I am new to this but hoping somebody can help me. I have taken Ropinirole for over 10 years and have developed a gambling habit through it. My Doctor hasn't got a clue what to do to help me. I'm desperate to come off the Ropinirole even though it has kept my restless legs manageable over the years. Has anybody else had this problem with Ropinirole and how have they managed to get off it and did the gambling stop. I'm not an addictive person, don't smoke, drink etc, so this is really out of character for me. Please help as its getting really bad. Thank you
Written by
Scattypatty
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
Those sort of drugs are notorious for causing those sort of problems and, this is important, if your doctor does not know what to do your first step is to change Dr - this should not be beyond his remit neither the gambling from Ropinirole nor the RLS treatment. Jesus even a simple google search should be enough for him to get his act together!
THEN withdraw SLOWLY off the Ropinirole and move on to one of the many other treatments available, I wont go into them all but Targinact, Lyrica, Codeine, Tramadol and clonazepam have all been used. See link:
While that is happening ask for a referral to your local addiction treatment unit, (normally but not always aligned/part of your local psychiatric services. They will have the expertise to look at the gambling and offer you strategies to cope - hopefully by the time you have come away from the Ropinirole you will not have the same urges.
Also be aware that other drugs may exacerbate the RLS problem - antidepressants and antihistamines being prime culprits.
Dietary changes - stop alcohol, cut down and stop caffeine, try gluten and/or dairy free diet and have your iron levels checked and think about supplementing with gentle iron.
Thank you raffs for your extensive reply, I have learnt more from you than all the time with my doctor. I can't tell you how comforting it is knowing that there are people out there knowing exactly what you are going through. family and friends try to understand but don't realise how crippling it can be, mentally and physically.
I can actually see a way forward, with a lot of hard work, from this for the first time in years. I really need to educate my doctor now and hope he can guide me through a difficult time ahead.
I started gambling when I was on Maripexand was able to control to a great extent when I switched to ropinirole and had some counseling while making the switch to ropinirole. I still have the urge and sometimes do it in spite of knowing it is a destructive habit. I keep no money in my pocket to gamble with and limit myself to a few dollars worth of scratch-off lottery tickets. no matter gamblers always end up broke. I am no exception,
Good advice from Raffs, you are suffering from an "impulse control disorder". It is not "you" it is caused by the Ropinirole. Ropinirole is a "dopamine agonist" (DA), which makes the neurotransmitter, dopamine, in the brain more effective. Dopamine in parts of our brain is a key chemical in our "reward circuit". Anything which we find rewarding increases our dopamine levels and this can lead to addiction. Addictive drugs, for example, opiates and cocaine increase dopamine levels.
As Raffs says, you must be very careful and withdraw the Ropinirole
v e r y s l o w l y.
This is particularly important because anyone who has developed an impulse control disorder because of a DA is more likely to develop Dopamine Agonist Withdrawal Syndrome, which can be very nasty.
Minerva,I also developed a serious gambling addiction ; I was taking Mirapex at the time. I have been attending Gamblers anonymous for the last 7 years and cannot say enough good things about this organization. It saved my life. For my RLS I take SLO-Release Iron supplements 3 x/day for almost a year with success. My iron level is now154 and Ferritin 174. I take Klonopin sub-lingually 3 hrs.before bedtime and repeat it at bedtime. I am a bit sleepy the following afternoon, but I am sleeping 7-8 hrs. I will eventually try to gradually reduce the Klonopin. The Iron dose is 45mgm.
My response is meant for Scattypatty, but I agree with the above responses. Brica
Hi Manerva, Thank you so much for taking the time to reply. What you have said is really helpful and is helping me understand why I have developed the gambling habit. A habit I am so ashamed about and hate myself for being such a weak person for not controlling it. If nothing else you have given me hope in the knowledge that it is something that when I'm off these horrible tablets, I will take control of the gambling and my life again.
There is no need to be ashamed, drugs such as dopamine agonists chemically remove what control we think we have. The danger is that we think we are in control when we aren't.
