Seizure induced by sudden cessation of pregabalin in a patient with chronic kidney disease

Abstract

A middle-aged woman with diabetic nephropathy on pregabalin for neuropathic pain presented with a diarrhoeal illness. She was found to have acute on chronic renal impairment with an estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) of 10 mL/min, and her usual 150 mg/day of pregabalin was abruptly ceased. Although renal recovery to her baseline of eGFR 15 mL/min was achieved within 3 days, her pregabalin was not restarted. She suffered a tonic-clonic seizure 4 days later, thought to be due to pregabalin withdrawal as there were no other likely causes identified. She suffered no further seizures on recommencement of pregabalin at a renally adjusted dose of 75 mg/day.