About a year ago soon after I delivered my twins, I suddenly had no RLS. Just stopped. I was able to go off requip completely .
Suddenly last month its come back. I have no rhyme or reason for either happenings. I'm just bummed that it's back and so is my requip.
I used Requip for several years until my system got used to it - then changed to Pramipexole (Meripex). Requip worked fine. I started out with .5mg 4X/day but had to work up to 1mg 4X/day. That's when I changed to Pramipexole. Take .75mg 4X/day. Might have to increase that at some point, but can always go back to Requip. Couldn't function without it. Suffered for 10+ years until "I" figured out what the problem was. Finally have been symptom free for at least 15 years.
Happy for your. Only - can you tell us what exactly you figured was the problem? Thank you!
Honestly I've never found a doctor that can explain it. The symptoms are similar to those who have Parkinson's Disease - and the treatment is basically the same, just in much lower doses. Parkinson's is primarily caused by low and failing dopamine levels. Dopamine generating cells start to die and experts do not know why these cells die, which is very discouraging. I started with symptoms when I was 29 (after a miscarriage) and went for 45 years without any help. Help came from the strangest place. I was sitting on the beach telling a friend about my symptoms and a man stopped and told me about RLS. Even after that it took years for me to convince my doctor to give me the Requip. One pill and the symptoms were gone. Since that time (I'm 78 now), I've taken either Requip or Meripex daily and wouldn't give them up for anything.
Amazing! What turned out to be the problem causing RLS?
You were on Requip for 15 years? That’s great!
You’re on way too high a dose of pramipexole- 0.75mg in total is the new recommended maximum dose.
Please be careful about Augmentation- you’ve been on all the dopamine agonists and switched to others when they stopped working and you’ve increased dose of pramipexole.
Read all you can about Augmentation so you can be aware if it starts happening to you.
When i gave birth my rls was gone for 3 months.I was so happy to be symptom free but unfortunately it came back...just a 3 months break.
Oh man. So maybe that’s just a post partum gift . I was so excited it might stick. I was without RLS for about 10 months. Glorious. Now back full fledge. Boo
It's very odd isn't it! I got idiopathic RLS and peripheral neuropathy and Raynauds Syndrome a couple of years ago aged 67! I wonder if it would go away if I became pregnant? Best wishes, Martin
Only temporarily. Though during my pregnancy I had RLS. It wasn’t until after the twins were born that it went away for about 10 months!
It's the strangest thing, isn't it? Although it started with me at around 18, it was liveable with and intermittent, and only in my upper arms. I was able to 'crush' it by lying heavily on the affected arm. It really kicked off when i was pregnant and never went away again. I had no idea what this dreadful, misery-making disorder was until around 20 years ago when I was about 47 and read about it in a magazine. it was a lightbulb moment.
My daughter has intermittent RLS but fortunately she's a good sleeper (I'm not) and it doesn't rage through all her limbs as mine does. I was afraid for her when she became pregnant but luckily it got no worse and her life is not hugely spoiled by it, I'm relieved to say.
I read somewhere that RLS commonly starts with pregnancy but usually goes away again post-partum.
By the way 😃😉😃
Hi Martin, if you are male it might not help but could make you a lot of money lol. Seriously as I read your post I wondered if you had any checks on your spine? x-ray or anything? I am not a doctor so might be way off the mark. Just a thought, though
Neil
The only explanation I had for my RLS disappearing after childbirth was (and I guess you kind of have to to be a believer it to even take this into consideration), was because RLS was exacerbated by pregnancy (at least twice the severity), God said you have suffered enough. I will now set you free ... for whatever time frame I guess it's up to him. For me it was between pregnancies - 6 blissful years.
And then I fell again and RLS returned with avengeance. Disappeared after birth and while feeding for 18 months and then returned when he was weaned and have not been pregnant since.
In other words in reply to your post .... I have absolutely no idea!
I have found out over the years that I'm the only one that can diagnose and find medication for RLS. When I found out about Requip, I had to practically beg my doctor to let me try it. She knew nothing about RLS and couldn't find anyone else that did. Now she tells me that anytime another one of her patients has the same symptoms, she reviews my file and is able to help them. I went through the same thing when my system got used to the Requip and I wanted to change to Merapex, Same fight, but she finally gave in. I've done a lot of research over the years and gave my doctor the results. I think I was her trial case and I had to really be a pain in the neck before she would help me with medication. She had me going to sleep clinics, etc. Anyway, I wore her down. Now she listens to me. Recently the .25mg pills were wearing off and I told her I needed something stronger. She just filled out the prescription for .75 mg and gave it to me. You sound like you're hesitant about taking medication. I've taken some sort of medication for over 20 years and haven't had any side affects. Actually, I have. Some people say you can pick up addictions (gambling, sex???, over eating, etc.) Unfortunately I picked up the overeating one and have put weight on, but it's worth it.
I would suggest you read about augmentation if you're taking requip or mirapex.
Both drugs lose effectiveness over time & symptoms increase and happen earlier in the day and move to other parts of the body.
Dose shouldn't be increased as that's when augmentation is more likely to happen.
I hope you don't experience it, but be careful and be wary of increasing the dose.
A lot of women suffer RLS during pregnancy and for some it disappears. Others are not so lucky.
It's down to your genes and body chemistry although diet and meds can make it worse.
Good luck
Hi bumpsgirl,
If you would like to learn about Augmentation this is considered to be a excellent link: rls-uk.org/news/augmentation
I have been reading a bit about addictions and Ropinerol. A few months ago I started eating in the middle of the night, never done it before, and there's a couple of other things I now do which I have never done before. I have to get off this stuff.
What are withdrawal symptoms from requip?
Melatonin
Help in Oklahoma
Ferritin level 
Time for a change 
