Pregabalin: Woman devastated by partner's prescription drug overdose

Haley Selby lost her partner of 21 years, Brian Rees, to an overdose involving pregabalin

A drug widely used to treat anxiety has "devastated" the life of a woman whose partner died after an overdose.

Haley Selby said Brian Rees took pregabalin in capsules he had bought from a "mate".

Wales had 33 pregabalin or gabapentin deaths last year, the ONS said, compared to 10 in 2019 when the drugs were classified as controlled.

A GP said pregabalin was at the "front line" of antidepressant prescribing due to counselling wait times.

Ms Selby, 38, from Tonyrefail, Rhondda Cynon Taf, said her partner was buying so called "street pregab" in 2020, explaining how it was "easy" to get from people selling their prescriptions.

"Brian made a bad mistake and took tablets he wasn't prescribed and it ended up killing him," she said of her partner of 21 years.

"He used to take quite a bit, not just one or two, he'd take a strip."

Pregabalin, similar to gabapentin and sometimes known by brand name Lyrica, is prescribed to treat epilepsy, nerve pain, anxiety and depression.

It can be addictive and cause breathing difficulties, leading to death and heart problems, and is a class C drug, making it illegal to have in the UK without a prescription.

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"If you're just taking them [pregabalin] to have a buzz, it's not worth it," she said.

Anxiety from Brian's death saw her become dependent on diazepam - another drug prescribed for anxiety, muscle spasms and seizures.

Ms Selby said she "hates" pregabalin for what it has done to her life and others.

And since Brian's death, she said the cost of living crisis has pushed more people into selling their prescriptions.

Pregabalin, also known by the brand name Lyrica, is an anti-epileptic drug also being prescribed for chronic pain and anxiety

The pair were among five suspects arrested in the unsolved murder of former boxer Jamie Perkins in 2017. A court was told was his battered body was found in a culvert in Gilfach Goch and that he had amphetamines and pregabalin in his system.

In 2021 a coroner found Mr Perkins was unlawfully killed, but no one has been charged.

Doctors in Wales prescribed pregabalin and gabapentin 607,885 times in 2022, up 14% from 533,833 in 2019, according to Welsh government prescription data.

Newport GP Dr Mohan De Silva said the drug first used in the US in 2004 to treat epilepsy was now on the "front line" of antidepressant treatments.

"You see almost everybody taking pregabalin for chronic pain issues, anxiety issues," he said.

Five years ago diazepam was top of the "GP's prescription pad" he said, now it is pregabalin.

"We are rearranging the deck chairs," he said. "We've taken off opiates, [which were] causing significant harm and addiction.

"The benzodiazepines prescriptions have almost disappeared… so I think that's resulted in a gap and pregabalin has taken over."

Mohan De Silva says pregabalin is on the "front line" for anxiety prescribing in Wales

He said it was also being used to treat pain, in particular for what he called the "exponential growth" in patients with fibromyalgia symptoms.

"Obviously there is going to be increased prescriptions," he said, "and the temptation for them to be diverted if there's some money to be made."

Dr De Silva said pregabalin was sought by opiate users because it "enhances the effect" of heroin.

But it is also a respiratory depressant, he said, "so you end up overdosing very quickly".

The ONS said increased deaths involving pregabalin and gabapentin across England and Wales in 2021 were the result of the drugs being taken alongside heroin or morphine, increasing the risk of an overdose.

The Home Office has not published figures on police seizures of pregabalin or gabapentin separately from other Class C drugs since their reclassification in 2019.

But researchers at Keele University said in a paper published in the Lancet Medical Journal the measure had a "limited" impact on misuse.

Jodie Davies, who takes pregabalin for fibromyalgia, says people have tried to get her to sell her prescriptions

Jodie Davies, 42, a recovered heroin addict from Tonyrefail, said she took pregabalin for fibromyalgia.

She said it was a "kick in the teeth" to need the tablets after "all the work I've done to get off everything".

But having the prescription has also meant strangers showing up at her door, asking if she wants to sell.

"They're watching the chemist and seeing who is being prescribed what," she said.

"This is definitely the next epidemic of medical drugs, like diazepam was," she said. "I know people now going to the doctors saying they're in pain and selling their strips because they can't pay their rent.

"They don't know the harm they're doing, because it's so addictive... worse than coming off heroin.

"I can't move in the morning until I've taken my pregabalin," she said, "but in the wrong hands they are dangerous."

Could doctors limit pregabalin?

Dr De Silva said GPs would be left trying to find something else to prescribe.

"I hope it is not another pill, but that there will be a sincere effort to replace it by non-medication pathways such as talking therapies and other psychological interventions, getting to the root cause of why people experience pain and trauma in their lives."

Overall, more than seven million antidepressant prescriptions were dispensed in Wales in the year to March, up 17.5% from 5.9m in 2019.

Patients waiting eight weeks or longer for mental health counselling reached 451 in September StatsWales said - a 247% increase from the 130 patients waiting that long compared with the same month five years ago.

More timely access to counselling can help doctors write better prescriptions, Dr De Silva said.

"People are struggling to cope with the trials and tribulations of modern life," he said. "We need to help them get through the day without reaching out for a tablet."

The Welsh government said it was "committed to improving access to mental health services" and increased investment in tackling substance misuse by nearly £67m this year.

"We expect GPs to use their clinical judgement," it said. "Anti-depressants are effective treatments, which when used appropriately, help a large number of people."