Pramipexole and Benzodiazepine taper.

Hi, docundy, You're post had a lot of pertinence for me. I also believe many drugs cause or exacerbate rls. The trick is finding out which ones (I suspect more than just one of one;s 'drug arsenal'.) I'm 73,recently diagnosed, and would like to get off my Xanax. I take them for anxiety, have some several years but have not had a problem with overuse. My max prescribed dose is 1 mg/day in divided doses of 0.5mg, although I frequently break my pills in half and take .25 mg. Frequently I only take a totalof 3 .25's/day and don't need the 4th half. But I still want off. Am a retired RN and the older I get the less "Big Pharma' meds I want to take. Have gotten off quite a few drugs in the past 2 years thru changing to a plant-based diet , losing 70 lbs. I no longer take cardiac drugs for a -fib ( chose a pacemaker and AV node ablation last November to help get off Cardizem. Also have refused statins all along (what a battle), off lisinopril, off long and short acting insulins, off asthma meds ( no attacks). All I take now are Lasix, Levothyroxine, and warfarin. am on a mission to get off of this too. Seeing my electrophysiologist in 2 weeks, will discuss and will even consider the Watchman procedure. Labs are within normal range and my docs are happy. But now I want to get off the Xanax tho at times my anxiety runs away with me. Would be interested in your tapering schedule if you feel comfortable sharing. I know it has to be a slow taper and many docs don't get this. I stay very much involved in my treatment and my docs work with me. I monitor my own INR and (being an old O.R nurse have no trouble asserting myself if I want to try something I;ve researched.) Didn't mean to bore you with a long medical history. BTW the eating plan I followed to start losing the weight is from Joel Fuhrman MD who I was on public television. His plan is pretty rigid but I was ready to try anything to feel better and cut the drugs. Two of his books that are 'bibles' to me are: The End of Heart Disease and The End of Diabetes. I do get wordy! Thanks for listening. burmag

[Bajatom]

Congratulations on getting off so many meds by going plant based eating. I think u will find u will soon not need satins. I like Fuhrmans G-BOMBS to remember greens, beans, onions, mushrooms, berries, and seeds/nuts for the classes of foods to build a eating plan on. I've added a large variety of veggies, fruit, and especially complex carbs like potatoes and whole grains which give me more energy. As u taper off Xanax consider CBT -- Cognitive Behavior Therapy and Meditation which greatly helped me with anxiety. There is an interesting discussion on plant based eating between Fuhrman and McDougall at DrMcdougall.com.

[Hidden in reply to Bajatom]

Hi Bajatom, I still follow Dr Fuhrman for the most part. I have, like you, added a few things, but occasionally I go back to his strict guidelines, esp if I find myself slipping and sliding away from healthy food. But it's not that hard because one unhealthy meal in a restaurant reminds me how bad I feel when I eat "SAD" (standard American diet). When I first learned about him he was on Public TV during a fundraiser. So I donated and got his complete package-Books, fridge magnets, DVD's etc. Still have them and still use them. Believe it or not, I have a wonderful cardiologist who follows Dr Fuhrman's eating guidelines and actually worked with me on starting his diet as an alternative to going on statins. Very rare for a doctor to happily let you try food instead of a drug. If this doc ever moves, I'd be tempted to follow him. I had my gallbladder out in Feb and my surgeon is also a plant-based believer and actually did something that really endeared him to me. Post op-instead of loading me with antibiotics"just in case", he said to start taking vitamin C and stay on them. I LOVED that. I always look for doctors that think outside the box. Anyway, thanks for the info re CogBehTh and especially meditation. I'm just learning about it. It's hard to do. Buteverything I've read says it's the road away from anxiety AND all our little daily aggravations. Will go to Dr. McDougall's website when I sign off here. More and more information is turning up that support Dr Fuhrman's ideas about food, especially about leaky gut probs and food's connection to Alzheimer's. Good to talk to a kindred 'food'spirit. I too make sure to eat G-BOMBS daily. I make a huge pot (12 quart) of soup containing all the G-Bomb foods every so often, and freeze in 2 cup containers so there's always something healthy ready. Recently, lab work showed a low ferritin level which may contribute to restless legs and to help raise it I decided that I would eat liver rather than take iron pills. I really don't like liver but bought organic chicken livers at a healthy store (Whole Foods), froze them in 3 oz portions, and eat 3 oz/week, If I can get my ferritin up this way I'll stop for a while, but that is the best compromise I could figure out. Ireally don't want to take iron supplements. Too many side effects. Anyway,off to Dr McDougall and Joel.

[terrilynn35 in reply to Hidden]

burmag I'm also a nurse and feel very much the same as you. I am almost 60 and take no prescription meds. I'm with Hippocrates "letting food be your medicine and your medicine your food". With that being said I do take one 27 mg Iron Bisglycinate at bedtime for low ferritin. I could not believe the difference it made in my rls. I don't think I would have been able to wean off the ropinirole without the iron supplement. I could not get enough iron in my diet especially since I don't like liver and other foods high in iron. Iron Bisglycinate does not have the GI side effects like constipation or nausea so I am able to take it without any problems.

[Bajatom in reply to Hidden]

So great you found doctors who go along with plant-based eating. I had a great one until he left Kaiser HMO. Just found another. The first one had me add a tablespoon of molasses a day to increase iron. I don't like supplements but I think terrilynn35's suggestion about iron bisglyscinate is safer than liver. It is easy on the stomach and does not constipate. Medicine is slowly changing back to reversing and preventing disease rather than treating symptoms.