rls & the neupro patch

[debchau]

has anyone tried the neupro patch? I've recently seen a movement neurologist who is prescribing this patch for my rls so I am curious if anyone else has tried it and what the results were.

Thanks

Deb

[Hidden]

Many on here including myself use it and get good relief. Like any other DA please make yourself very familiar with the side-effects and also get someone you trust to be aware so if there are any behavioural changes that they can be noticed and acted on as soon as possible.

[debchau in reply to Hidden]

luckily I have someone who will watch out for me and thank you for the advice.

[Hidden]

Hi. I started out on 1mg Neupro and am now up to 4mg. Although it is a muscle relaxant that is very good at providing relief, heed Raff's advice and read up on the side effects of dopamine agonists. Neupro is the DA with the least likelihood of Augmentation, but (one of the many things I learned on this site is) the higher the dose the higher the likelihood of augmenting.

My experience is that it is a good drug, but be weary of ignorance and wanting to increase the dose. I asked my neurologist for a higher and higher dose due to ineffectiveness. As I understand it, this is the definition of Augmentation. Instead of saying no to the 4mg, he agreed to it. Now I am paying for it because I am augmenting. This dose isn't as effective for me anymore. The only thing I am to blame for here is being ignorant about this. But at the same time I am not to blame because I'm not the doctor. I'm just someone with RLS who wants to get better.

Anyway...that's probably more than you wanted to know.

Just stay on a low dose and be weary of ineffectiveness.

[Pippins2 in reply to Hidden]

Jess just to point out FYI that Neupro patch isn't a muscle relaxant. RLS doesn't have anything to do with muscles it is Neurological x

[Hidden in reply to Pippins2]

Oh, ok. I thought it was (a muscle relaxant). Sorry.

[Pippins2 in reply to Hidden]

Nothing to be sorry about just don't want any members to get incorrect information x

[debchau in reply to Hidden]

so are you suggesting that I continue with ropinirole (low dose) and the patch so the patch effectiveness is better?

[nightdancer]

Pramipexole, Ropinerole, and the Neupro patch are all dopamine meds. They are used to increase the dopamine in your brain. They are also Parkinson's meds, their original intention. 4 mgs in the patch is as high as you EVER want to go. RLS doses are much less than Parkinson's doses, and augmentation, which I am sure you are familiar with will most likely happen when on a dose that is too high. If you are doing well on 4 mgs, great, BUT hyou have no room to go up. 3 mgs is the recommended therapeutic dose to avoid augmentation, keeping in mind we are all different in many ways. RLS has nothing to do with muscles, as Pippin said, it is neurological and has to do with the dopamine in our brains, whether it, the dopamine, can cross the brain blood barrier. Flooding in high doses will only do the opposite of what we want eventually. So, I hope the 4 mg patch keeps working for you, Jess. to Deb, the original poster. Always start on the lowest dose, and it would be 1 mg on the neupro patch. Trying new meds is always trial and error. Dopamine meds do not help me one bit, the dopamine never makes it to my brain. And, they all made me sick as heck. So, good luck to Deb. It works well for many, and for many it does not. So, all you can do is try it and see. have you taken any pill form dopamine meds in the past?

[debchau in reply to nightdancer]

Hi Nightdancer (nice pun) I have tried all the pills and more like valium which made me a zombie, thank god I have someone in the house in case something happens. I am aware it's a neurological problem and mine is hereditary as well. My daughter takes gabapentin for hers and it works well for her but I can't take any of the other meds other than ropinirole because they all made me dizzy, feel drunk, can't drive, or zombie like. But ropinirole doesn't work for me if my legs are already jumping, I have to wait until they stop then take it and sometimes it comes back too. I see some people are actually taking the pills and the patch at the same time. My new doctor said to stop my ropinirole when I get the patch so I'm hopeful this works. I've had rls for over 30 years and pregnancy set it off and it is generally getting worse as I get older. Originally I was told by my obstetrician that rls was an old person disease and I told him I have it, he didn't believe me so I lived with no meds for over 25 years until I got a new primary doctor who sent me to a neurologist 3 years ago and I was officially diagnosed. I'm worried when I get too old to walk much that I will go insane because I won't be able to "walk it off". So thank you for your advice and I will get back to everyone once I do get the patch we are waiting for my health insurance to approve it, so I'm on a waiting game show right now. I'm praying this will work and I get back to somewhat of a normal sleep pattern and maybe enjoy life again.

[Hidden]

Please dont think of taking the Ropinerole AND use the patch, it should be one or the other. Taking both would mean you would be flooding your brain with dopamine and that leads to augmentation.

[debchau in reply to Hidden]

ok thank you, but what do I do when and if I need a higher dose on the patch? I don't want augmentation.

[Hidden in reply to debchau]

Then you would have to come off the patch and try a different med The highest dose for the patch is 3mgs.