This does not make you a "weak" person.
Congratulate yourself for recognising you have a problem and are doing something about it.
I also felt ashamed of the gambling, lying, sold my jewelry, stole; thank God for my husband who stood by me and did not consider me a terrible person. It took 2 years before I could share it with family, friends, etc. I have been off Mirapex for over 7 years and if not for Gamblers Anonymous I would still be gambling. I do not know if the addiction goes away after stopping the medication, but it did not for me.. The first step is admitting the problem which you have done; all good things can come after you do that. I am a psychiatric nurse practitioner (retired) , but that didn’t prevent me from becoming addicted. In my response to Minerva, I believe I mentioned the iron supplementation I am taking now. I found a Doctor through the RLS Foundation; what a blessing that was to have a Dr. who knew how to treat RLS. Brica
Thank you for being so honest, it takes guts to do that. Unfortunately I don't get the same support from my husband, I did initially but he cannot understand why I can't just stop. He doesn't believe it's the tablets that's doing this to me, so I carry on living a lie to him and everyone else.
Gamblers Anonymous offers support and acceptance; find a group you are comfortable with. Many people are in your situation; it was the hardest decision I have had to make. GA is all over the world and it is free. No one understands a compulsive gambler like another compulsive gambler. I wish you success in finding the right Dr. to treat your RLS as well. I believe in another response I mentioned what regime I wa on. Do not hesitate to keep in touch. Brica
Thank you so much Brica, I am having trouble accepting that I do have a problem, I think every day, this is the day it all stops but it never happens, it's not that simple. I'm still not quite ready to go to GA yet though, I'm still hoping that when I'm off the tablets these urges will go away. Thank you for your advice and support I do appreciate it.
I am no expert on addiction, it's probably one of my weakest areas of knowledge, (along with many other areas!).
A couple of points which might help -
Gambling has a psychological element to it due to the phenomenon of operant conditioning.
Operant conditioning is a process by which animals, and humans can be trained into repeating specific patterns of behaviour. The giving of a reward when the specific behaviour is performed makes it more likely the behaviour will be repeated. This is called reinforcement One of the discoverers of the phenomenon R F Skinner described that the most effective "reinforcement schedule", i.e. pattern of giving rewards is a "random fixed ratio" schedule. Animals are more effectively trained, not if the behaviour is rewarded EVERY time, but only a proportion of the time. Typically 20% of the time. It's even better if this is randomised i.e. not simply every fifth time.
This is the odd s you typically have if you gamble. You probably win overall 20% of the time, but its random.
In addition, the trained behaviour is more likely to be repeated in the same context that it was originally learned.
This originally suggested that you could be trained NOT to do the behaviour e.g. "aversion" therapy.. One variant of this was to help someone stop smoking by giving them electric shocks when they put a cigarette to their lips. Doesn't work, people stopped going to therapy!
"Positive condtioning", i.e. training someone to DO something rather than training them NOT to do something.
This does suggest that there are ways of dealing with addiction psychologically, although I don't specifically know what.
I guess replacing a bad addiction with a good one will help. There are many things we are all addicted to, they're not all bad. I heard some years ago they had discovered a drug that reduced addictive behsviour. ALL addictive behaviour, but this included falling in love with anyone! Guess what, being in love is an addiction. Is that bad?
A teacher I once had said, for a man, trousers are more addictive than heroin. Take a man into a crowded public place and take his heroin off him and he won't immediately get withdrawal symptoms, but take his trousers off him - - - -
The other thing is of course to avoid the context in which gambling takes place.
Unfortunately, sorry, I also now recall that drugs which affect the "reward circuits" in the brain can lead to long lasting physiological changes. This is why when many people wean off whatever they're addicted to, they can still get "cravings" even up to many years later even though, intellectually you know that these urges aren't good for you.
So I wouldn't recommend that you depend solely on weaning off medication to manage your gambling habit, some longer term help is needed as others have suggested
This is a common side-effect, it is on the package insert, and it causes all sorts of misery. I understand, I have been there - it is terrifying to find yourself doing things you cannot control, the stress is an added burden that is hard to bear.
