I was prescribed pregabalin for generalized anxiety disorder after SSRIs gave me intolerable side effects. My psychiatrist started me at 75mg twice daily and we titrated up to 150mg twice daily over a few weeks.
At 300mg total daily, the effect on my anxiety is remarkable. It does not feel sedating or intoxicating the way benzodiazepines do. Instead, it is more like someone turned down the volume on the anxious background noise in my brain. I can still feel appropriate concern about things that matter, but the irrational, spiraling worry is just absent. I am able to focus at work, have conversations without rehearsing them in my head first, and fall asleep without lying awake for an hour ruminating.
The most unexpected benefit is music enhancement. Songs I have heard hundreds of times sound richer, more textured, more emotionally resonant. My commute playlist went from background noise to something I actively look forward to. I have read that this is a commonly reported effect of gabapentinoids, and it is genuinely one of my favorite aspects of this medication.
No significant side effects at this dose besides mild dizziness in the first week that resolved on its own.