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Restless Legs Syndrome

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Screaming hab dabs

pilateskid profile image
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Has anyone had withdrawal symptoms coming of pramipexele? My husband thinks that the doctor taking me off pramipexele and straight onto patches 2mg neupro without weaning me off pramipexele is causing me , legs giving me hell night and day....to feel like jumping out the window.

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pilateskid
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Withdrawal symptoms from Pramipexole or any other Dopamine Agonist (DA) can be very severe and normally it's best to wean slowly off a DA. In that case, your husband may be right.

However your doctor has switched you from one DA to another, in which case it's usually considered that you don't have to wean off the first and you shouldn't get withdrawal symptoms. In which case your husband is probably wrong.

There are a couple of possibilities for your current situation -

One is that the dose of Neupro is (in equivalence) less than the dose of Pramipexolej, so you may be suffering withdrawal. (Although I do notice at one point, weren't you on 3mg?)

Another possibility is that if you had augmented on Pramipexole, (because it's a DA), then you're likely to augment on another DA. So rather than withdrawal, this is augmentation.

It seems to me that if it's the first of these, then increasing the dose of Neupro might help, but that might just increase augmentation. So increasing the dose isn't a good idea.

I recall that the reason the doctor switched you was because the Pramipexole stopped working, but you could have also started augmentation. In effect, all DAs have more or less the same problems.

It would be a good idea to see your doctor to discuss going back on the Pramipexole, then weaning off it. At the same time you could perhaps start on an alpha2delta ligand.

Unfortunately, this would mean you would need help managing the DA withdrawal symptoms, which actually may be better than what you're experiencing now

Your doctor may have asked you to give the patches a good try. I think you have done that. Now, I think it's possibly true to say they're not working and you need to wean off ALL DAs.

You might consider seeing a different doctor.

graciebes profile image
graciebes

Hi I understand how you feel , we went to New Zealand last year and had our backpack stolen with our meds in ,(our prescription also ).The chemist wouldn't give me any over the counter, so I suffered for a month .It was pure he'll , I say rocking and walking the floor all night.

Joolsg profile image
Joolsg

I agree with Manerva. It sounds like you are in full blown Augmentation & withdrawal. You clearly have to get off dopamine agonists.

This leads to very severe RLS symptoms ( what you are experiencing now but more intense) with little or no sleep and for this reason you need your doctor on side to help.

Most doctors have never seen someone in withdrawal and don’t realise how traumatic it can be. You may need strong painkillers ( I needed tramadol every 4 hours during the worst nights- on the advice of Dr Buchfuhrer). I also used Zolpidem sleeping pills occasionally and smoked illegal cannabis ( even though I’m not a smoker) which gave me a an hour’s sleep.

It is difficult but once off dopamine agonists you may find your RLS returns to how it was before you first went on pramipexole.

Make sure serum iron is above 60, serum ferritin above 100 as this will help withdrawal symptoms slightly and your RLS.

As Manerva suggests, pregabalin or Gabapentin are alternatives once off the DAs.

Parminter profile image
Parminter

Yes yes yes. Your husband is correct. Dopamine agonists addict the brain.

You need help in the form of an opioid to help you through, or to piggy-back one drug on another while you taper.

The withdrawal can last for many, many weeks. Or only two weeks. But to ask you to do this 'cold turkey' is cruel in the extreme.

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

Take this article to your doctor.

This what i told you on one of your previous post, that you are augmenting, and to look at the pinned post about Augmentation. Listen to Jools and Manerva.

pilateskid profile image
pilateskid in reply to

Think you did tell, I've so much going on

in reply to pilateskid

You have been good advice from Jools and Manerva, so now you can work towards getting off the patch and onto a different class of meds as said by Manerva. Its not easy but you will feel so much better. Let us know how you get on. You can have a rant on here when you want to and members will support you all the way. Good luck.

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