I have been taking Targinact (10mg oxycodone/5mg naloxone) for four nights. I believe it is having some positive impact on calming my leg movements and is certainly helping with pain. However, instead of making me drowsy it makes me very alert, it takes hours to get to sleep and when I do I have vivid and unpleasant dreams.
The consultant told me to take it at bedtime but because of the wakefulness on the first night I have taken it earlier each night. So last night I took it 5pm and at about 11pm was able to fall asleep although I woke frequently and by the early hours leg pain was back.
I may be getting more sleep than usual but it is not refreshing as I seem to spend all the time I am asleep having unpleasant dreams which stay with me when I awake, and I feel very tearful in the morning as a result.
It is really hard to find information about opiate side effects on the internet because it assumes everyone searching is an addict. I have a GP appointment later but am not sure they will be able to help much.
What I really would like to know is whether such effects will subside? I am not sure I can take another night of it unless I know it will get better.
The consultant didn't know about Targinact and I guess she may have mis-prescribed by telling me to take 10mg at night rather than in divided doses during the day.
Thanks Madlegs, as always very grateful for the amount of knowledge and experience you share with us.
I have spoken to my GP and upshot is he thinks dose should be split but he can't because consultant hasn't done paperwork to allow him to prescribe it. So we agreed I should come off it for now as it's making me really distressed (I have anxiety and depression too which is not being treated). But he can't give me an alternative or an add on. It has all become a bit of a farce, which is far from unusual for rls sufferers...
This was a major problem for me when I was taking oxycontin. My GP and pharmacist had never heard of opioid induced alerting - more frequently the problem is with drowsiness according to them. My understanding now is that alerting due to opioids tends to be specific to rls sufferers (wouldn't you know) - something to do with the gaba/glutamate system and I have since encountered many people (rls sufferers) who have experienced it. It never settled down with me and was one of the reasons I discontinued opioids - I would lie awake all night - mellow and with the legs under control but the following day was a write off - night after night. I used cannabis taken as an edible to counteract it and that worked sometimes. I also had a prescription for zopitan which is a good sleep inducer but you do need to have the legs under control if you take it. I hope you find something that works for you soon, Tattiana. You are having a hard time at the moment.
Thank you ID, sometimes I feel I am going mad with my reactions to meds and I am so glad I have this forum to turn to as you can guarantee someone else has had the same experience. So then I know I am not going mad after all, however much my doctor infers I am making it all up!
Pregabalin was the first med I tried and it made me very unwell physically and emotionally so wouldn't want to try that again. As I've been on several meds in quick succession over the past few months (all of which have had side effects but no therapeutic effect) I am currently thinking it will probably be good for me to take nothing for a while and give my body and brain a chance to recover. It would be a beautiful irony if I then found my PLMS improved!
Tattiana, I have tried Targin which I think was 5mg . I found it to relieve the pain and fo0r a while gave me periods of sleep. Like most others it failed to do the job eventually and I had to try something else
Yep I've experienced opiate induced insomnia/alerting. For me it doesn't happen initially and I get reasonable sleep. After a number of months it starts. I have to come off the opiates for a couple of months. Then they work fine again for a good while .x
When my RLS is out of control and the ropinirole doesn't help, I take 1 Oxycodone 5-325 and in 40 min. I'm human again with no side effects. The 5 is Oxy and 325 is tylenol. Tylenol alone does nothing since I was a teenager. THe oxy does make me sleepy and helps me to fall asleep gently. I do not have any hangover from it in the a.m. because it doesn't stay in me system very long.
Hi, I have been taking targin for 4 months now 10/20 it also makes me alert but I take it around 4 pm, I too had crazy dreams at the start but that has gone away, targin is not a cure for my RSL but it has been a godsend in the way of allowing me to get at least 4 hours of straight sleep. I still do have really bad nights and I also cramp, which starts in my ankles and moves to my thighs. Sometimes the pain of the cramp is worse than the RSL symptoms.
TATTiana, thought I would respond with my experience. After burning out on any number of drugs was prescribed 5-325 hydrocodone. I take it about 8, then at 10 I take trazodone for sleep. So far the combination has been great. No bad dreams and no hangover. Maybe you could consider this though I know we're all different and what works for me might not work for you. Anyway, just thought I'd share.
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