Pramaximeole

[PollyH59]

How exactly does one go about coming off this horrible drug?

[Bazzaar]

Gently and slowly!

Reduce over a good long time, I did it over 2 weeks.

[PollyH59 in reply to Bazzaar]

Can I do this myself or do I need to do it with a doctor? I am taking 0.25 three times each night. I want to come off it, but I'm not sure how to go about it. How much do I reduce the quantity and how often?

[Bazzaar in reply to PollyH59]

Getting your doctors advice would be best. Have you thought about what you will do if you get rls back?

[Madlegs1 in reply to PollyH59]

Come down by .088 about every week. Slowly and gently is easiest.

You can go cold turkey but that's pretty sharp and unnecessary.

See Matt Finches website for coping with withdrawal - recipes and strategies. It's for opiates- but same works for Prami.

If the withdrawal is really bad ypu could ask your doctor for Clonidine and Diazepam and Ambien to help with the worst moments.

Plenty of people have successfully gone through this process.

It's not easy but well possible.

Good luck.

[PollyH59 in reply to Madlegs1]

I'm not sure about the .088 when I take .25 three times a night. Would I cut one of the pills in half? Would that be about right?

[Madlegs1 in reply to PollyH59]

The .088 is used because it is the smallest dose available. You could try cutting .25 in half but if it is an extended release version , I would get advice from your pharmacist to know whether this is possible with your particular version.

I should also have said to you previously to ask your doctor for Tramadol as part of the tapering down process.

You also need to have a conversation with a knowledgable practitioner as to what you are going to use as rls relief after the Prami.

Gabapentin can be taken in conjunction with the Prami as can Tramadol- both are good for rls- though my preference would be for the opiate (Tramadol)

All the meds for rls will have side effects - it is much a matter of finding what suits you.

Finding a knowledgeable Dr willl be your biggest challenge.

All the best.

[Capricorn66 in reply to Madlegs1]

Hi Madlegs

I watched the ch5 programme thinking it would help those with the problem, well I thought it was a waste of time. It did not show if the people shown were on any medication. I've suffered for years until I had a hip replacement 3 half years ago. I went to a different Doctor in my surgery who sat me done & explained everything. I was put on Amitriptyline for 3 days which did'nt work then started Pamipexole & they have been great. I do get some days when I get twitches but i put that down to my food intake for that day.Keep a food diary of everything you eat & write how you felt the next day. Cheese/chocolate/wine/tomatoes all set my off if I eat them 2 days running of late in the day.I am trying my Prami differently now. I take .088mg 3 - 4 each day, but instead of all together which zonks me out for the evening I spread the dose taking one every hour before bedtime. I do feel better. I also take Gabapentin for ongoing back problem but Dr said not to take them together because they counteract each other out.I also can't absorb iron so no use to me but a friend finds them helpful.

Good Luck for a still life.

[Pramipexoleaddict in reply to Capricorn66]

Hi,

I'm also taking Pramipexole.

I've suffered with RLS since I was a boy of 13 (now 60). Until my doctor put me on this little wonder drug (around 2006) nothing I did would help.

So I've been playing around with the doses for a long time, what works for me, most of the time, is just 2 x 180microgram tablets taken at 5PM. Sometimes it comes on earlier, if it does I immediately take 1 tablet and the take the other at 5 PM.

Sure my sleep pattern is messed up, but I'll put up with anything to avoid the symptoms of RLS. When it gets really bad I also get it in my shoulders.

It's not the same for everyone, I know, but if something works for one person it may work for another!

Hope this helps you.

By the way, I watched the program on Channel 5 and thought it was absolute rubbish! We'd all stab ourself in the legs if we thought it would stop. The only thing I thought about it, is the woman with the unsympathetic husband should kick him out!

[welschrisby in reply to Pramipexoleaddict]

Dear Pramipexoleadict.

I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news but it is now known that Pramipexole, though wonderful at first, will gradually become less effective and whilst you can increase the dose it is also the case that eventually twice the dose is half as effective as the last time you increased it and so on........ And worse still you can't function without it. At this stage in the game the withdrawal symptoms are worse than Heroin or Cocaine. How do I know this? Because I have taken the drug for 20 years and life is becoming intolerable. My advice is get off the stuff whilst you still can.

[Hidden in reply to Madlegs1]

The 0.088 is the same as .125mgs. 0.088 is UK way of how they say the dose, .125mgs is the USA way,, dont ask me why as i have no idea. Definately cannot cut a slow release pill of any type, its has lots of little ingredients in it thats all part of the whole pill. So, if you CAN cut the .25mgs then do so, best to wean down very very slowly.

[Madlegs1 in reply to Hidden]

Thank Elisse - didn't know that!

Capricorn - I'm not sure about not mixing Gaba and Prami- never heard of that one. Does he mean not at the exact same time or not together as a regime?

What dose of Gaba are you on?

[Hoffie]

I gradually went down to 1 tablet, then 1/2 tablet, then 1/4 tablet over a period of 3-4 weeks