Help!

[Annacartwright]

Currently I'm on 88 micrograms of Pramipexole but its not working all the time. Instead of asking the GP to up the dosage, might I be better getting rid of this medicine and trying something different? I'm controlling the PLMD at present with 60mg of codeine phosphate at night.

[Hidden]

Many of us do find opiates help considerably but are a class of drug that require a degree of supervision with.

Not sure of any specifics so that's the best I can offer, as a point of interest how did you come by trying the 60 mg of codeine?

[Annacartwright in reply to Hidden]

I already knew that opiates help, the codeine was prescribed by an out of hours GP a few days ago as I can't get Pramipexole at the moment because of a manufacturing error.

[Hidden in reply to Annacartwright]

Personally speaking I find as with a lot of drugs tolerance builds up quickly so always stick to as low a dose as possible for as long as possible and if possible get a break!

Not in saying that your GP may not be as happy to prescribe them due to people misusing them. At least you have a stepping stone for the conversation, good luck.

[Madlegs1 in reply to Hidden]

I'm presuming the Prami dose is actually 0.088 which would be a starter dose. If that is correct, you could up it by the same amount, and see if that helps. It's ok to go to 0.25 but that would be max for rls- after that you would definitely be thinking of getting of it and trying something new. This may be a perfct opportunity to do so- chat with your doctor.

If I'm wrong about your dose then 88 is a megadose and you are in deep doo dah.

Please come back with clear info.

I know little about codeine except it is extremely addictive ( for me) , and a very effective painkiller.

Good luck.

[Annacartwright in reply to Madlegs1]

No you are correct with Prami dose. I did say micrograms, which is 0.088. I just want to sleep each night without my legs doing the Macarena beforehand! Lol

[Bkc1777 in reply to Madlegs1]

+1

[involuntarydancer]

There is a large amount of anecdotal evidence that it is better not to aim for total coverage as this leads more rapidly to tolerance and a need to increase the dose - ie enduring some breakthrough symptoms should enable you to remain on the lowest dose.

Personally, I would move heaven and earth to remain on the lowest possible dose of pramipexole and supplement it with another drug - if you can persuade your doctor to it. You could try either an anti-seizure drug such as pregabalin or gabapentin (these don't work for everyone), or an opioid for example tramadol.

If I were in your shoes, knowing what I know now, I would be inclined to discontinue pramipexole for a short time (using other drugs instead - in my case, kratom but this is the dark side of RLS care as it is an illegal substance in UK and Ireland) with a view to resetting my tolerance to pramipexole. Of course, when I was on pramipexole, I was completely ignorant of such knotty problems and blythly increased my dose regularly until I had to go through absolute torture to get off it.

[Madlegs1 in reply to involuntarydancer]

Good idea.

[Hidden in reply to involuntarydancer]

Like your style, to me that is the proper approach.

[Jodelights]

Hi Help. I also take Pramipexole. I've been on it for a couple of months now and through trial and error find that for me it works better if I take it 2hours before bedtime. I set my alarm to remind me to take it now! I know a lot of these drugs have a limited usage time as our bodies seem to become immune to them, increasingly frustrating I know!