requip patch

[help3]

just seen my pulmonary dr. he put me on reequip patch. for last 8 months i have been reducing down off ropinole. finally stopped taking righ after Christmas. insomnia has took over so i have been taking .5 mg ropinole twice a week due to not able to sleep. has anyone tried this patch for rls

[SueJohnson]

The requip patch is basically ropinirole that is released more slowly. If you don't need it during the day, and don't need it every day, I don't see any advantage to it but ask your doctor about this. You might want to consider switching to the neupro patch instead which has less of a chance of leading to augmentation. In both patches some people have trouble keeping the patches on.

[help3 in reply to SueJohnson]

thanks

[Joolsg]

The requip patch is the Neupro patch (Rotigitone). If you experienced augmentation on Ropinirole you would be better on a different category of meds like gabapentin or pregabalin or low dose opioids.Rotigitone will also cause augmentation eventually and you'll be back to square one.

Better to stay off all dopamine agonists.

[help3 in reply to Joolsg]

for some reason they will not give me low dose opioids.

[Joolsg in reply to help3]

Well try increasing the pregabalin to 300mg at night while slowly reducing Ropinirole and the patch.There are doctors in the USA who will prescribe low dose opioids if pregabalin and raising your serum ferritin above 100, preferably 250, doesn't work.

Join rls.org and they have help groups and a list of doctors who are knowledgeable and willing to prescribe low dose opioids.

Look up Dr. Winkelman's opioid study via Massachussetts General.

[Hidden]

Sounds like you’re doing really well - relatively speaking. Do you have insomnia or RLS or both? I’m assuming both if the twice a week ropinirole helps you. First let me congratulate you on stopping both the DA and the opiate. I read how your RLS was brought on by statins at about age 45. Please don’t go back on the opiate unless you can’t stand it any longer. I consider you to have mild RLS, maybe almost no symptoms at baseline, and each day you are off the DAs and the opiates is another day closer to baseline.

Look at my profile page by tapping on my name - it will pop right up. The iron never fails me and many others. It should relieve the RLS in one hour if you follow the guidance on my profile page. I do not recommend trying to get your ferritin way high. It is that small amount of what I call unbound iron in your bloodstream that counts. It drops at night and for those pre-disposed to RLS this drop can bring on symptoms. Take a little bioavailable iron and symptoms MAY disappear. I also recommend to NOT eat a large evening meal and to try to fast after 7pm until breakfast - so roughly about 12 hours, EVERY night. Good luck.

[Momof10 in reply to Hidden]

Hi! I have been on and off taking iron to help with rls for about a year now, it seems to help but I always have to stop because of constipation. Do you experience constipation from iron supplements? If so what helps? And exactly what iron supplement do you take? I’ve been off requip for about 2 years, I never want to get back on it but occasionally, if I have a few bad nights in a row, I’ll break down and take .25 mg. to get through the night. I’ve tried gabapentin and I could barely sleep, it made the rls worse. It seems like I’m just constantly trying something to help and it might work for a little while (and I’ll think I’ve found the cure) and then rls starts up again with a vengeance.

[macramegirl]

No, I have never heard that it comes in a patch! Does it work all day long? Do you still get the tingly feeling? Are you in the US?

[help3]

my insurance not cover and i found out going to charge $ 900.00 for 30 days so i called my doctor and canceled waiting on his reply