Buprenorphine vs Ropinirole

[B534967]

Hello all, I am considering talking to my doctor during my annual physical about moving from 1.50 mg Ropinirole to a low dosage Buprenorphine. My concerns are that one day I will need to go away from Ropinirole due to augmentation and having read over just how nasty that can be I would rather switch over to the Buprenorphine as it appears to have fewer side affects. Comments appreciated especially anyone who has taken both... kindest regards - Moosha

[Shir_11]

Hi Moosha

I have been suffering from RLS for over 40 years and have tried everything possible.

After looking up this site it has been a miracle for me learning about the benefits of Buprenorphine.

I am now on 5mg Norspan which is a patch that you leave on for 7 days.

I now have no symptoms at all. I can have a couple of glasses of wine and have the best sleeps every night.

The only downfall is that I have a skin reaction to the patch, which is a little off putting but it is the best for me. I have also tried Temgesic but they are not strong enough and I need to take one at night and one in the morning.

Still trialing but please do look into it as I am a new person after Buprenorphine.

Good luck

[B534967 in reply to Shir_11]

Thank you so much. I will look into the Norspan patch. I am in the US, and will look to see if it is available and at what cost.... thanks again - Moosha

[puzzler1]

Hi Moosha,

I'm doing a similar thing myself. I was on 6 tablets of .088/.125 parmiprexole and finding my RLS was getting worse and worse and not getting much help from my GP.

After joining this forum I realised I had, and was, augmenting and gradually started cutting back very slowly and with no additional mediaction.

At 3 tablets I was getting into real trouble with chronic flare ups and sleepness nights. My husband had been looking at new alternatives for me on this brilliant forum and buprenorhine (Temgesic) came up. There are other drugs that seem to work eg gabapentin, pragabilin, tramodol, oxycodone, sleeping tablets etc but for Refractory RLS, they all seemed to be taken in comination with each other and usually had some side effects of their own.

And so armed with some evidence from Shumbah (on this forum) and others we managed to get my consultant (not GP) to prescribe the Temgesic. My husband has put many posts on the forum about our 'journey' (hate the word!) so please have a look on the members page.

I started taking one 200mcg tablet of temgesic and from the first one, it's been like a miracle. I can sleep through the night! I'm still reducing the Prami and that is being hellish but at least I know I've got the temgesic to get me over it.

It's early days but I feel that I'm more in control of my RLS rather than it controlling me.

Hope this helps you with your decision.

The only thing I would say is that I was in a very bad state with my symptoms and I don't think my consultant would have agreed to an opioid if my RLS was milder. Although things may change when the US Mayo Clinic publish their findings suggesting Buprenorhine should be a first line treatment rather than a last resort.

What country are you in?

Very best wishes.

[B534967 in reply to puzzler1]

Thank you so much for hour response. I am meeting my gp this afternoon and have this as a discussion point. Moosha

[ijsgrandma]

I can speak personally about the horrors of Ropinirole. I’m sure you have read enough about that. I’ve been free of it for 2 yrs. and my RLS went from 24/7 on Ropinirole back to evening and nights after getting off it. Then I had the problem again with finding something that worked with no side effects. I’ve tried everything else out their. Carb/levo and Gabapentine both gave me chronic UTIs. I am doing okay right now with taking CBD for the RLS and THC for getting to sleep somewhat quickly. It seems like all RLS sufferers have trouble getting to sleep especially since sleep aids and melatonin makes RLS worse. The CBD And THC works most of the time but still have breakthrough nights. I am very interested in Buprenorphine after reading these posts on here. I am in the U.S. and from what I understand so far it’s impossible to get it prescribed. I hope that changes soon. Good luck with your doctor. I’ve gone through two neurologists (one a motion specialist) with no luck.

P.S. Glad you are getting off the Ropinirole. I also had compulsive behaviors on it and didn’t realize until off it. I was lucky to have only overdid online shopping. Others have lost everything to gambling and spending.

[B534967]

Thank you so much for your input. I am in Washington State where marijuana is legal, so I have indulged in a little awhile before bed and I have been able to sleep most of the night through. I am still at the 1.5 mg Ropinirole level but think I am going to start slowly reducing the amount... I do appreciate your input, we all have different stories related to RLS and they are relevant - thanks once again ;>))

Moosha B534967

[Lfoba]

Be aware of the possibly severe constipation from opioids. It's called OIC and have a plan with your doc to deal with it (there are medications for it but they are quite expensive). Otherwise, Methadone worked quite well for me but I had to stop even so (could not afford the OIC medication)

[Joolsg in reply to Lfoba]

Magnesium citrate at night is a cheap & effective way to deal with opioid induced constipation. I take it every night with my OxyContin and have no problems.

[Walras in reply to Joolsg]

Would you share how much you take at night? Thank you.

[Walras in reply to Walras]

Of the magnesium citrate

[Joolsg in reply to Walras]

I take 3 x 444mg. I buy from Amazon.

[bill54321]

I take 1 of .5 mg ropinrole at noon. I haved day and night Jerks 2 feet high. I takr 1 0g .5 mg at evening meal. I take 2 o9f .5 at night. Thr mechanism of day time jerks is lying back in a recliner after meas to rest. As you near a dozing stag, that is when jerks come(NOT FROM FATIQUE) I take a tramenole with each session. I take the (CAPSULE) not the 600mg pill of gabipentine 2 of 300mg capsules these are for seizures and nerve repair, The pills x 2 is 1200mg in for restlestless leg. UK and USA are difererent and some doc's don't know it. Problem: many get started a certain way. Many find combinations work best. For me., I do not intent to increase to cause augmentartion. The fact I have day time jerks and use tyhe medication in the day is not augmentation. The International and national sleep organizations list RLS daytime as a thinking night time event. NO GOOD study has been done except fatique and ig is definitely triggered by being solulent. Please work this out with your medical group. I have no brain timors and only a mild vit3 problem. The other causes are negative, EWe need to study the effects of over 40 new proteins found in the brain barrtier(20 at Stanford Althemiers (sp) study. You must study and be your own advocate. I am 90 yrs. old.

[erinjee]

I take/took pramipexole which is a similar drug to ropinorole- both dopamine agonists-both massive with the augmentation issue. I’ve been taking the prami fir 20 plus years and was over 3mg daily with breakthrough symptoms during the day. I started buprenorophine 3 months ago I think and am at roughly .05mg now of prami with a 2mg bup once nightly. I sleep through the night - most of the time but still experience some issues with withdrawal because I’m not completely free of prami yet but overall this is a miracle situation. I would get away from any dopamine agonist as soon as you can and I would absolutely personally recommend using buprenorphine instead. I’m just hoping my doc will let me stay on it after I’m finally clear of the pramipexole. Good luck!!!!