Once a stable dose is reached, this effect often wears off.

[gentoorax]

Hi All -

I'm currently on a 1mg rotigotine patch and have been for the last two years.

Recently I've been suffering from extreme fatigue do you think this could be the rotigotine patch? I know tiredness and feeling "faint" are side effects but according to the information I have on the side effects, they are quoted as...

"Rotigotine is a dopamine agonist medication, so can make you feel very sleepy, faint or dizzy. This is most likely to happen when you start using it. Once a stable dose is reached, this effect often wears off."

I'd consider myself to be on a stable dose now, so I'm wondering if maybe something else is wrong. Current plan is to get a blood panel and then maybe take a medication break to see if things improve (however painful that might be).

Cheers.

[Hidden]

I'd say "extreme" fatigue is not a side effect of rotigotine, certainly not after taking it two years. There is a difference between "drowsiness" and "fatigue".

I think it's quite right that you seek a medical opinion, there are quite a few medical conditions unrelated to RLS which can cause fatigue. The blood panel will hopefully find a cause or at least eliminate the common causes e.g. hypothyroid, diabetes, anaemia etc.

I hope you discover the cause and it's easily corrected.

[Annieapple]

I have always had the opposite effect (I use a 2mg patch) I cannot get to sleep, lots of insomnia .. this effects my energy levels greatly but I don’t feel sleepy in the day. In fact I have now put myself on a special diet to try & dampen down the excitotoxicity & it seems to be working...but early days

[gentoorax]

Thanks everyone. I've taken a break from the patches, if anything I think that's probably made me feel worse because now I have the side effects of that.

In other news my blood panel came back with very low vitamin d levels. I've been prescribed some high strength 20,000UI capsules. Funnily enough my last blood test back in October showed low vit d and I've been taking vit d supplements for months, marked "high strength" from the supermarket, but obviously not high strength enough! I'd even take one of these the morning of my blood test, so was surprised it could still be low.

From what I've heard vitamin d might be responsible for this fatigue, we will have to see.

[Annieapple in reply to gentoorax]

I do hope it’s the answer to your fatigue.

Dopamine withdrawal is horrid...I feel for you & hope you have something to help you through it.. RLS is a never ending challenging! At least we all share the ups and downs & keep each other going! Take care!!!