sits behind only opiates like heroin and morphine, cocaine, and benzodiazapines like valium and xanax in terms of total numbers of deaths.
Among them was Alex Cottam, a software engineer who was 27 when he overdosed on pregabalin after becoming hooked on the drug.
Alex Cottam, 27, started thriving when he first started taking pregabalin before becoming hooked on the drug (Picture: Facebook)
He was 25 when he’d been prescribed the medication for anxiety he had developed after the death of his father when he was 13.
It helped improve his confidence and he advanced his career, but as the doses increased, it ‘completely changed’ him and led to him being ‘obsessed’ with recreating its effects, his mother Michelle told The Sunday Times.
His GP told Alex he had to stop taking pregabalin, but he started buying the drug and other painkillers online without a prescription.
Alex was found dead in his Salford flat in 2021, dying of an ‘unintentional overdose’ of pregabalin and three other drugs, an inquest found.
Michelle told the newspaper: ‘He had overcome every obstacle that had got in his way, but the pregabalin took such a strong grip on him that he just couldn’t see a way out.
‘It’s such a waste. How many other lives will be affected if they carry on not advising patients that they might become addicted?’
Chloe Caton, 21, died of an accidental overdose in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire on June 1 last year.
A post-mortem toxicology found pregabalin, tapentadol, diazepam and zopiclone in her system. Only the latter two had been prescribed.
Jasmin Duddy, 21, was found dead in Galliagh, Derry on February 1 last year after taking a deadly mix of pregabalin and another anti-anxiety medication.
She had been trying to get help for her drug addiction.
Mother-of-one Jasmin Duddy, from the Creggan in Derry, had been trying to get help for her addiction before she died
Karen Henderson’s partner found her unresponsive in Barrow on February 1 last year.
The 54-year-old died from pneumonia and multi-drug toxicity from tramadol and pregabalin, a coroner rules.
Her GP had been reducing her medication.
Professional rugby player Jordan Cox died of an accidental overdose on pregabalin, diazepam and oxycodone, a combination that caused his heart to stop.
Professor Ian Hamilton, an honorary fellow in addiction at the Department of Health Sciences at the University of York, said pregabalin is an effective treatment for chronic pain.
But he questioned its use for anxiety given the range of side effects, including forgetfulness, respiratory deprivation and difficulty breathing, as well as positive effects appealing to recreational drug users, like relaxation and mild euphoria.
Patients turn to buying the drug online when GPs reduce prescriptions, a constant search for alternative that would limit the effectiveness of clamping down on pregabilin or other drugs, Professor Hamilton warned.
He said: ‘When you buy drugs online it is a complete lottery. You never know what it is you are taking and you don’t know if the dose is what you are being told it is.
‘It could be four or five times more stronger than you think. People quite rapidly find out that they have taken too much before it’s too late.’
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