Buprenorphine.....I slept through the night.

[Jules1953]

Last night 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.

Update after 3 days.

Hi Manerva, I wanted to let you know that you were right about stopping the Pramipexole and Gabapentin cold Turkey. I woke up this morning not feeling very well. So I took 300mg of Gabapentin and 0.125 of the Sifrol. Which is half of the dosage and felt better for it. I will come off these slowly now along with the Buprenorphine.

Thanks for your wisdom. I will keep you updated. Kind regards Julie

[RoadRunner44]

The relief must be unbelievable Jules! Being able to sleep will certainly be beneficial. I hope you continue to reap the benefits and be able to stay under the care of your understanding doctor.

[Madlegs1]

Great news.

[Hidden]

It appears you have stopped taking both pramipexole and gabaprntin suddenly, cold turkey.

It may be perfectly OK to go onto buprenorphine immediately at the same time as still taking these two, but there are dangers to suddenly stopping any one of the two.

In addition both will incur possibly severe side effects and I'm not at all sure if an opiate can entirely eradicate all withdrawal effects.

I hope I'm wrong, but if you read the posts on here about people's experiences of withdrawing from dopamine agonists e.g. pramipexole then this might give you an idea of what you're risking.

It took me ten months to withdraw from.pramipexole.

[Jules1953 in reply to Hidden]

Hi Manerva, it took me a few hours before I could get to sleep last night, no doubt as you say because of still coming down from the Sifrol. I will let u know how I go on night 3.

Kind regards Julie

[Jules1953 in reply to Hidden]

Hi Manerva, I wanted to let you know that you were right about stopping the Pramipexole and Gabapentin cold Turkey. I woke up this morning not feeling very well. So I took 300mg of Gabapentin and 0.125 of the Sifrol. Which is half of the dosage and felt better for it. I will come off these slowly now along with the Buprenorphine.

Thanks for your wisdom. I will keep you updated. Kind regards Julie

[Hidden in reply to Jules1953]

Glad to hear you're OK

Cutting the dose that drastically is still too fast. See how you go.

[Jules1953 in reply to Hidden]

Yes I will let you know how I go Manerva

[Sampsie]

I really hope it works for you Jules.

[hausbauer]

After having started sublingual Buprenorphin 0,1 mg=100 micrograms (splitting 0,2 mg in half)

6 weeks ago, I am as successful as you are. I have slept every night. Probably because of the low dose which does not act long enough, I have sometimes a very slight RLS feeling while taking a nap in the afternoon but I can easily put up with it.

I have been taking 0,13 mg Pramipexol which I am now reducing step by step. Just now I am at a dose of 0,07 mg . Dr. Buchfuhrer says that I may have to raise the Buprenorphin for a short while because of reducing and then stopping Pramipexol, but after some time I should go back to the low dose. Just now I do not see any difference and have no side effects. But of course when I stop Pramipexol altogether, the Buprenorphin alone may have to be increased a bit ( the Pramipexol enforces the opioid).

You are taking 600 micograms altogether, divided in 3 doses. Is this correct? Maybe you could reduce a bit, but on the other hand, I am very sensitive to medication and everybody needs different doses. For instance even the 1 mg Neupro patch (which is the lowest) was too much for me (heavy side effects).

All the best.

[Jules1953 in reply to hausbauer]

Hello Hausbauer, I felt unwell today due, no doubt, to stopping my Gabapentin and Pramipexole cold Turkey upon starting my Buprenorphine. So I have re introduced the Gabapentin and the Pramipexole at half the amount now, while introducing the Buprenorphine. I will now gradually reduce the Gabapentin and Pramipexole.

And yes, I may not need as much of the Buprenorphine doing it this way. The Buprenorphine are in sublingual form, each tablet is 200 micrograms.

Kind regards Julie

[grandpianoman]

Slept through the night?? Like you, have had RLS for 5 decades, and sleeping through the night is so rare, I can't remember the last time. Your experience with buprenorphine is SO encouraging. Please keep us up to date with your success, as I have been having trouble with other controlled substances. Does buprenorphine cause "daytime somnolence," as the pharmaceutical parlance states? That has been a major problem for me.

[Shumbah in reply to grandpianoman]

Hi Grandpianoman

I have been on buprenorphine for very close to a year.

If you go through my posts there is a lot of information.

Buprenorphine hangs onto less receptors than other opioids and has a long half life in the form I take.

I have never had any daytime somnolence or symptoms.

I feel like a normal person who does not suffer from this wretched disease.

What country are living in ?

[grandpianoman in reply to Shumbah]

I live in the US. What form do you take, please?

[Shumbah in reply to grandpianoman]

Hi grand piano man,

I’m guessing you play the piano my dads plays Piano, trumpet , French horn and keyboard he was a band leader in the army .

Dr Glen Brooks in New York only prescribes buprenorphine for RLS

my dose is 2 mg I do know people on higher doses.

I’m not sure where you are from NY however if you email Dr Brooks and mention my name he will email you back personally he truly cares I believe he was ex navy in his younger years.I know people from this sight who have emailed him and he has been able to help them.

[e-mail]

All the best 🙂

[Jules1953]

Over the last 2 days I have taken at lunchtime......

300mg of Gabapentin and

0.125mg of Pramipexole

And then when I go to bed I take

2 x 200 micrograms (2 x 0.2mg) of Buprenorphine

I am retired so it does not matter if I am tired during the day.

All of this medication could be taken before bedtime.

[Walras]

Hi - Just wondering how things are going with your new regime after almost a month? Thank you!

[Jules1953]

Hello Walras,

I hope you are going well.

An hour or so before bed I have been taking 100mg of Gabapentin and half of a 0.125mg of Pramipexole. Then when I go to bed I place Buprenorphine Sublingual under my tongue, this is one 200mcg tablet, which is a very small dosage. Occasionally I have taken another 200mcg Buprenorphine if I have not been able to settle for the night.

Constipation has been an issue, so I purchased some sennalax tablets from the Chemist today.

I have been able to sleep all through the night since commencing Temgesic which is the name of the Buprenorphine sublingual 200mcg tablets.

Kind regards Julie

[Hidden]

Hi Jules, has getting to sleep been an issue for you on Temgesic?

I have experienced insomnia on various opiates and am working up to trying Temgesic again (I was really nauseous the one time I did try it).

I'm in WA also

[Jules1953 in reply to Hidden]

Hello Amrob,

Yes, nauseous and constipation are issues I deal with on taking Temgesic. I have started using sennalax for the constipation issue.

Also, it is a good idea to drink water if you wake up during the night.

Only take the least amount of Temgesic that is required. I only use 1 or 2 tablets under my tongue. (200mcg)

And only have the second one if needed.

I am still having to take a very small dosage of Pramipexole in my quest to completely wean off this medication.

One third of 0.125mg Pramipexole.

I am getting to sleep ok. My sleep varies depending on how tired I am when I go to bed. When I first commenced Temgesic one month ago, I hadn't slept for days and days, so I was sleeping for 14 hours or more, making up for lack of sleep due to augmentation.