To the Methadone user

[Bganim1947]

I couldn't find your previous post. I wanted to pass on a response I got from my GP in the States. I happened to mention that your Doc prescribed methadone for your RLS since there was no chance of augmentation. She said she hopes you are being closely monitored, because it can slow breathing so much as to bring on cardiac arrest even at low doses.

[nightdancer]

Any pain med, opiate, etc and other classes of meds CAN or MIGHT cause respiratory distress. If one has conditions like asthma, sleep apnea, or COPD, for example, then it would not be a great idea, but close monitoring is always a good idea. many of the RLS experts and researchers and active doctors who treat RLS only do use methadone these days, so it is becoming more main stream to use for RLS. I know people at the pain clinic I go to can use just 5 mgs a day and their pain is controlled, and it works well for situations like dopamine withdrawal to make that easier. Dr. B at the web site rlshelp.org also addresses this, as well as the UK RLS Foundation and the US RLS Foundation web sites.