How long do most meds take? Did tramadol spoil me?

[ookla]

The first time I took tramadol, after fifteen minutes I felt relief wash over me. It was amazing to sit there and finally have my legs feel normal. I'm beginning to think that's an unfair standard to hold other meds to. I've was on mirapex at .125 mg for five days and now at .25 mg for four days. I'm ready to consider it a bust and move on. Is that too soon? In your experience, how long did it take to get some form of relief from whatever med is currently working for you? Was it hours? Days? Weeks? Months?!

[Hidden]

Mirapex usually works right away, it did for me. You can go a bit higher on that dose to see if it works, its still a low dose. Or maybe its just not the med for you. Why if tramadol worked so well have you stopped it.

[ookla in reply to Hidden]

Tramadol worked great for 3 months, but then started losing its efficacy. At first, I started worrying about having to increase the dose over and over, so I was trying to use it as little as possible. But nothing else was really working, so I went back to it. But then I started getting sleep apnea, which was making me excessively sleepy during the day. And I started having sleep attacks, making it dangerous to drive even a short distance (i.e. the bank, grocery store, etc.).

[Hidden]

Oh right, i think i remember reading another post from you... Mirapex, can for SOME, cause sudden sleep, something you may have to be aware of. Have you tried a cpap machine for the sleep apnea...??

[ookla in reply to Hidden]

I do feel more sleepy than normal on the mirapex, but nothing like when I had the sleep apnea. And no, I haven't tried a cpap. The sleep apnea went away when I stopped taking tramadol.

[TEAH35 in reply to ookla]

Apparently I too have sleep apnea. In fact the neurologist said it was of a more pressing concern than the restless legs. I used the CRAP machine for 2 ½ years, but I gave it away as there was no noticeable improvement.

And besides, my snoring did not offend me, and I was of the opinion if you have to go what a better way to go.

[Hidden]

I dont know much about sleep apnea, so thinking out loud....if the mirapex doesnt work, and the tramadol stopped working, then you obviously need a different med. Have you tried gabapentin...?? Or another pain med instead of the tramadol, that will work, then a cpap machine could help if its another pain med,,,,

Hope that made sense, i didnt sleep well last night, so got a bit of brain dead today....

[ookla in reply to Hidden]

Sorry you didn't sleep well last night. I have tried gabapentin and it helped me sleep at night, but didn't do anything for my daytime symptoms (and the more I took, the foggier I felt). I would like to try another pain med, but that could be tricky. Vicodin and codein and darvocet make me vomit, so I'm not sure what else there is to try.

[Hidden]

What about morphine. ??? I tried liquid morphine once a while back, but made me too sleepy during the day....i cant think of anything else.

Have you looked at the website run by a doctor your side of the pond. It has a treatment page of RLS meds. also what to avoid which could make RLS worse. It might be helpful for you. rlshelp.org Its a good website, lot of info...

[ookla in reply to Hidden]

Morphine... hmmm... yeah... I've seen that recommended before, but I don't think I'd be comfortable asking my doctor for it... I think of morphine as being kind of hardcore and something you should only get while in the hospital for really horrible pain - and yes, thank you, I have seen that website... I spent hours and hours one night reading all the letters.

For the longest time I thought I couldn't have RLS because I didn't have the "traditional" symptoms (the sensation like ants or whatever crawling over the skin or itching). My legs throb and ache and no matter what position I lay or sit in they can't get comfortable. Rubbing them and thrashing them about helps momentarily, but the discomfort and pain comes back as soon as the rubbing or moving stops. For as long as I can remember, I've had to sleep with a pillow between my legs because squeezing it between my legs was the only thing that could somewhat soothe me until I'd finally fall asleep. So it was nice to find out there were other RLS sufferers out there with symptoms like mine.

[Bettyboop45]

I take gabapentin, but that don't make me sleep , I take 300g at night can I take more to make me sleep ? Been on it for 7 yrs now also my feet really burn at nite too . I also have pains in my leg and put pillow between them too

[ookla in reply to Bettyboop45]

Gabapentin doses can go up pretty high. I think I read somewhere that the typical dose for relief is around 1800 mg, but you can actually go as high as 3600 mg. I was on 1800 mg of gabapentin (600 mg three times a day) for a vertebrae that was out of place and it made me sleepy and my brain always felt foggy. For RLS, I was taking 600 mg around 8 or 9 pm - that did nothing for my daytime or relaxing time symptoms, but it did let me fall asleep and stay asleep through the night. Good luck!

[ratfancy in reply to ookla]

Increasing gabapentin past a certain point is useless, as it's not absorbed. Maybe check that out. No point to taking too much. Gabapentin didn't do anything for me except make me fat and lazy!

[Stephenr]

I take Mirapex .25 each night together with 600 mg Gabapentin and sleep like a baby..as a backup, in case this regimen is not enough, i can take 1 50 mg Tramadol tablet on top of this (maybe once per month)

For a long time I took .5 mg Mirapex nightly and this worked very well..but after experiencing augmentation I went off Mirapex for 3 months and then restarted with the lower dosage of .25 mg plus the 600 mg Gabapentin

I dont think Tramadol has an influence on sleep apnea and neither does RLS

[ookla in reply to Stephenr]

I'm on mirapex .25 right now, starting .5 mg tonight for five days. I really don't expect the increased dose to be any more effective. I already tried the neupro patch alone and combined with horizant and didn't get anywhere. I actually don't like taking a lot of medicine, so I've been hoping to find just one that works instead of having to combine some together. I have no idea what the doctor will want to try after we pull the plug on the mirapex, but I'm getting kind of tired of trying all these different meds and might just go back to the 600 mg of gabapentin to sleep through the night and just accept that the daytime/rest time symptoms aren't going to go away.

