I have been taking Ropinirole for RLS since 7 months. My dose has been 0,5 mg. I got this medicine when I was living abroad ( in the Middle of Europe). Now I'm back in Finland and my GP told that they don't prescribe here Ropinirole for RLS, but instead she wrote me Pramipexole 0,088 mg. Because of the Covid-19 situation I couldn't meet her personally and the health center just interviewed me via telephone and I couldn't ask all my concerns.
Can I just change the medicine from day to day or should I make some days brake between the medicines? Is it possible to count the similar amount , so that I could keep the dose as low as possible? For example is the Ropinirole 0,5 mg more or less same as the Pramipexole 0,088 mg?
Originally the first neurolog suggested me Ropinirole 1-2mg, but luckily 0,5 mg has been enough for me. I was fine with the Ropinirole and feel now a bit stressed when I have to change the medicine.
Would be thankful for your advice.
Written by
Agnes20
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
0.088 of Pramipexol is the lowest dose for that medicine.I'm not sure what it is for Ropinerol, but if you only needed a low rate for that, then I'm sure the 0.088 Pramipexol will be grand.
You could take it for about a week and see how you get on. It would usually be ok to go up a dose if the first one was not enough, but get that- checked with your Dr.
The main thing to keep in mind , is that ,if after some time- months/ years it starts not working, then on NO account be tempted to raise it anymore.
Come back here for advice at that time.
Good luck.
Since both ropinirole and pramipexole are dopamine agonists you can switch directly from one to the other. That is take a last dose of ropinirole on one night then take the pramipexole the next night.
However, you need to take a dose of pramipexole that is equivalent to the dose of ropinirole you were taking.
Since pramipexole is about 4 times stronger than ropinirole 0.125mg pramipexole is equivalent to 0.5 mg ropinirole.
This may be a little confusing but 0.125mg of pramipexole SALT, is the same as 0.088mg BASE. This is the smallest size pramipexole tablet, some people know them as 0.088mg, some people know them as 0.125mg. They're the same.
I'm afraid I have to warn you that dopamine agonists are no longer recommended as the first treatment for RLS. This is because of their high risk of severe complications, particularly loss of efficacy and augmentation. There is a lesser risk of Impulse Control Disorder. The risk of these is higher for pramipexole than for ropinirole.
Whover prescribed you these drugs should have told you about this.
I suggest you read up about these complications so that you will recognise them if they should happen to you.
Better still is to ask your doctor if you can switch to an alpha 2 delta ligand, pregabalin or gabapentin. These are now recommended internationally as the first choice for RLS.
I agree with Manerva's reply. I was on Ropinirole for many years before ramping down to zero and then going on to Pramipexole (lowest dose) for several months. I then finally came off the dopamine agonists and am now on Pregabalin and Temgesic. My legs have generally stopped twitching and I now sleep right through most nights.
One option to minimise the risk of augmentation with ropinirole or pramipexole is to take the dose that works only for a few nights, then miss out a day or 2 (ideally until the RLS symptomes return), then take it again for a few nights, and so on.
This works well for me (life-long severe RLS, ropinirole dose 1mg per night which gives ca 80% relief).
Thank you for all the answers and important information. I change the medicine about 1,5 weeks ago. Everything went so far well. I think I will go to the private neurologist and ask again advice about the medicine, like Manerva suggested. I also started to take iron orally every second day. My Ferritin levels were quite ok in summer, but I didn't check then the PCR-levels. I wish you all a better New Year 2021! I'm very grateful that I found this forum.
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
Ropinirole and augmentation, when do I change drugs and how will I cope?
Switching from Ropinirole to Mirapexin. 
Starting to withdraw from Ropinirole
Dyskinesia from pramipexole
Changing meds from rotogotine nupro patch to pramipexole
