Weaning off Pramipexrole

[Tennwalker1]

Hi, I have taken on/off Pramipexrole 0.25 2x a night since 2001. That's 14 pills a week, the dr wants me to omit I pill a week. The withdrawal is terrible. The drug no longer works as it did in the beginning, but it triggers the onset of my rls. My gp put me on 225mg of Lyrica. Which helps. But I have some nights that bring back a lot of old memories. These were instructions I received from the neurologist at the Mayo Clinic. She was so helpful and new exactly what I was going through with the augmentation. Praise God someone who understands.

So far I have omitted 5 pills. The headaches are bad, but the rls is worse. I thank God for my husband who is tireless and willing to rub my legs some nights, when I can stay in bed, until I fall asleep. It's slow going but I will make it. If possible, dont take Pramipexrole/Mirapex. The weaning off is terrible.

[Hidden]

Would your GP prescribe a pain med like tramadol or codeine for you, taking a opiate when weaning off a dopamine med can help with the withdrawals, its what alot of members take when they go through the weaning process Unfortunately when the doses keep getting increased and you end up on a high dose, then the weaning process can be brutal.

[Tennwalker1 in reply to Hidden]

Ellisse2 Thanks so much for your help. Appreciate it.

[involuntarydancer]

Well done for reducing your dose. It is very hard. It affects everyone the same way - very exaggerated symptoms. Only an opioid will really help and lyrica is unlikely to make a big impact at this stage though it could work well if you actually eliminate pramipexole.

If your husband rubbing the legs helps, I wonder would some medical grade compression stockings help? Also applying magnesium as a rub to the legs can be helpful. Some gentle yoga stretches can also afford some relief.

[Tennwalker1 in reply to involuntarydancer]

Thanks involuntarydancer. I appreciate your feed back.

I stretch every night and do ankle pumps. I have calves like a

linebacker. Lol. Those help for a short period, but even that's a blessing when you're hurting. Same way when hubs rub my legs, works for awhile then I have to walk and walk and walk. You know.

I have some oxycodone that i took when i would have episodes with my arms (and legs) during the day. Faster acting then Mirapex. It does the job for me. I told the doc at the Mayo Clinic about the oxy she was not a fan of it. She suggested Tramadol or codeine if I needed something stronger. I don't know anything about them.

You are so right about the rls being exaggerated. This is like when I first started going to the doc for rls.

Thanks again

[involuntarydancer in reply to Tennwalker1]

I so relate to the calf strength! I became super flexible when I was withdrawing from Pramipexole and was getting no sleep. My doc refused opioids so the only relief I had was while doing my yoga routine and in consequence I did them often.

Although very effective against rls for most, Oxycodone is quick to become addicted to and very unpleasant to discontinue so your doc may have a point. A lot more people on here seem to be on tramadol and I notice that some at least seem to be able to discontinue tramadol without undue difficulty. I had about 6 weeks of very unpleasant withdrawals when coming off oxycodone. I understand that codeine can also be very addictive - I'm not sure what the withdrawals are like though.

I know you are going through hell at the moment and really hope you end up in the place you want to be. Are you planning to completely eliminate pramipexole or just reduce?

[Tennwalker1 in reply to involuntarydancer]

Completely get off Mirapex. I will check into tramadol. Thanks again.

[byrnzy4 in reply to Tennwalker1]

I am down to .25 mg of mirapex, and plan to eliminate it completely. My doctor has recently (1 week) given a time release morphine 15 - which lasts for 12 hours, and is working for me to sleep. I am not going to increase the morphine if it stops working, will move on to another medicine if that happens. I have not found trammadol helpful - was taking 50, then 100, then 150 mgs. - these did not work. I have terrible RLS.