Neupro and methadone

[Jrskyhook32]

Oddly enough I am down to 2 mg of neupro and am taking 5mg of methadone. Got 7 hours sleep last night. Anyone else experience this? Can they be taken together long term?

[Parminter]

I would think they can. 5mg methadone is a low dose and certainly fits well within the 'low-dose opioid treatment' advocated by the best specialists.

Sadly, methadone does not help me sleep, but it does keep misery away on a bad night. I always have it to hand, now, as I know it will work, and work well.

[Jrskyhook32 in reply to Parminter]

Thank you for the reply. Something I don’t understand though, you said it works and works well but it doesn’t help you sleep. How does it help then? By taking the worst symptoms away or ... I really don’t know how much it’s helping me. I’m trying to reduce neupro until I’m totally off it. But right now it seems that the only thing that dictates whether I sleep well or not is how much neupro I have on. At 2 MGS I’m averaging 2/3 hours sleep. When I leave on the previous days dose I get 7-8 hours sleep. Methadone dosage has remained at 5mg for two months now. This disease is such an enigma. Thank God for people like yourself who offer their advice and share their experiences.

[Parminter in reply to Jrskyhook32]

When I have a bad breakthrough in the middle of the night, when I'm crawling up the walls, and nothing else helps, methadone does. It stops the awful feelings within twenty minutes. That does not mean I sleep, for that is a different issue - the insomnia and the akathisia are different chapters of the same story - but I can lie quietly and peacefully with limbs completely at ease.

[Pippins2]

Is your aim to get off Neupro all together? You may find by reducing the Neupro down to 1mg whilst using the Methodist that you don't need the Neupro

[Jrskyhook32 in reply to Pippins2]

My aim is to find anything that works. But my doctor does want me off the neupro. I just notice that whether I have a good night or bad night is totally dependent on how much neupro I have

[Eryl]

One of the side effects of methadone is loss of appetite. It may be that a change in your diet is the cause of the reduction in rls.