No Rest with RLS.

[jbrowmur]

I have severe RLS (everyday) and was taking Tramadol. Worked very well. MI now does not allow this med for RLS. Now on Gabapentin 300mg (a week so far) but still have to walk all evening. It is not working. Do I need more or a different med?

[Pippins2]

Hi not sure which country you are in but it seems ridiculous to stop your Tramadol when it was working so well . Is it possible for you to see a different doctor or change surgeries? The dose of Gabapentin is very low so doubt it would help very much . It does need to build up over a week or two but it is usual to start at a low dose and gradually increase, Gabapentin is a med that seems to work really we or not at all so it is worth a try, I got up to 3,600 mg a day and it didn't help at all Also if you stopped the Tramadol abruptly that will have caused an increase in RLS I am angry and sorry that your doctor is putting you through this when Tramadol was working so well. ..Pippins2 x

[nightdancer in reply to Pippins2]

yep, never helped me at all and I was at 3600 mgs, gained a bunch of weight, and had worse RLS with a lot of brain fog. So, it may not be the med for you, jbrowmur

[Shon48]

Gabapentin is like statins ------ cure all for everything and personally I would slowly stop the gabapentin . It didn't help me one bit but one of the meds. I take make RLS worse so take that one in the morning . If you are taking other meds . it would be beneficial to google them to see if they are making you worse. I use " Goodnight Magnesium Spray " and spray it on before getting into bed and it helps a lot . If you are in the U.k you can buy it in Holland and Barratt. If not , Amazon . The purple coloured box . Very annoying condition and I hope you try this and it gives you relief.

[jbrowmur in reply to Shon48]

That's all I take for RLS. It was totally under control with 2 or less Tramadol 50 mg pills. Now it is all crazy. Can't hurt to try the magnesium spray. Thanks.

[nightdancer]

I am also not sure what "MI" is, but here in the US, our doctors can write an appeal if medicare decides the med is "not in your formulary" any more. Gabapenitn at 300 mgs is a very low dose, so not surprised you are walking a lot. A week is not long on a med like Gabapentin, either, it takes about 6 weeks for it to "level up" in your system. does not work immediately like a med like Tramadol.

[jbrowmur in reply to nightdancer]

MI is Michigan, the mitten surrounded by the Great Lakes. My insurance covers Tramadol. It's the doctor that is afraid to prescribe it as he said he could go to jail if the med is not for active cancer, after surgery or arthritis. Some of these people making these med changes should have RLS for a month.

[nightdancer in reply to jbrowmur]

Oh he cannot go to jail. That is a ridiculous excuse and not true. There is nowhere that says in the US that says you have to have cancer, or be post op, or have arthritis. excuses, excuses. That sounds more like some states restrictions on medical marijuana. He needn't lie to you about it. it would be better if he would just say I do not believe in pain meds, at least he would be honest in that statement.

[jbrowmur in reply to nightdancer]

He has been prescribing them to either my husband or me for 12 years. Michigan passed the opioid law either March 17 or 19 1916. One of the consequences for the prescriber is jail if they deem you over prescribing and prescribing for anything but the allowed situations. RLS is not one of them. I should have filled out the pain body pictures and lied about back pain. He thinks it is stupid and unfair and is involved in the political process of revising it. But, that does not help me.