Dopamine agonists withdrawal syndrome

[DEAT]

Does anyone have experience of DAWS

Is it possible for PWP to experience DAWS stopping Sifrol (pramipexole)

0.75 mg cold turkey

Wanting opinions -

YES. NO.

[PD_Investigator]

Yes, Pramipexole can cause DAWS. I once tapered it down too quickly, and I felt terrible. I had intense brain fog, felt extremely slow, and my psychological state was really bad. From what I’ve been reading online, the recommended way to taper down is by reducing the dose by 10% every 6 to 10 weeks.

[DEAT in reply to PD_Investigator]

Thank you so much for your reply. Your repy and experience was all i was seeking. Thank you.

[MarionP]

depends greatly on how long you have been on the medication, what your course and response had been, other things you've been on or are on, what your dose has been, what your reactions and adaptations have been, what bad reactions you have experienced, and all of that is critical background, so let me ask you: without having provided any of that, what are you doing asking people here who wouldn't know of what about things you didn't mention and what else you didn't mention because they don't know when critical information is missing in the first place so they don't know how to ask for it because they don't know what to ask for in the first place, and are so untrained that they don't know not to utter something in the way of advice or ideas that could hurt you very badly, why in the heck are you talking to people here instead of a doctor? And if you are having bad or frightening reactions some kind, why are you not in an emergency room talking to a doctor? these medications are nothing to go bouncing around like pinball over. they can be very helpful and they can be exceedingly dangerous.

[DEAT in reply to MarionP]

Well well well someone having a bad day ???? Two questions

Can it happen ?

Has it happened to you ?

Simple answers to simple questions.

How hard is that.

I have a very competent neurologist who manages my PD

AND I DONT HAVE DAWS

[MarionP in reply to DEAT]

Well that's a relief, perhaps I should not have assumed that you had an actual reason for asking. Sorry about that.

[DEAT in reply to MarionP]

No problem Marion. All the best xxx

[MBAnderson in reply to MarionP]

You make some valid points, but I have found asking other pwp what their experience has been (with whatever) as helpful. Isn't that the value and purpose of this forum?

[MarionP in reply to MBAnderson]

Obviously yes. As I mentioned to her, I was assuming she had a personal reason. First order of any practitioner when given a question without a context is "is life at risk?" That's the only assumption you make when there is zero background to a question and you go into emergency mode until you know that life is not at risk.

[MBAnderson in reply to MarionP]

true enough

[park_bear in reply to MarionP]

The emergency room is the wrong place for people with Parkinson's experiencing Parkinson's related problems. Chances are they will not permit you to take your medications and evaluate you for stroke.

[MarionP in reply to park_bear]

Yep I get the sentiment. Without a context what their job is is simply to keep the person alive first, and then go from there. As you can see from her conversation with me there was no context and I acted out of long-standing practitioner habit which was preserve life first, and then let the scolding tongues come because compared to the priorities in that immediate moment situation what they have to say is unimportant. The one thing you can't come back from is dead and that's how you respond to an unartful or incomplete question because you can't assess the status you must assume highest risk and go from there as the risk drops. When getting a question like that one responds from within their skill set almost automatically and that's what I did, having worked a few emergency rooms in my time I can tell you emergencies do pop up through the route we had here in the manner we had here. And it's only a little text message for crying out loud. Sometimes emergencies do come in that way in that form.

I wouldn't go to an emergency room either, unless I already knew that risk to my life had been excluded. I don't have $20,000 to spare in today's privatized private-wealth-owned hyper cutthroat financially rapacious commercial market of American emergency rooms to pay for a single visit these days, except to make sure I'm not dead if I don't. After that then now there's time for fixing and for figuring out where to go or who to do it with.

[Nikosmom in reply to MarionP]

I agree. My neurologist wants me to add Entacapone and I am shifting through options and side effects of this medication It pays to be caution. Have a good weekend.

[Jeremiah777]

Yes it is absolutely possible. I have started and stopped pramipexole twice and had to deal with it each time. It is what your body goes through when you remove it's source of dopamine. Pramipexole is a horrible drug which should not be used as long as your body maintains some capacity for producing dopamine. It replaces dopamine itself with an artificial analogue and actually causes your body to shut down the little dopamine it still produces and causes its own dependency.

A better solution while your body still has any capacity to produce it is a true dopamine agonist such as dextroamphetamine or lisdexamfetamine (Vyvanse) and a DRI (dopamine reuptake inhibitor) to keep the dopamine produced in your system long enough for it to work for Parkinson's.

Jeremiah.

[PD_Investigator in reply to Jeremiah777]

Hi Jeremiah, thank you for sharing your experience. I was wondering—have you finally been able to stop taking pramipexole? If so, how did you do it, and what kind of withdrawal symptoms or side effects did you experience during the process?

I'm also interested in coming off it, but after the terrible experience I had when I tried to taper it down too quickly, I’m really scared to try again.