GP wants me to come off zopiclone

[sam_76]

I've been suffering with RLS for 5 years. I have tried on Parkinson meds but didn't find them beneficial and had awful side affects. My doctor has been prescribing me zopiclone 3.75mg and anti hastamines for the intense itching. Unfortunately my doctor has now retired and my surgery wants me to cut down and come off zopiclone. They don't seem to care that I won't sleep as I've tried in the past. Anyone else been in the same position as me in the past. I'm thinking of asking for a referral to secondary care.

[Hidden]

Hi, sorry to hear of your issues.

You're right that Zopiclone can help with sleep problems.

However it's of no use in dealing with RLS symptoms. If you simply can't sleep, that's one thing, but if you can't sleep because of RLS symptoms that's another.

If your Dr knew you had RLS then he/she should never have prescribed you an antihistamine, They can make RLS worse.

By Parkinsons' meds I think you may mean dopamine agonists. If you tried one of these and it had no benefit at all, this is quite surprising. If several, more surprising.

You do fit the criteria for referral to a neurologist if you did try dopamine agonists, because they apparently failed. So a good idea to ask for a referral.

Check out this link

icd.who.int/browse11/l-m/en...

This is UK guidance for GPs on how to manage RLS.

The referral criteria are at the bottom of the page.

It's impossible for me to judge from what you've written, but sometimes when a dopamine agonist never worked, it's because the RLS diagnosis is incorrect.