Augmentation query

[Jumpey]

Hi. Does augmentation stop as soon as the triggering medication is stopped? Or does it take longer to return to baseline symptoms? I would be very grateful if you could share your experiences. I stopped taking Tramadol two and a half weeks ago but am still getting RLS symptoms in my arms.x

[Joolsg]

It took about 6 months after stopping Ropinirole for my RLS to settle and to find a combination of meds that gave me adequate coverage.

Some people find their RLS settles straight away.

It’s annoying that we all respond differently but I would say it’s still very early days for you.

[Jumpey in reply to Joolsg]

I think you are right.

[Seaux in reply to Joolsg]

Took me at least 6 months off mirapex

[Joannebbk]

I think what you are experiencing is withdrawel from the tramadol. What dosage of tramadol were you taking and how long for? I came off tramadol about 4 years ago and the withdrawel took me about 3 months. I was on the maximum dose and had been for about 3 years. My RLS was much worse than usual for a while but it dose get better with time. Are you taking anything else instead of the Tramadol? I was taking Gabapenten and also amitriptyline but because I knew the Tramadol would be the worst, I weaned myself off this first. At the time I didn't know that the amitriptyline was making my symptoms worse but I was only on 20mg a day. I also started magnesium and had pain patches called salponas. The only advice that I can give if it is withdrawel is to do it gradually and take it one day at a time. I went on lots of forums with people who were also withdrawing from tramadol and honestly it helped to just know that other people were going through the same thing. You might just find a snippit of information that makes your day a bit easie.

[Hidden]

The typical scenarion is that you have symptoms of RLS and seek medical help. A doctor prescribes a medication which, at first, relieves the symptoms.

After a while, which may be months or years, symptoms return and then get worse that they were before starting the medication. Symptoms get more intense, start earlier in the day, spread to other parts of the body and happen quicker. This is augmentation.

The treatment for the augmentation is to withdraw the causative drug. As the drug is reduced and stopped, the augmentation fades.

However, since the drug was never a cure, symptoms will.probably return to how they were before ever starting the drug.

When I suffered augmentation and started withdrawing from the causative drug, I found the features of augmentation faded slowly.

This is not to be confused wuth withdrawal.effects which are a temporary worsening of symptoms.

In my case, my symptoms did not return to how they were before ever starting the drug, because I started taking an alternative before withdrawing.

You may not now still be having augmentation, but you may still be having withdrawals and, if you're not taking any replacement medication, then you may be having symptoms that you had before - baseline.

[Jumpey in reply to Hidden]

Thanks for the info.x

[Abookwriter2 in reply to Hidden]

This should be a pinned post. Manerva, what would you try if ropinole isn't working anymore? If it's not too personal, what are you taking?

[Hidden]

If you didn't have RLS symptoms in your arms before using tramadol then I guess you'll have to wait to see if the symptoms in your arms fades.

In addition there may be something else that's also triggering your symptoms. This could be another medication you're taking, it could be iron deficiency or some other iron deficiency.

[Jumpey in reply to Hidden]

I did have it in my arms sometimes but not as often as the last couple of weeks. I don't take any other meds that could be the cause. Thanks for your thoughts.x

[RLSofManyYears]

My solution for the last 9 months was to take minimum dosage of Ropinirole and then switch to minimum Pramipexole when augmentation kicked in, and then switch again, and so on. I also get problems with my arms from time to time, so much so that I cannot type at a keyboard. However I am literally in the first few days of coming off dopamine agonists, relying on Pregabalin (ramping up to 300mg) and codeine (for the first few weeks at least). So far I've had 2 nights with no sleep and 1 with partial sleep. Tonight is unknown right now!

[Jumpey in reply to RLSofManyYears]

Thanks for your response.Good luck.I hope you find consistent sleep soon.x