REQUIP ?

[sweetiepye]

Has anyone been on requip longer than 10 years? I have developed the symptom of falling asleep while in the middle of an activity like eating . I would appreciate any response. Thank you .

[macewan13]

I stopped ropinorole for 3 reasons: augmentation; nausea and fainting; suddenly falling asleep. They were all unpleasant but the falling asleep was the most scary - no warning at all. It could be mid conversation, halfway through a tea etc. I was worried it might happen while driving.

I am now (after a long break from dopamine agonists) on a combination of the patch and Tramadol, which are working pretty well.

Good luck.

[martino in reply to macewan13]

I only took ropinirole for a short time and on one occasion suddenly fell asleep smoking a pipe!

[sweetiepye in reply to martino]

Yikes !

[sweetiepye in reply to macewan13]

That's exactly what happens to me and it is scary.

[John_naylor]

I passed out twice on patches but put that down to low blood pressure and high dose (overlapping 2mg patches).

I experience the falling asleep if I sit down and relax at about 4pm or about 7pm. I take 100mg Tramadol about 7pm and that gives me insomnia making me tired next day. I was worried about driving but I don't have an issue with that and in fact am totally alert in the evening after taking my Tramadol.

It is annoying but Tramadol has saved my life and I am not complaining!

[sweetiepye]

I would hate to stop the requip because it works for RLS ,but I'm falling all over the place.

[beady3 in reply to sweetiepye]

I was on Requip for quite a while they worked well but they made me keep shaking my head it was just the tabs,,hope you find something to suit

[Hidden]

sweetiepie what dose of Requip are you taking. ? If you are falling asleep then i think you will need to consider having to change meds.

[sweetiepye in reply to Hidden]

Hi Elisse , The Requip works very well for my RLS and I didn't suspect it was causing me problems. I take 3 three mg tabs a day. 1 in am and 2 in pm. After 9/10 yrs I didn't expect to have any issues. I thought I was just falling or falling asleep. My Drs, convinced me I was passing out or convulsing so I have had so many tests, I did ask if it could be the pills I take. I take so many, They gave me a definite no . BuT I started thinking about it, made a list of my meds and hit Google.And there it was under Requip every symptom I am struggling with.Falling with no warning, car accidents, binge eating and weight gain, aggression,and more. there was a page full. I knew if I checked on here I would get answers. Now I have to convince my Drs. and find something else for my RLS.

[involuntarydancer]

That sounds like a high dose of requip. Suddenly falling asleep is a less common but nonetheless well established side effect of high doses of dopamine agonist. It sounds like you might need to consider withdrawing from requip and looking for a new form of treatment. It is unfortunate but not surprising that your health professionals have failed to make the connection. The experience of many with rls is that health professionals are not particularly knowledgeable or interested.

You should be aware that coming off requip is very hard, especially if you have been on a high dose, and your rls symptoms are likely to get very much worse for a time - you may get little or no sleep for several days - BUT it is amazing when you get it out of your system how much more yourself you will feel (I went through this last year). Also there is a reasonable chance that your symptoms will settle back to a less severe base once the drug is completely washed out of your system.

It is worth checking your iron levels - a blood test will establish your serum ferritin. RLS experts in the US strongly believe that there is a connection between the level of serum ferritin and the severity of symptoms in a majority (though not all) rls sufferers. Thus they aim to get serum ferritin levels to over 100.

[sweetiepye]

Thank you. I haven't seen my Doctors since I made this connection but I know how they will react. Any ideas on what I might ask them to switch me to? Can you start a new drug while tapering off the Requip? i ALSO TAKE GABIPENTION and colonzapam for RLS . Pam