BUPRENORPHINE UPDATE AND BLOOD PRESSURE

[Shumbah]

Hello my Dear people

My Buprenorphine/subutex which its called here in Australia.

I still appear to be the only person in Australia who has been able to access buprenorphine sublingual. I know people who have tried unsuccessfully to access this medication.

My Doctor is blown away at something new that has transpired .

For 16 years I have been on blood pressure medication which my Doctor has stopped because my blood pressure was to low.

For the last 3 weeks I did blood pressure readings 6 times a day to see what it was off the blood Pressure medication was totally normal.

My Doctor thinks because I now sleep at night my blood pressure has normalised

Img Buprenorphine has allowed my to stop the following and only costs me $30 monthly.

20 mg Oxycodone slow release

2 x 10 mg Endone daily

Stillnox

Mizart Blood pressure medication

Apart from the fact I have Zero RLS breakthrough and I sleep like a baby,

My blood pressure is perfect also and look at all the meds I know longer tax my liver with.

I am also going to email Professor Winkelman and Professor Richard Allen at John Hopkins , Dr Glen Brookes in NYC to let them know about this positive health effect regarding my blood pressure.

I am not saying this would occur in every patient but it makes you stop and think.

Professor Winkelman said to me that RLS is far more dangerous than Sleep Apnea No wonder.

I think of you all -all the time.

Although I am well it breaks my heart knowing there are so many people desperate for sleep and in pain with this insidious disease.

My thoughts are with you all.

[Hidden]

Hi Shumbah, thanks for the update

This is great, I'm so pleased.

It is known that insomnia can raise your blood pressure and thgat's why yours was too

- - - high

and you needed Mizart to bring it down.

Now no longer necessary.

I wish you well in your campaign to get buprenorphine recognised in Australia.

Recent posts suggest that some of your fellow countrypersons think Sifrol is the only true god.

[Shumbah in reply to Hidden]

They are total ignorant , it is a shame that some doctors don’t suffer from refractory RLS .

[Hidden in reply to Shumbah]

Even more worrying, I'm talking about the people with RLS.

NOT the doctors!

[hausbauer]

Hello Shumbah,

I am Austrian and have now switched to Buprenorphine sublingual 0,2 mg (taking only half of it = 0,1 mg). In this country it is named Temgesic.

I am still taking Sifrol/Pramipexol (0,13 mg) with it but try to come off it ( I am cutting off bits of it every day, so just now I am taking about 0,08-9 mg).

The Sifrol reinforces the Buprenorphine , but once I have weaned it off altogether, I hope the opioid alone does the job. Dr. B. wrote that when I stop the Pramipexole, I will likely need much higher doses of Bupr. for a few weeks, but then I should be able to get back on a low dose.

Since taking Buprenorphine I have been sleeping every night without any RLS interruption, and nothing in the afternoon and evening which I experienced before.

And it causes no constipation so far.

I am still not daring to think too much about it (so that the gods might not have their attention drawn to me . It seems like a miracle.

[Shumbah in reply to hausbauer]

Sorry I miss read where you are from😀

Buprenorphine is in 2 mg sublingual

Temgesic is micro dose buprenorphine and comes in 0.2

2 mg suppository buprenorphine

15 mg patches

30 mg patches

These are all the buprenorphine formats I know of there may be more

Temgesic is the lowest does and require extra does to get to the 2 mg

Temgirsic adolescences has a shorter half life and does not offer 24 hour coverage so I have been told .

People I know on patches buprenorphine patches range from 15 mg to 30 mg

I think in Europe they may be called BUTEC you my find this easy to get from GP.

You are on the right path .

As you come off your horrible meds you may need to increase or try another format .

I am pleased for you 😃

Have you done a post up on HealthUnlocked ?

about your buprenorphine / Temgesic as it is not widely known . The more people using it the quicker it becomes first line treatment

All the best 😊

[hausbauer in reply to Shumbah]

Hello Shumbah,

First - I am Austrian, Austria is a small country in the middle of Europe (Vienna, Salzburg etc). And I have already written in Health Unlocked on Buprenorphine before.