The advice from the experts is to get off the drug as soon as possible when this happens, it cannot be stopped while you remain on dopamine agonists.
There are other drugs you can move to, and opioids to help you over the bad bits while you detox from Ropinirole (or any other dopamine agonist).
If your doctor cannot help you, find another doctor. A brief google search will tell him all he needs to know.
Thank you for taking the time to reply. its really nice to know that you have come through what must have been a real bad time for you. Its also good to know that I too can get to that point. Thank you and good luck
All the research I know of was done at Mayo Clinic. They found the use of opioids was the best of all. In the U.S. no doctor will read the research much less give you enough opioid-based. The states and the Fed Gov't are allied against opioid use. Research showed it was the only solution. No med to keep you sane. My mother and her 9 sisters all had the malady and it was a time the local druggist sold Optiom based counter, no more just letus suffer the crazies
The Restless Legs Foundation is fighting hard in the corridors of power to get opioids recognized for RLS, and as the last remaining possibility for many. It is a good idea to join and get your voice heard, or at least help others to get their voice heard if you are not American.
I am not American, but I am afraid that when America sneezes we all catch cold.
I find it odd that the superb research by top American doctors is not recognized by other doctors - can't they read? Do they ever read? Or do they care more about Washington than about their patients?
From Wikipedia... "Lawsuits - In November 2012, GlaxoSmithKline was ordered by a Rennes appeals court to pay Frenchman Didier Jambart 197,000 euros ($255,824); Jambart had taken ropinirole from 2003 to 2010 and exhibited risky hypersexual behavior and gambled excessively until stopping the medication." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ropin...
Damn! My doctor told me to take this treatment 3 years ago. Now I understand why I got interested in gambling. Never thought that it's because of treatment. But in my case, it's complicated - I started to gamble, I liked it, and now I'm a professional poker player and earn money this way. I'm winning more money. Should I fight it in this case anyway?
It is really nice to hear that people can stop with gambling. It is a real problem that is capable of running someone's life. My gambling addiction started with sport betting. I was betting on everything and I was losing a lot of money. I have realized the problem and I have started playing in online casinos. It helps me with my craving for sport betting and I don't have to spend money on it because there are options to play for free . It is helping me for now and I hope I never go to sport betting place again.
My brother was in a similar situation. His doctor prescribed him Ropinirole. And somehow, due to the treatment, he started to gamble more and more often. He is still playing poker and blackjack on a daily! We don't know what else to do and stop him from doing it. However, I have to admit that I am also addicted to gambling. However, I keep my head reasonable, and that helps me to earn money.
Hi Hoovyendy, I’m so sorry to hear that. It was the worst thing ever for me to be prescribed Ropinirole, I can honestly say it ruined my life. I ended up with augmentation and a gambling habit. During that time my marriage broke down because of it and am still going through a very long nasty divorce. Coming off Ropinirole was horrendous but was the best thing I’ve ever done as the gambling stopped very soon after finishing them with my RLS improving a lot as well. I wish your brother all the best, I hope he finds his own way of dealing with it and he gets lots of support.Best wishes, Pat x
This is a relatively common mistake of all novice gamblers. They don't know how to stop in time and expose all their profits. After that, they lose and try to find more money in order to win back. My father was like that and lost $205,000 in total over several years. That's a lot of money. I had to pay off his loans. I'm a gambler too, but for me, it's essential to have a good enough strategy to help keep some of the impulses of putting everything on the line.
If your therapist can't help you overcome your addictions, I think it is time for you to change them. Addictions are serious problems that start with mental disorders and issues. If the one person in the world that has the job to help you can't do it, it means the person is not qualified to do the job. I work in a Casino. If I were to check the software we got designed by [link deleted] I could easily tell you that every second customer from our guest list has a gambling problem. I can assure you, they are treatable.
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
Memory problems and Cognitive decline
RLS and sinus problems?
RLS and stomach/bowel problems
Does anyone else suffer sensory problems with their RLS?
