Swollen ankles

[Junebrad]

I went to see my doctor a few weeks ago and he put me on to Mirapexin, my ankles have swollen and i can not get my shoes on. Its part of the symptoms but what I would like to know is will this only last a few weeks, will I go back to normal or is it something I will have to put up with. I already take water pills for swollen ankles. Just wondered if there is anything else I could take, any help or suggestions ?

[involuntarydancer]

I haven’t heard of this with mirapexin. Is it mentioned in the accompanying leaflet? I would be inclined to go back to your GP with this.

Also be aware more generally that mirapexin is a tricksy medication. You need to keep your iron levels high while on it (get your GP to do a serum ferritin test and get the actual figure - not just that you are ‘normal’ - for rls it should be over 100 - particularly if taking mirapexin or another dopamine agonist) and NEVER exceed the dose of 0.25mg if you are in US/Canada or 0.165mg if in Europe. You will need to change or supplement meds once it stops being effective and you have reached this dose.

[involuntarydancer]

The other meds generally used to treat rls are pregabalin/gabapentin (which rls experts tend to favour as a starter drug now due to the problems associated with mirapexin and othe dopamine agonists). After that it is opioids.

Raising iron levels is the starting point however and can result in a good outcome for many. Dietary improvements (generally a fairly restrictive diet) can make a big difference for some sufferer anecdotally.

[Parminter]

Yes, peripheral oedema can be caused by your medication. It seems it may not resolve unless you quite the drug.

Going off pramipexole is, in any event, a very good idea. THis is not a happy pharmaceutical overall.

jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaneurology/fullarticle/776444