Medication Usage

[YumaGreg]

I currently take Mirapex to the tune of 1mg each morning. 2mg at noon and 2mg at bed time. I also take 300mg Gabapentin 3 times a day. I still have RLS bad everyday and night. I have no appetite and my sleep habits are horrible at best. I am up every morning by 4am. I just turned 69 and I am just about at the end of my rope. Any suggestions as to where I go from here. Also, what about my meds? Too much? Too little? Help me please...

[Madlegs1]

Way, way too much Prami. Max dose should be 0.25.

You need to read up on augmentation amd follow the subsequent conversations.

Age is irrelevant- we have from three months to 80 yr olds---- all with" growing pains"🤔

When you've looked up Augmentation, and if it resonates with your circumstances, please do come back and we can try and help.

Good luck.

[LotteM]

Spot on as usual, madlegs. The key thing is, YumaGreg, that RLS ‘normally’ only occurs in the evening/at night. When you have it 24hrs, that is one of the main diagnostic criteria of augmentation. See e.g. rls-uk.org site.

[Pam34]

sleepreviewmag.com/2015/02/...

rls-uk.org/augmentation-reb...

This are some of the links Madlegs means. Read up and educate yourself. Are you really on that dose or have you forgotten the decimal point?!!

Pam

[YumaGreg in reply to Pam34]

I have not forgotten the decimal point. I take a total of 5.0 mg of Pramipexol daily and I have for years now.

[LotteM]

Hi Yumagreg, I just noticed you posted a similar question about a year ago. Although you didn’t mention the gabapentin back then.

Gabapentin may help with the RLS, but from many experiences on this forum, it will not help 1) if you have augmented, and 2) as long as you’re still on the pramipexole.

Educate yourself again/more, and talk to your doctor to discuss the info. Again from the many experiences on here, including my own, although I took ropinirole, you may have to come off the pramipexole ig you want your symptoms to improve. If you and your doc decide to do so, please go very slowly. With your extremely high dose it will most likely mot be nice, but then, experiences differe.

Good luck and keep us posted or ask for help if you meed any. Or support. We’re here.

[Joolsg]

You should consider seeing a lawyer- any doctor who prescribes that dose is grossly negligent. The FDA maximum for Parkinson's disease is 4.5mg! RLS is a fraction of that dose.

I second everything Madlegs, Lotte and Pam have said.

Try to find a doctor who knows something about RLS- I presume you are in Yuma, Arizona. If you could travel to California, Dr Mark Buchfuhrer would help you get off the Mirapex and onto something that will give you your life back.

stanfordhealthcare.org/doct...

[ijsgrandma]

Sounds like to me that you are augmenting.

rls.org/treatment/managing-...

[KickininAz]

YumaGreg: Are you in Yuma, Arizona? I live south of Phoenix. I don't know what the medical care is like in Yuma, but am wondering if you might go to one of the large sleep centers in the Phoenix area. There is also a Mayo Clinic/Hospital north of Phoenix, and they have excellent doctors. I am only mentioning this because I used to live in a small, rural Arizona town, and I had very limited medical choices. Now that I am in the Phoenix metro area, there are many more choices. Just a thought. I hope you can achieve a solution that will allow you to get adequate sleep.....it is literally life-saving to get enough deep sleep.

Good luck,

Cathy in Chandler, Arizona