As you surely know, Dr. B. uses Belbuca (which seems to be a film to be applied on the gums inside the mouth) and which he applies very very low (75 mcg ! which is 0,075 mg). He writes that he prefers Belbuca because of the possibility of low dosing. Maybe he uses - according to what the patient needs - also somewhat higher doses (it comes in 150, 300, 450 to 900 mcg).

Here in my country Belbuca is not available, the nearest low dose is Temgesic 0,2 and 0,4. mg.

Even at the low dose of 0,1 mg Temgesic I have success (I am very sensitive to meds). Maybe that is also due to still taking Pramipexol with it. We shall see what happens once I stop the Pramipexol altogether.

A further advantage seems to be that Buprenorphine has an anti-depressant effect which is what my prescribing doctor says. An effect which Targin (oxycodone) does not seem to have.

All the best to you.

[Shumbah in reply to hausbauer]

I am so pleased it is working for you

Please keep us in the loop once you have weaned off your other meds .

Yes buprenorphine has some fabulous qualities .

I wish it was easy for everyone to access 🙂

[Hidden in reply to hausbauer]

Hello, I read you're "cutting bits off it every day", that is pramipexole. Please be careful, you need to reduce the dose of pramipexole very slowly to avoid withdrawal effects.. Normally I'd suggest that you taper from o.o8 mg to zero in 6 to 8 weeks.

[Joolsg]

Thanks for the update Shumbah. How wonderful that your blood pressure has reduced and you can stop taking so many meds.

I live in hope that the dinosaurs at the Association of British Neurologists will learn the basics of RLS and start prescribing Buprenorphine here in the UK.

[Josana13 in reply to Joolsg]

Do u think that’ll Buprenorphine would suffice to handle my pre-surgery pain and RLS?

[Joolsg in reply to Josana13]

That will be up to the surgical team. They have their own preferred meds for spinal surgery.As previously mentioned, the average dose of Buprenorphine for RLS is 0.5mg of sublingual.

Discuss with the sugical team fully before surgery so they're aware of your severe RLS. You will need to continue your RLS meds and make sure you're given safe anti nausea meds with the anaesthetic. Zofran is RLS safe.

[restlessstoz]

Hi Shumbah, Just to add to your knowledge, Norspan patches come in 5, 10, 15, 20, 25,30 and 40 mcg/hour. I started on 10 but it wasn't enough so moved to 15 which is where I am now.

For me it's been a miracle and I now have a mostly RLS free life. It's side effect seems to be shallow sleep but I still sleep more than previously regardless and am blissfully relaxed and cosy. I do also have occasional sweats but I honestly prefer that to the tortures of RLS.

If constipation is an issue which it seems to be settling, I use Movicol which is gentle and effective. Your campaign to educated doctors is inspirational and I wish you every luck with it. My GP who has been wonderful, prescribed the patches and is happy to continue to do so, in spite of the new rules in Australia.

Keep up the great work.

[Jules1953]

Two nights ago I commenced Buprenorphine 200 micrograms

(As hydrochloride)

In Western Australia it is sold under the label Temgesic Sublingual Tablets.

It is a controlled Drug here in Western Australia so possession without Authority is illegal.

My Doctor went through the appropriate channels to get me the necessary approval. I have had RLS for 49 years and all other medications have been exhausted.

The tablets are dissolved under the tongue. They come in very small doses and I took 3 tablets over a 1.5 hour period after going to bed last night.

So that is less than 1mg of the Buprenorphine.

I immediately stopped all my other RLS medication last night and commenced the Buprenorphine.

I was taking .....

600mg Gabapentin

5mg Endone (oxycodone)

0.250mg Sifrol (pramipexole)

It took me a while to get to sleep but once asleep I slept through to 6.00am

I then stayed in bed till 11.00am sleeping on and off with no RLS symptoms and no jerking.

I will keep you up to date with my progress.