As for Tramadol affecting sleep apnea, sadly, all of the narcotic options list the respiratory side effect of sleep apnea. Tramadol is actually supposed to be the one with the lowest probability of it, so I'm probably out of luck with any of the others. The CA expert suggested trying oxycodone, but I'm not sure I'd feel comfortable asking for or even taking such a "hardcore" medicine.

[Hidden in reply to ookla]

ookla, morphine or ocycodone are used by alot of people for RLS. Probably more so in the USA than here in the UK. If i wanted to get relief at night from my RLS, i would be willing to try anything.

If the gabapentin worked at night and you feel more comfortable with taking that, then i would go back to that.

When you have RLS, its always trial and error, finding what will work. I think i have tried almost everything going to get the relief for my RLS.

[TEAH35 in reply to Stephenr]

I find it somewhat intriguing how the meds that you are mentioning help you sleep. Unfortunately there is nothing on the market that helps me sleep at all. If it hadn't been for my recent diagnosis of bipolar and the medication, (Seroquel), that I take for my low mood swings, I would be back to having no sleep at all. But sometimes I am rather naughty ... like tonight. The Seroquel had me asleep at midnight, but then I awoke at 3 to visit the bathroom, picked up the phone and I'm still here, and it is now 5am.

Oh well .... great sleep-in coming up.

[Rubylane25]

I take .25 mg of mirapex twice daily. When I switched from Sinnemet mirapex worked right away. If anyone can give me some info on tramadol that would be great. I don't think we have it in Canada.

[ookla in reply to Rubylane25]

What would you like to know about it? There's a regular and an extended release version. The max daily dosage is 400 mg. It might be called Ultram in Canada.

[gretakmac in reply to Rubylane25]

Tramadol is available in Canada. I just started it a week ago, still taking .75 mg mirapex , but sleeping 7-8 hours a night!! Daytime symptoms still there but blessed sleep at night.

Merry Christmas to all

[TEAH35 in reply to Rubylane25]

Dear Rubylane25 (great user-name BTW).

Unfortunately I am suspecting that augmentation is not too far away, and from what I can gather from you guys postings, Tramadol is going to be a medication that is going to help me through it. My GP advised me that she would not prescribe an opiate for me, however my psychiatrist has informed me that he has no difficulty in prescribing Tramadol for his patients. And he's the boss. Thank God

[Rubylane25]

I was wondering if it is a narcotic or is it a gabapentin or a dopamine type drug and is it a pill or patch?

In the meantime I will do some Internet research on Ultram

Thanks kindly

[ookla in reply to Rubylane25]

It's a pill. It's a synthetic opiod receptor agonist.

[Hidden in reply to Rubylane25]

Rubylane25....look at this website at the treatment page, it gives the medications for RLS and explains a bit how it works and dosage.... rlshelp.org

[TEAH35 in reply to Rubylane25]

I believe it is called an opiate, difference being .... I don't know!

But someone on site will.

[Twitch1972]

Tramadol does exactly the same thing for me. It works so fast! I have tried Mirapex but the nausea and vomiting and burning skin feeling it gave me caused me to stop after the second night. (yes, I tried it a second night just to be sure that it was the medicine making me so ill. It was)

I have always gotten the best relief with no side effects from Tramadol. I have taken it for several years now. Recently it started wearing off after just two hours though. I have severe RLS 24/7 so I take 2 50 mg three to four times a day so I couldn't take anymore. Just last Friday my doctor prescribed the Butrans patch. It took less than a day to start working. It works even better than the Tramadol. Although I am allowed to take Tramadol for any breakthrough symptoms. Usually late at night I'll take it and maybe in the morning. I was worried that once the Tramadol stopped being effective that nothing would work as good again. Thankfully I found something better!

[TEAH35 in reply to Twitch1972]

Hi Twitch1972, are you saying that you take tramadol instead of Mirapex and that it works better. Very interesting and good to know.

[Hidden]

Tramadol does not work like all of the other drugs. Tramdol has some effect on the nerves. That's why no matter what I have been put on, I have always kept the tramadol as it touched some pain even my 20mg oxycodone can't touch.

[ookla in reply to Hidden]

I wrote that awhile ago, but it's interesting that you just responded now since I'm actually thinking about going back to tramadol. I stopped taking it before because it would only last three months before needing to increase the dose, I was a bit moody when it would wear off, and it killed my libido. But now I'm thinking maybe I should try the extended release version.

[TEAH35]

Hi ookla, not too sure about the Tramadol, as I have never taken it. But I can honestly say to you, (without any exaggeration whatsoever), that Sifrol works for me 100% within 10 minutes of consumption.

[ookla in reply to TEAH35]

Thanks for the reply. I'm glad sifrol works for you, but I wouldn't touch a DA with Bea Arthur's ten foot pole.

[TEAH35 in reply to ookla]

Hi again ookla, I am afraid that I cannot live without it ATM and have been relying on it now for way over 7 years. But as I am seriously fearing that augmentation is not too far away, I am extremely pleased to be reading all of this positive stuff that you guys are all saying about Tramadol. I am guessing that it is going to be my 'go to' replacement drug that I am hoping will be able to help me cope/deal with the onslaught of the eventual arrival of the dreaded augmentation.