Clonidine to counteract alertness from Opioid

[Walras]

Hi - After taking mirapex for 10 years and then augmenting, withdrawal etc, (many of you know the awful drill,) I was prescribed low dose oxycodone which resolves the RLS symptoms completely, but seems to cause inability to sleep or alerting. I have now been prescribed clonidine to help with the restlessness. I have told my Internist that I think it is the oxy that is causing the inability to sleep, but he insists it is due to anxiety. I also believe the anxiety is caused by the oxy. (What do I know??) My neurologist suggested I take xanax to help sleep, but that is a concern for me . It also made me feel very drugged. Has anyone else tried clonidine and if so, has it helped? Thank you!

[Hoffie]

I take 5mg Oxycodone and .5mg Clonazepam (which I think is the same as clonidine) two times per evening. I start my first dose around 7-8PM, then I usually wake up around 1AM with my legs thrashing around so I take a second dose and I can sleep until maybe 5-6am. I am getting about 5-6 hours sleep per night which is better than nothing. If I don't take these meds, I only sleep 1-2 hours per night and cannot function.

[Hidden]

Hi Walras - Yes - I take Clonidine HCL 0.1 mg every night and it does a really good job of taking care of the RLS.

[Walras in reply to Hidden]

Do you take clonidine alone? Or in combination with something else? Thank you.

[Hidden]

Hi Walras - Yes - I take Clonidine HCL 0.1 mg every night and it does a really good job of taking care of the RLS.

[Walras in reply to Hidden]

Hi. Is that all that you take? Or is it combined with something else? Thank you for your reply.

[Hidden in reply to Walras]

HGi Walras - It depends on the night. I generally take a Lunesta (does nothing for RLS), a Bromelain or two (helps some with RLS), the Clonidine, a Tramadol or two depending on pain levels, and alternating nights I might take L-Tryptophan (10 Mg), or Melatonin (10 mg), or Calcium, Magnesium and Zinc (three caplets). It sounds like a lot, but I have loads more things going on than RLS..

[Walras in reply to Hidden]

Thanks for the reply. I'm sorry you have so much more going on. RLS is enough! Take care.

[Walras]

Do you still take oxycodone then? Do you take anything for the depression? Have you tried different opioids? Sorry for all of the questions. The depression is challenging and my doctor insists it is not due to the opioid. Thank you for your response.

[Hidden]

Thanks - annoying, but it happens to a lot of us =) Have a great day!

[rls_optimist]

Hi, Walras, you are not imagining things. Oxycodone usually helps people sleep (or is at least neutral), but it keeps some of us awake, including myself. I am now taking methadone instead, which is as effective as oxy, but has far fewer side effects, including that it does not keep me awake. It is longer acting, so gets me through the night better, and it has less of a high and much less likelyhood of addiction, all of which is why it is often used for treating drug addicts. However, it's not easy to get a prescription, because of that association, I guess. I've heard it's harder to get in the UK? I live across the pond where the RLS experts strongly favor it for RLS treatment, so I was able to get a prescription. Here's a link to a Mayo Clinic publication by many of the experts on the appropriate use of opioids for RLS, published in 2018. You may find it helpful, and you could print it out for your doctor.

mayoclinicproceedings.org/a...

Good luck!

[Walras in reply to rls_optimist]

Thank you very much for your reply. Did you find that methadone has less of a hangover effect and does not cause depression? I read the article a few months ago. Hard to know if the depression is caused by the meds or just by RLS alone. I did try methadone for one night and had trouble breathing. It was 1/2 of the lowest dose. I tend to be very sensitive to medications.

[rls_optimist in reply to Walras]

Yes, methadone definitely had less of a hangover effect for me, and caused no depression. Sorry to hear you had trouble breathing on it. What was the actual dose you took?

[LotteM]

I initially had kindof ‘hangover’

[LotteM in reply to LotteM]

...sorry. Hit send accidently.

I initially had ‘hangover’ feelings during the day when I started with oxycodon (5mg). Upon advise from Madlegs I asked to be changed over to oxycodon slow release. You have to take the SR version a bit earlier, as it takes longer to take effect. But it works as well for me and no ‘hangover’ any more. So it may be worth checking which version of oxycodon you take. Targinact contains the SR version of oxycodon together with some Nalexone to help against onstipation. Incidentally, I sleep quite well on the oxy SR, but I didn’t on tramadol.

[Walras in reply to LotteM]

What dose of oxycontin are you taking? Thanks for your reply.

[LotteM in reply to Walras]

7,5mg now. That is one and a half pill. Officially it is not ‘allowed’ to break the pill, but I tried, it worked and the amount suffices. The 5mg ceased to be suffiently effective after about 4 months.

[Walras]

Hi - I only took 1/2 of the lowest dose for a few days and it helped me to sleep, but made me feel worse the next day. I am very sensitive to meds. My doctor also said that it can help with RLS as well. It might be something I should try by itself and not in conjunction with the oxycodone. I hope it works for you!!