GABAPENTIN.

[chris_elly30]

Came off Ropinerole and started Gabapentin 300mg per day starting with 100mg per night. I only took for 3 nights as I had horrible jerky legs all night long. Is this something others have experienced. Going mad. I am new to the group.

[LotteM]

Chris, that may well be withdrawal from the ropinirole. What amount did you take and for how long? And did you wean down or stop at once? If it is withdrawal, you cannot assess the effectiveness of gabapentin until withdrawal has subsided, which may take a while.

For me, gabapentin didn’t do anything noticeable, although I still take 100mg each evening together with oxycodon/naloxon (Targinact) or with ropinirole. I alternate between the two with the aim to forestall tolerance and/or augmentation.

If it is withdrawal in your case, you either have to put up with the increased symptoms for a while. Or people often get prescribed tramadol or oxycodon - low doses and mainly evening /night. See for info: sleepreviewmag.com/2015/02/... and: mayoclinicproceedings.org/a...

Let us know how you get on.

[chris_elly30 in reply to LotteM]

Thanks for responding. Took ropinerole for about 6years, starting on 1 tab then 2. Recently had chemo which seemed to stop ropinerole effectiveness, took 3 for a week to see if it helped - it didn't. Dr put me on GABAPENTIN, I was advised to stop ropinerole over a week then introduce GABAPENTIN slowly 100mg at first until 300mg a day. When I did so I had such bad jerky legs I thought it was the new tabs. I stopped taking anything 4 days ago and its a bit better. Should I try GABAPENTIN again do you think?

[Jumpey]

It did nothing for my leg symptoms and gave me a hangover. Welcome.X

[Goldy700]

The only drug I have been on has been Gabapentin 200mg at night. I didn't want to go to higher doses as I felt the dose I was on was making me quite chilled and sleepy. I definitely won't go on dopamine agonists as it seems like enjoy now and pay later. So even though it did not stop my RLS at that dose - it did make me sleep well. I would however still need my hot bath to calm the legs when I woke up in the middle of the night. I don't know it it was coincidence but I was getting raging hunger - something I usually don't get. This was enough to make me go off it as I don't want to put on weight. I am managing taking some gaba, L theanine and hot baths and am coping OK.

[photobot]

Photobot

[wantmysleep]

I have rls since I was small and gradually becoming very bad. I was on very low dosage of ropinerole before but decided to change to gabapentin 15 months ago after reading about augmentation. I take 300mg gabapentin around 8pm. I didn’t get much relief initially but I didn’t want to take anything else. After about 15 months, my rls has gradually improved and I can get some sleep from 4-5am for a few hours most nights. Still miserable but much better than before and I will keep it this way for now.

[Joolsg]

Sounds exactly like withdrawal from the Ropinirole. It will last 10-14 days after last dose as your body is screaming out for its dopamine hit.

It isn’t the Gabapentin.

You’ll probably need an alternative medication for RLS and Gabapentin seems to work for a lot of us but it takes 3 weeks to become effective and you have to slowly increase dose to 900mg.

Stick with Gabapentin but also ask doctors for a strong painkiller like tramadol to get you through this withdrawal from Ropinirole.

Read all the posts on Augmentation and you’ll see many have gone through the same thing.

[davidadill]

Chris,. Gabapentin takes several hours to become effective. You need to talke the first pill 4-6 hours before bedtime and a second 100mg pill 30 minutes before bed. For me, that strategy plus 24mg of codeine has been working perfectly all but 2 nights out of the last 3 months.

[JakeRLS]

I've taken it for over a year, and it didn't seem to be of much help. In fact there seemed to be several occasions when the onset of symptoms coincided with the period after taking the first of 3 pills. So, as a test I totally stopped taking Gaba. My symptoms improved. It's been a couple weeks now, and things are still better.

[Conifer]

I have come off it as not working now trying Oxynorm

[Milefulano]

Try your best to get on methadone 5mg and trazodone 50 mg. It will save your life.

[rls_optimist in reply to Milefulano]

Milefulano, I agree with Lotte. It's fine to say "this combination works great for me", but not so great to repeatedly promote it as the best solution for everyone. In addition, didn't you write recently that you have had iron infusion(s)? If so, don't you think that might be a factor in how well controlled your RLS symptoms are these days? And if so, could you be persuaded to include that fact when you write about how well your methadone/trazadnone regimen is working for you? In any event, I also am glad this is working for you.

[LotteM]

Milefulano, remember what works for you does not necessarily work for others. Also, methadone doesn't get easily prescribed by doctors here in the EU (or are you in the EU as well?). And whereas Trazodone is a generally thought to be a 'safe' antidepressant for people with RLS, there are a few people on this forum that have reported that it actually worsened their RLS. If I remember correctly, Trazodone works a bit dopamine-like, and may thus not be a good option for people who have augmented on a dopemine agonist like ropinirole, pramipexole or Neupro.

I am happy, though, that this combination works for you!

[Milefulano]

Got it. Its only because I've been down almost EVERY path that I am so confident.

[chilworth]

I have been weaned nearly totally off Ropinerole which I had been taking for about 10 years. I halved my dose initially and slowly introduced Neupro patches with Gabapentin at night. I now only take two Ropinerole tablets and hope to drop these altogether. I now only get bad nights once in a blue moon - and I am beginning to think that too much chocolate on any one day is the culprit. Apart from this, the above regime works for me and I have moderate to severe RLS

[Svengolly]

I’ve taken 300 or more every 2 hours and had no side effects ..except helps me sleep.