dopamine???

[gvine59]

hi, my name is greg, I've been suffering with rls for 10yrs now I'm currently taking 4mg a day of mirapex and it's getting worse, my neurologist wants to put me on dopamine, to see if that helps, but I'm concerned about the withdrawal from mirapex???

[Hidden]

You need to come off the dopmine agonist, you are on too high a dose and with things getting worse you are very likely experiencing augmentation:

sleepreviewmag.com/2015/02/...

You are right to be concerned but a slow proper withdrawal while changing you over to the likes of an opiate should be fine. There are many here who have come off successfully. I wasn't aware of the harms of withdrawal and stopped dead. I went through a bad time but was augmenting anyway so hard to tell if it got much worse, (plus have crap memory), but I've survived and things have gotten better. You could check out Nick the Turks thread on his journey off the DA.

If your Dr is like the majority they'll not know/understand augmentation/DA withdrawal and you may need to bring them info.

Good luck and welcome.

[gvine59 in reply to Hidden]

thank you for the advice

[Madlegs1 in reply to gvine59]

Is it the same Neurologist who has got you up to 4mg of Mirapex? In which case I would run a mile from him and look for someone who knows just the tinchiest bit about rls.

I don't know what dopamine does as a chemical - someone else will comment on that.

But as raffs says - get of the Mirapex very slowly- 0.088 step down every 3 to 5 days depending how you get on.

Good luck - you'll need every bit of it. But it is doable.

Cheers.

[gvine59 in reply to Madlegs1]

thank you very much

[Madlegs1 in reply to gvine59]

Ok- I've checked out Dopamine for rls- and there doesn't seem to be such a drug. It's all about dopamine agonists - and that's what you've been on and is what is causing your problems.

Dopamine is the chemical you get when you are involved in pleasurable activities- I'll leave it to raffs to explain that in more detail-- he does tend to go on a bit about his manly prowess.!😬

It seems to me that you need to run even further from this medical advice- it is quite unbelievable in this day and age.

Gabapentin or Pregabalin are the options for you at this stage. You could go back to newer DAs later- such as the Neupro patch- but , for the moment , better to stay well away from the DAs.

I could be very wrong and find your Dr has a supply of Dopamine drug that will solve your problem- come back to us with the name of what he proposes and we can comment better.

Cheers.

[Hidden]

After reading your post, i thought.. you are already taking a dopamine med which has been said is way too higher a dose. Are you sure your neuro said he wants to out you on Dopamine, it he did then i am confused and i would find one that knows what he is talking about.

[gvine59 in reply to Hidden]

I know I'm not too sure she is aware of daws and how to treat it

[involuntarydancer]

4mg per day of mirapex is a VERY high dose. I would not be happy to remain on that dose at all. The likelihood of complusive behaviour (internet shopping, gambling etc) developing at that dose is very high.

Withdrawing from mirapex can be tricky. You should come off it slowly and if you can find a doctor to prescribe an opiate for the period while you get it out of your system so much the better though many on here have managed without doing that - though with considerable albeit temporary hardship. I would resist any attempt to transfer you onto another dopamine agonist at this stage. You need different medication for now.

Definitely get your serum ferritin levels checked before you start to come off mirapexin - a simple blood test your GP surgery should be able to carry out. You need the actual figure (very often the surgery will tell you the levels are 'normal' - this is no use to you - 'normal' for RLS sufferers is very different from the general public). You should aim to get them over 100. Higher serum ferritin may also help with withdrawal from mirapexin.

I wish you success with your journey and keep us posted with how you get on.

[gvine59 in reply to involuntarydancer]

thank you very much, now my neurologist is taking me off mirapex and switching it with sinemet 25/100, she did say anything about gradually weaning off mirapex first, waiting for her to call me back about this.

[Retren]

Greg 24July I,m surprised you aren't,t as big as a house weight wise and indulging in compulsive behavior at the least on mirapex.Hopefully you can start to taper it down very gradually with some help.Best wishes.

[Retren]

Addendum to Greg mirapex must be a boon to internet shopping sites .

[Paul38]

Hi mate just to tell you I was on mirapex for a while but the my legs started up again the pill is a dopamine agonist which is better for my rls it's called ropinarol which I find much better and you don't really get withdrawal from it but everybody's different just giving my opinion mate

[gvine59 in reply to Paul38]

I appreciate it, but unfortunately I've tried all the approved drugs for rls and plmd including gabapentin, my neurologist put me on a PD drug called sinemet, I started weaning off the mirapex 4 more days to go, not too bad

[Hidden in reply to Paul38]

Paul38, the mirapex is a dopamine agonist aswell as the ropinerole so you have just swapped one dopamine med for another. You wont get withdrawals as you are still taking dopamine. If you were having worse symptoms with the mirapex then be aware you will probably have the same with the ropinerole at some time down the line. Its called Augmentation.

[Hidden]

I am sorry to tell you but Sinemet is known to cause augmentation quicker than the other dopamine meds.

[Hidden]

This is from Dr. Buchfurer's website a RLS specialist. Due to the problems of augmentation which may occur in 50-80% of patients, Sinemet is likely better for mild intermittent cases of RLS, in which the dose of medication can be kept low enough or on an intermittent basis to avoid these side effects. Another use might be in cases where the other medications do not last through the night, a dose of Sinemet CR added to the other Parkinson's disease drugs at bedtime (and only at that time) may provide all night relief from RLS. Now that there are other better Parkinson's disease drugs available, Sinemet should not be used for RLS (except by RLS specialists who are very well versed with the problems with this drug).