Lyrica, Neurontin, Antihistamines will get you in trouble

[NurseJackie69]

A friend of mine just got 2 years added onto her monitoring. She had completed 2 and 1/2 years of monitoring and had 2 and 1/2 years left. She now has 4 and 1/2 years to go due to Lyrica, without a prescription that showed up in a urine test and a hair test. She had been prescribed Lyrica years earlier and has some remaining in a bottle that was long expired and took it for 3 days due to back pain thinking no big deal, and thinking the drug isn't controlled and isn't tested for. Well, it was tested for. Her trouble was taking the medicine without a current script that had long since expired.

Warning. Lyrica, Neurontin, and Antihistamines will get you in big trouble. Labs have improved techniques and they absolutely can detect these drugs. Monitoring Programs know that many in recovery already have chronic pain issues and there's a big movement across the country in monitoring programs pushing for more Neurontin and Lyrica "add on" testing that is a test that is In Addition to the Option you are selected for and you may think the Option you are selected for is all that you are being tested for, but case managers commonly do "add ons" where you don't know that you are even being tested for it. 

Treat Neurontin and Lyrica and even Zantac, Pepcid, (all Antihistamines including Benadryl) just like you do alcohol. Do NOT take them without a script. There's a huge push nationwide in testing for these (Lyrica, Neurontin, and Antihistamines)  in monitoring programs and they are nailing people. The nurse I referenced above tested positive in a urine sample, then they had her do a hair test a month later and she turned up positive and there was absolutely nothing she could do. She was clearly guilty. She told them its just Lyrica and it doesn't make you high, but they were more concerned with her taking Lyrica without a prescription than they were the Lyrica itself.

[TIMFY]

my program made it very clear that we weren't to take anything without a script. 🤷‍♀️

[NurseJackie69]

TIMFY said:

my program made it very clear that we weren't to take anything without a script. 🤷‍♀️

That's scary. Some programs are like that. Mine has a list of meds that require prescription and nearly everything is on it with the exception of Tums, Tylenol, Motrin, and cough syrups that do NOT contain amphetamine, opiates, alcohol and/or antihistamines, and they warned us about cough syrups because the majority of cough syrups contain at least 1 of the above, but there are Some that don't contain any of the 4 drug classes above.

My case manager told me early on. If I needed to take something besides Motrin, Tums, and Tylenol, to call him.