Can Ropinirole tablets but cut in half?

[EileenMH]

Does anyone know if its ok to cut the tablets in half. The leaflets say swallow who,e and do not chew. My first dose of 0.5 mg last night caused severe spasms and I'm thinking 0.25mg would be better. Many thanks.

[cicek]

Hi Eileen and welcome. I'm from Nottinghamshire too. I take the full dose of Roprinirole XL (4mg) for severe RLS and initially cut them in half. It definitely says don't on the packaging so really it's best not to. Do persevere with this med as it has really helped me. I did go through augmentation with 3mg of the normal one and found the slow release by default. This has been great for about 8 months but of course like everyone else will tell you, it doesn't give you 100% relief all of the time. Good luck and please do persevere. Side affects might be a problem initially but they should disappear after a while. Worse thing I find still is nausea.

[Hidden in reply to cicek]

cicek, have you tried taking Motilium10 for the nausea...?? It is RLS friendly and can be purchased from the chemist. Worth trying if you havent already, it might help.

[cicek in reply to Hidden]

Thanks Elisse I will give it a try.

[EileenMH in reply to cicek]

Thank you and also Elisse. I am new to medication. I have juggled the the time and dose and think I may be getting somewhere. I'll tolerate the side effects and give it my best shot. Do you think a couple of glasses of wine will make things better or worse?

[Hidden in reply to EileenMH]

Depends on the person, on whether the wine will make things worse. I know alcohol can be a no no for most RLSers.

[Hidden]

Welcome Eileen, i take Pramipexole, i am really sensitive to the side effects from all meds for RLS. I take 3 of the lowest dose Pramipexole, but the third pill i break up into bits, and have been using a bit at a time, so my system gets used to it and keep the side effects down. I also space the pills out, one at 6-00, one at 8-00, then the last broken up one at 10-00. all in the evening. Last night was the first night i actually took all three, as my legs were still angsty at bedtime. Sometimes we have to "play" around with our meds to get them to suit us as individuals. If you are new to the Ropinerole, then you need your system to adjust to any side effects that seems to come with all meds.

[EileenMH]

Thank you both for your responses and encouragement. I will persevere. I too am very sensitive to most medications so think I'll halve the 0.5 so my system can acclimatise. Maybe I'll try 1/2 earlier in the evening and the other 1/2 later. I'm just so relieved my doctor understood how RLS affects people

Take care. Hope to speak again.

[m1946]

Not necessarily helpful initially but you can insist upon 0.25mg tablets?

[Pete-1]

This is rather "off topic" but I seem to remember 1 contributor on this forum saying they treated their RLS by eating a couple of bananas prior to bedtime, or perhaps I've imagined this?

[EileenMH in reply to Pete-1]

Hi Pete, Thank you for the information. Bananas are one of the dopamine boosting foods and so I will try what you have suggested. I'm experiencing bad side effects from Ropinirrole so good alternative. Many thanks.

[EileenMH]

Thank you and also Elisse. I am new to medication. I have juggled the the time and dose and think I may be getting somewhere. I'll tolerate the side effects and give it my best shot. Do you think a couple of glasses of wine will make things better or worse?

[EileenMH]

Thank you and also Elisse. I am new to medication. I have juggled the the time and dose and think I may be getting somewhere. I'll tolerate the side effects and give it my best shot. Do you think a couple of glasses of wine will make things better or worse?