dosage of pramipexole high or low

[auldreekie18]

Hi good people Auld Reekie here , I am on 180 micrograms at 17.oohrs and 350 micrograms at 24.oo hrs is this a high dose or not, cut out the 180mc and have experienced painful leg ,thigh and buttock muscles would that be the cause or I am thinking lack of calcium, God bless you all .

[Elffindoe]

Hi.

The daily dose you're taking is up the the official UK recommended maximum dose of 540mcg.

It's not "officially" too high, but it is higher than an R.S expert might recommend.

At that dose you are at high risk of developing augmentation.

A little odd that you have split the dose to 1700hrs and 2400 hours.

The recommended schedule is to take it all 2 hours before bedtime. Depending on when you go to bed that sound like one dose is too early and the other too late.

It does sound as if you may already be suffering augmentation.

In which case you should consider reducing the dose.

Youneed to do this is steps. Each time youreducethe dose you may suffer withdrawal effects. The bigger the reduction, the worse the withdrawals will be. The reductions need to be small to minimise withdrawals.

By missing out the 180mcg dose you are in effect reducing by 180mcg all in one go. That is FOUR TIMES what I'd suggest.

I suggest getting 88mcg tablets and by cutting them in half, you can reduce the dose in steps of 44mcg.

I also suggest you don't reduce the dose more often than once every two weeks.

If the pains you're getting ONLY occur aftermissing out the 180mcg, then this may be withdrawal symptoms.

Also, I suggest y9u read recent posts about others reducing a dopamine agonist, iron therapy, aggravating factors and a replacement medication.

[Wairahi]

Unlike the official UK advice and the advice of many wise people here, I am a big fan of Pramipexole, when used in conjunction with gabapentin and clonazepam, despite all of its very real side effects and drawbacks. So I guess I’ve just been lucky with it, plus I am a maverick.

Personally I doubt that your muscle pains are symptoms of augmentation or withdrawal, but what do I know?

At one stage I was up to 1200 mcg of Pramipexole and it was great for some time, but I developed augmentation, so I had to reduce to zero. I went without Pramipexole for about a year, and then started a slow build up again. After two years I am up to 325 mcg and I will keep very gradually increasing as necessary until I’m back up to 1200 mcg, then withdraw again. It’s not an easy process, but it’s a lot easier than life without what I consider to be the wonder-drug Pramipexole.

1200 mcg sounds scary, but it is a lot less than what the Parkinsons patients take. As I vaguely recall, they go up to 5000 mcg.

Best of luck!