Is it worth taking the drugs?

[Tamaroy]

Been on a new regime for a few months now 900mg of Gabapentin + Clonazapam, was working, now am getting 5/6 hrs of broken sleep, augmentation setting in again, bloody fed up, don’t know if a feel better or worse with or without drugs, ******* RLS!

[Hidden]

Hi Tamaroy, what exactly is happening?

Since augmentation is mainly caused by excessive levels of dopamine and gabapentin doesn't raise dopamine levels it's unusual to get augmentation with gabapentin.

Gabapentin is now often prescribed instead of dopamine agonist because of the unlikelihood of augmentation.

Has anything else changed recently?

In addition, I found switching from a dopamine agonist to gabapentin much improved my sleep, gabapentin is known for this. I too can get about 5-6 hours sleep at any one time, which is twice as much as I did with the DA. However I have always had a problem sleeping and have noted it's worse in the winter

RLS sufferers seem to scoff at the idea that exposure to natural daylight can have a significant impact on sleep, but I experience major differences in my sleep pattern between winter and summer.

[Medz50 in reply to Hidden]

Have you tried zopiclone for sleeping

[Hidden in reply to Medz50]

Thanks for the suggestion, as I stated, I am sleeping well on gabapentin.

Zopiclone has a high risk of addiction and can cause sleep disturbances such as sleep walking. It is meant only for short term use.

Exposure to full spectrum light during the day and avoiding it at night as I find can be a risk free method of regulating sleep naturalky.

[Sampsie]

Hi Tamaroy,

I hear what Manerva is saying, but I have gradually increased my Gabapentin dose over the years. I'm currently trying to see a new consultant for this reason. I read a recent post where Dr Newman alternates between Clonazepam and Pregabalin every 3 months to prevent augmenting so I'd like to try that. The side effects of big doses of meds aren't good are they?

Trying to find a decent consultant is not easy though.

Sorry you're having a crappy time.

[CrazyLadyLegs]

Hi, within my limited knowledge of drugs I have learnt that Gabapentin and Clonazepam do not cause augmentation, they are not dopamine agonists.

Honestly speaking, if I got 5-6 hours broken sleep a night I would be thrilled as I am lucky to achieve that in a week 😢

Have you considered how and when you take these meds? There is some great advice on this forum which tells you the best way to take Gabapentin. This is beneficial as the way doctors usually prescribe taking this is really for other illnesses and not the correct process for taking Gabapentin.

It seems it's better to take 3 individual doses of 300mg closer together and also later into the evening for best results for RLS.

👱‍♀️

[WideBody]

How are you taking your Gabapentin? All at once? I found if I take one at around 5-6pm it and then two about 30 minutes before bed helps. I do believe it is want is recommended in the medication. No worries, Manerva told me. (I think it was Manerva)

[Kenzoo]

Hey there. I would not recommend you to take these drugs. As far as I know, clonazepam is a very dangerous substance, it's an opioid that causes addiction. Moreover, any opioid has a lot of side effects, so I think that it's not worth using. Be careful with that drug, friend! Moreover, if you're going to pass a drug test, it will show a positive result. I would not recommend you to use any drugs, including alcohol , which can be detected with an etg test confirmbiosciences.com/know... . I would suggest you find a safer alternative.

[Tamaroy in reply to Kenzoo]

The trouble is I have been on Clonazepam for yrs, I have tried coming off it very gradually but I have an absolute hell of a time, I go into hyper drive in everything, no sleep at all, really bloody awful, I will do anything to make my legs stay still. I never take more than prescribed.

I admit it would be lovely not to take anything.