Pregabalin zentiva

[goodie]

Went to the doctor today gave me these capsules to take with pramipexole as I'm having hardly any sleep. I don't want to take them if they are going to make it worse.

[Pam34]

Hi Goodie

Looking back at your previous post I think it was decided that you may be augmenting on the pramipexole. If this is the case the Pregabalin won’t help until several weeks after the last pramipexole.

Read the following articles and then go back to the doctor with a plan to reduce and eventually stop the prami. This has to be done extremely slowly and very often with the help of something like Tramadol. Only then is it worth introducing the Pregabalin. I augmented on a dopamine drug and am now on Pregabalin which works very well.

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

sleepreviewmag.com/2015/02/...

Good luck

Pam

[goodie in reply to Pam34]

Hi Pam the doctor seems reluctant to stop the pramipexole as I'm on the highest I can take she said try pregabalin 25 mg twice a day and still take the pramipexole at night and see how it goes. I have not taken any yet as today l have to go for a gastroscopy today, so I will start takeing them tomorrow. I will go back if they don't make my legs any better. Thank you for your help its nice to know that someone else is taking them, I'll let you know if they are ok for me.

[Pam34 in reply to goodie]

I don’t think your doctor is doing you any favours. If you are on the highest dose of pramipexole and are augmenting then you need to come off it. Taking another medication won’t help. You need to reduce the pramipexole very very slowly with the help of Tramadol or such. Only then and several weeks after your last dose may Pregabalin work. And 50mg is unlikely to help even then - I take 150mg.

I think you need to go back to your doctor and show them the articles about augmentation!

[goodie in reply to Pam34]

Thanks Pam l will do that, the trouble is the doctors here in the UK don't seem to know much about restless legs,l have in the past printed off things about rls l don't think she bothers to read it but I'll have another go.

[Pam34 in reply to goodie]

I’m in the UK too and it is difficult to find a GP who understands. I stopped seeing the senior partner because of his attitude and saw a young woman doctor who had little knowledge but was prepared to listen and prescribe the Tramadol I needed to reduce the dopamine!

It’s a case of educating yourself first and then tactfully trying to educate your doctor. If they won’t listen then change doctors.

Good luck 😉

[Joolsg in reply to goodie]

Hi Goodie

Pam is absolutely correct and has given you excellent advice.

Your GP is actually useless - I’m sorry but that is fact. Most GPs here in the UK know absolutely nothing about RLS. They open their prescribing book, see that Ropinirole is for RLS & that the max dose is 4mg, write a script & send you away.

When the torture of Augmentation happens they just increase the dose. As Dr Early (US expert) says, this is like pouring gasoline on a fire and simply feeds the beast of RLS.

So you have to read up everything on here and on the US RLS foundation site about Augmentation and make the decision to get off Ropinirole yourself.

As Pam has advised, pregabalin will not help your constant RLS until you’re off Ropinirole.

Many of us on this site have experienced dreadful ignorance from our GPs and so have come to this site for advice because the people on here know a lot more about the condition than the vast majority of GPs. RLS is not mentioned or taught at medical school ( I know because I volunteer as a guinea pig at the leading London medical school).

If you want relief, you have to do it yourself by slowly reducing the Ropinirole- 0.5mg every 2/3 weeks. Let the RLS settle and then reduce again. With each drop in dose the RLS will get worse but 10-14 days after the last dose it will settle and pregabalin will start to work. Ask GP for tramadol to take during the withdrawal- it helps.

I wish I could say there’s an easy option but there isn’t.

Read the pinned post top right about Augmentation.

There are so many people who have gone through this on this site- you are not alone.

[goodie in reply to Pam34]

Still waiting to get appointment at doctors I'm going to try and get off of pramipexole myself I'm taking 0.35mg 0.18mg how would I start weaning off and when would I start on the pregabalin zentiva 25 mg hope you help I'm so confused at 81 I'm finding it really difficult. Thank you so much.

[Pam34 in reply to goodie]

I really feel for you, you really need a doctor on side. Do you have anyone you could take with you for moral support and to fight your corner?

I think, like Jools and I have said, you need to reduce very very slowly and it will be extremely difficult even with the help of something like tramadol. You need to ask your doctor for help here and if he can’t or won’t then please ask to speak to the senior partner or at the very least another doctor in the practice. There is no point starting Pregabalin until at least two weeks after the last pramipexole and 25mg is far too low. I started at 50mg and went up to 150mg in a week.

To sum up Goodie you need to come off the prami, you need something like Tramadol to help and only then is there any point in starting the Pregabalin (and at a higher dose than 25mg).

Take all the articles we have given you to read to your doctor and don’t leave until you get some help. Her original advice is so wrong it makes my blood boil!

Let us know how you get on

Pam

[goodie in reply to Pam34]

Hi Pam I have a partner he's really good he does help me always comes to the doctors when i go, in the past I have printed of the argumentation and other things that I thought would be helpful but whether they read them I don't know but I'll have another go hopefully Wednesday.

I have got the forms to fill in for another doctor if l dont get any joy. I have asked at our clinic in the village as the young girl there has rls but her doctor is out of my area, she said he's ok otherwise I could have gone to him.

I will tell her she will have to help me and I want some tramadol also i will do some more copies i think i might still have some as i did two one for the doctors and one for myself I will let you know how I get on.thank you again

[Pam34 in reply to goodie]

You could ask for a referral to a neurologist but that might take some months. They may be more prepared to listen. But in the meantime you need your doctors support to come off the prami. To leave you in the highest dose and say he can’t help you is negligent!

[goodie in reply to Pam34]

Hi Pam not good news went to the doctors this morning because I had an operation in january for bowel cancer and they took best part of the large bowel away (which was found early ) the doctor said that was the reason the blood test showed I was anaemic and that's the reason my legs are so bad, l have been taking iron to get the ferritin levels up had a blood test Monday she said it was 25 and gave me a form to have a another blood test in July. I asked her for tramdol or codeine for the pain, till my iron gets up to at least 50, she said no you can become addicted to them, so carry in with the pregabalin you haven't given it a chance to get in your system, she does know about agumentation.

Talk about fighting a losing battle

I do have some codiene and paracetamol would that be enough to help me if I weaned myself off the pramipexole if not I'll change to another doctor . Oh I forgot she said she would do a referral to see a neurologist and it probably be 18 weeks till you get an appointment . Thank you for the help.

[Pam34 in reply to goodie]

Well she is a lot of use! Certainly get your referral so you are in the queue and then change doctor. It is unlikely codeine/ paracetamol will be strong enough. And I repeat that Pregabalin won’t help while you are augmenting.

She is right that low ferritin levels can cause RLS and that ideally it should be over 100 so keep taking the iron.

Pam