Yes just watched that bit...disappointed that she can't have any dopamine treatment as is going to have IVF .....wonder why she agreed to go on programme...Is dopamine the answer and what are the side effects?? Sounds like it would be ',strong' medication...but will do more research...
Yes I agree with you on that one I wondered why too.
I think the best way to find out about Dopamine is to ask your doctor about that. I don't know anything about it Or if anyone else knows anything about it on this site
Be very careful with the dopamine treatment... it can work well but can also have horrible side effects. I just detoxed off of pramipraxole and it was hell!
Looking at comments, Dopamine meds are still the first line of medications used to treat RLS. It has been the first thing they try since the 70's. Put Dopamine in the search box. The Dopamine meds that are constantly used are Mirapex/Pramipexole and Requip/Ropinerole. At night our natural dopamine drops, and that is why dopamine meds help SOME people, and the dose must be kept as low as possible. Cannot stress that enough, for anyone who might not know. There are tons of threads about this. And, no one thing works for everyone, which makes RLS so hard to treat at times.
They are still offered as the first med to take Madlegs, most doctors here or in the USA are still not aware of augmentation from them, unfortunately. I see that on other RLS group,s people asking about them as they have just been prescribed them. Good you got your voice back, after that little hiccup.
I’ll never forget when my Primary Care wanted to prescribe Mirapex and I told her I was worried about augmentation. She brushed it off and said not to worry that she’d get me off of it. So I took it for 2 weeks and decided I really didn’t want to keep taking it. She put me on 300 mg of Gabapentin and abruptly stopped the Mirapex. Boy did I suffer! I didn’t sleep for days and I had only taken it for 2weeks. Yes, you’re right about US practitioners. I was very lucky to eventually be able to see Dr. Early at Hopkins a few months later.
I enjoyed watching this programme, especially seeing how sleep deprivation affected them (know it so well!) Also glad to see the regime of Sleep Hygiene etc helped the insomniac. I'm working on mine.
I appreciate the programme was about sleep in general, but I was very irritated by the way they talk of Dopamine (Ropinerole) like it is a miracle drug for rls and your problem will be solved because it's not and it won't grrr... never mention the problems with augmentation or other options. All that said, at least it was some more air time (of sorts!)
I am not in the UK so I did not see this programme. But it sounds as though the ignorance just goes on and on and on.
I think that 'air-time', if it is misleading, is probably worse than nothing. Simple solutions?
When will it stop?
Could one or two of you write to the producers to set them straight? Doctors are watching television too, and it will just cement the information they have had from the drug reps.
Hmmm, that would need funding, finding a tv channel that would air it... Someone who knows how to film, direct, produce. How about some of the Americans on here doing it.
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