Hi, I, too, was prescribed lyrica but chose not to take it
for the reasons you stated. Have you considered
neurontin? It is a sister drug to lyrica, works on nerve pain, etc., but has been around for a long time and (I believe) is not as "side effect-y" as lyrica.
I take neurontin, have for years. It helps I believe it is milder; lyrica has the nerve pain med but also other componants.