Published on
Updated
Reading 3 mins.
Prescribed to treat neuropathic pain or epilepsy, pregabalin is misused as a drug by some users. A phenomenon that worries more and more the health authorities. Insight from Pr Serge Perrot, head of department of the Pain Assessment and Treatment Center at Cochin Hospital.
Another drug diverted from its use, for dangerous purposes. In a report broadcast on April 30 on France 2, pregabalin, a common drug for anxiety disorders, is widely sold in large cities as a drug with a disinhibiting effect.
Originally, pregabalin is a drug but by diverting its use, some drug addicts make it a drug commonly called “poor man’s drug”.
It is available on simple prescription at an unbeatable price.
▶️ #JT20H pic.twitter.com/mZH91AKbtp
– Info France 2 (@infofrance2) May 1, 2023
Under the coat, 2 euros the stamp
Pregabalin, also known under the trade name Lyrica, is prescribed to treat generalized anxiety disorders, neuropathic pain, or epilepsy. If its diversion is not a novelty, it would however seem that the phenomenon is gaining momentum.
In question ? Its price, much lower than morphine for example, especially since the drug has been “generic” and made much more accessible. According to the France 2 report, dealers and traffickers offer pills for… two euros, much less than fentanyl or oxycodone. This is what earned it its name “poor man’s drug.”
A prescription with somewhat vague limits
Asked about this new danger, Professor Serge Perrot, head of the Pain Assessment and Treatment Center at Cochin Hospital, talks about practices that are questionable in the first place, on the medical side, which may have opened up a (too) large number of prescriptions on this product:
“Pregabalin is an antiepileptic that can help relieve neuropathic pain. But the concept of neuropathic pain is not always well known to clinicians. And many are those who tend to prescribe it as soon as a patient suffers from atypical pain, a little strange, which resists “.
The professional also recalls that this was also the case with bromazepam (rivotril), the prescription of which was limited to neurologists and pediatricians, following diversion and trafficking. “A number of doctors then fell back on pregabalin” he deciphers.
Since 2021, however, this treatment requires a secure prescription prescription. A decision that somewhat reduces unsuitable prescriptions… But does not improve knowledge of the product.
Overdose can lead to loss of consciousness or even death
Like many other drugs that act on the nervous system, pregabalin is diverted from its primary use for its “high” effects. On France 2, Dr Saïd Ouichou mentions taking 300 mg, much higher than the 25 mg required in a treatment. But what is the risk at this dose?
The first danger is, of course, addiction. Pregabalin is highly addictive and its effects are comparable to those of opiates. But Professor Perrot mentions deadly risks:
“The risks are those of any antiepileptic taken at too high a dose: pregabalin causes various degrees of drowsiness, disturbances in alertness, disturbances linked to loss of consciousness which can impact memory, be origin of falls, car accidents, even going as far as resuscitation in the most serious cases”.
Better manage pain medication
Should we therefore ban pregabalin to stop this diversion? It would be a mistake for Professor Perrot, who recalls that suffering patients really need it.
“For pain, unfortunately, we don’t have a lot of medicine. Pain is an emotional and sensory experience, which affects the nervous system and our drugs actually act on the nervous system, which unfortunately encourages misuse. But the shutdown would be dramatic for people who really need relief. The answer is not necessarily to stop the prescription of this drug, but rather to help its proper use.