Ropinerole Side Effects

[MCTM]

My neurologist (who is a specialist in sleep disorders) has prescribed Ropinerole for my PLMS. I’m currently taking pregabalin which doesn’t seem to be working and I am to decrease the dose once I am on the Ropinerole. I’ve been warned about the side effects - the one that concerns me most is the possibility of falling asleep with no warning. Has anybody had any experience of this? How long after starting to take the drug (or increasing the dose) is this likely to happen (if it’s going to)? I can work from home if necessary but it would be helpful to know how long I might need to do this.

[LotteM]

Hi. Difficult to say, because everybody reacts differently. If the prami is not working, it is worth going through the hassles of finding another med that hopefully will work.

That said, ropinirole is a weaker med if the same class ( dopamine agonist, DA) as pramipexole. Which is why you need a larger dose. Smallest is 0,25mg and currently the idea is not to take higher doses than 1 mg. This is because of the risk of augmentation that comes with all DA’s. Read about augmentation e.g. on the rls-uk.org website.

For me, the ropinirole had no effect whatsoever on my sleep - I wished it had! I take other meds that may carry side effects. And when I try a new med or up the dose I take into account that I may react strongly to it. Thus I start in the weekend or on other days off or on days that I work at home. And no need to drive etc. In my experience, if you will have side effects, they usually show up quickly, that is in the first days of use of the new med.

Hope this helps. You may want to switch to another type of med, however. Www.rlshelp.org has lots of info on treatment. An epilepsy med (gabapentin or pregabalin) or an opioid - or a combi of low doses of med from two different classes (DA, epilepsy, opioid). Arm yourself with info and talk to your doc. Good luck. I hope you’ll find something effective soon.

[Steve2777]

Requip will work well at first...... then make symptoms worse.....side effects are even worse....Don’t do it!!

[involuntarydancer]

I would be cautious about embarking on a dopamine agonist if you have managed without one so far. Apart from the side effects they can cause all sorts of problems down the line (though they tend to work very well at the outset).

As to your actual question, I didn’t experience sudden sleep onset until my dose had increased quite a lot but I am typically fairly robustly immune to side effects and of course we are all different (this qualification appears so regularly I think it should henceforth appear ‘waad’). The other side effect which got me eventually and which you should definitely keep an eye out for is impulse control disorder - compulsive gambling, shopping, internet shopping etc. it sounds funny but it’s not. It’s very hard to recognize in yourself and it is a remarkably common side effect of dopamine agonists.

What dose of pregabalin are you on at the moment? Maybe you could increase that dose or add in a different med like a low dose of tramadol.

[Joolsg]

I think it would be better to add an opioid at a low dose to the pregabalin. I am on 125mg of pregabalin and 25 mg of OxyContin a day. Ropinirole worked brilliantly for me for 9 years and then Augmentation crept up on me. I reduced the dose slowly and it seemed to work ok for another few years until Augmentation struck again. Withdrawal from Ropinirole is hellish so be careful.

I never experienced sleepiness or falling asleep suddenly while I was on it.

Definitely try increasing pregabalin up to 300mg first, then add a low dose opioid to see if that works.

I’d rather be on opioids than dopamine agonists.

If you do try Ropinirole, stick with the lowest recommended dose ( 1mg max) and never be tempted to increase beyond that. Augmentation is horrible.

Good luck.

[Tazmania1]

I'm on Ropinerole and it does work for RLS... At first it helped me to sleep but now does not... I have to take Zanax which works well for me. On Ropinerole I experienced some augmentation but not bad yet,. Severe teeth grinding, compulsive internet shopping, no weight problems,and have no trouble with sudden sleep. I am on a low dose and my RLS is better... But I also have severe insomnia.My neurologist recommends Gabapentin ,but I will use that as a last resort because of fear of weight gain.Everything is going to have side effects..hate to sound negative but pick your poison.Also everyone reacts differently to different drugs.

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[macewan13]

Hello MCTM,

I had to stop Ropinirole because of the side effects - suddenly falling asleep, nausea, fainting.

However, it works for some people My cousin was on it for 10 years.

Good luck

[Hopeless100]

Aha, er, I had very strange dreams from Profiterole , totally lifelike, convincing, worrying, in colour (color). weird, changed after realising it was the tablets, to Pramipexole.