Restless legs

[Soosle]

I have Restless legs. Am taking Ropinerole. Want to limit the amount or stop altogether. Is the other medication that works as good. Will I have them for life. What can I do to reduce symptoms. Dont get much sleep.

[Hidden]

Hi Soosie, if you want to limit/stop Ropinirole this is I believe a good idea.

I do wonder however, why you want to do this.

If you want to do it because you're suffering augmentation this is significant because it may limit your future treatment options. I hope you aren't.

I'm not sure what you already know so will say that ropinirole is one of 3 medicines known as "Dopamine Agonists" (DAs). They all work the same way and all have the same complications and side effects.

The most common major complication is "augmentation".

If you want to switch from ropinirole to some other medication, then if you have suffered augmentation already it is highly inadvisable to switch to either of the two others i.e. pramipexole or rotigotine.

If you haven't yet suffered augmentation then I'd still suggest NOT switching to another DA, becasue there's still a risk of augmentation, less so for rotigotine, but more so for pramipexole.

If you want to switch to a another first line medication the recommended alternatives are either pregabalin or gabapentin. These work differently and don't have the same high risk of augmentation. They're called alpha 2 delta ligands (A2Ds).

They can be as equally effective as the DAs, but, if you've suffered augmentation already, then they may not work for you. There's no predicting this!

They don't come without some drawbacks.

Opioids are accepted as a second line treatment for RLS, i.e. when first line treatments have failed.

If you decide on switching to an A2D then note that you can start one before stopping ropinirole, they take about 3-4 weeks to start working, you need a sufficient dose and it may not be fully effective while suffering augmentation or withdrawing from a DA.

Hopefully you realise that weaning off a DA can cause severe withsrawal effects and the faster you withdraw, the worse they will be.

It may not be entirely relevant ot your case but you may wish to read another reply I've posted to another member earlier today. I think you may find it helpful and it will save me having to write it all again.

Follow this link

healthunlocked.com/rlsuk/po...