8th day without requip now what?

[Asquiva]

Today is day 8 off requip. It is the first night I had 3.5 consecutive hours of sleep. Hopefully I will continue to improve.

Despite taking 1800 mg of gabapentin stretched out over 8 hours before bedtime, 100mg of tramadol at bedtime, and a few grams of kratom at midnight when I wake up with bad rls, I am still having severe rls in the middle of the night. I am hoping this settles down in the coming days but I have heard that most recovery is in the first week. Maybe my baseline is just this bad.

[SueJohnson]

It takes several weeks or more after you are off requip for your RLS to settle and for gabapentin to help. I am surprised though that the tramadol and the kratom haven't helped.

[Asquiva in reply to SueJohnson]

It definitely does help. I think when I wake up and it’s fierce, it may be at the time it’s wearing off.

[Joolsg]

It takes at least 3 weeks after the last dose of Ropinirole for withdrawal symptoms to settle. I'd say for many it takes months.So it's still very early days.

[DataRN]

What was the last dose of Requip that you took?

[Asquiva in reply to DataRN]

The last dose of requip was .125mg 9 days ago. My original dose was 1mg but I had tapered down over a year.

[DataRN in reply to Asquiva]

Crazy stuff. I feel for you. I took Requip for 14 years and it took me 3 years to reduce my dose from 4mg to zero. I had gotten to zero after year 2 but after 2 weeks I was in misery, even taking Gabapentin. I had to increase Requip back up to 0.25mg and then taper down even more slowly. Eventually I was taking a sliver of a pill every other day. But, now I haven’t taken any Requip since March. Yay! Gabapentin wasn’t the answer for me - neither was Lyrica. Methadone has been the game changer for me. Reading on here that RLS sufferers in the UK can’t get low dose opioids makes my heart ache. Hang in there!! You have come such a long way!

[Asquiva]

Wow that’s awful. Last night was the first night I didn’t wake up in a kicking fit. My script is for 3 tramadol a day and I’m using all 3, along with gabaoentin, just to get through the night.

[TeddiJ]

Hi and congrats on your progress thus far. I use kratom all night long-so I can piece together 8 hours of sleep. Recently I discovered that if I take kratom powder along with kratom capsules, it can stretch out the relief; they take longer to work so you can sleep a bit longer. Another poster just told me that taking kratom with grapefruit juice is ideal, as it makes it last longer. I will be trying that trick asap!

I know-I have had such a rough time trying to figure out what to do/take after getting off the DA's. It wasn't the "straight-line-back-to-baseline rls" and back to natural solutions that I had planned on.

I am experimenting with taking berberine every day for a few months, to try to re-set my receptors, based on some great advice I got on here. You may want to check that out yourself!

[Asquiva in reply to TeddiJ]

I think I was lucky because the minute I had even a hint of augmentation I was like “I’m done” and started tapering. I think the kratom has helped more than anything.

[TeddiJ in reply to Asquiva]

Hi. I didn't taper much at all-I had methadone prescribed for a while and that allowed me to get off of the DA's quickly. The problems came in after I got off of them and after the methadone-which is why your question grabbed me. I was/am trying to see what baseline rls is and how long it takes to settle down the receptors-if that is even possible?! I have been off of the DA's for 3 solid months but I also was off of them for 6 months last year. I had some sporadic use of them early this year due to running out of methadone-I regret going back to them!

Yes, the kratom has been a lifesaver! I also feel like the rls/plmd is less intense since I stopped Horizant-which may or may not be true and doesn't make sense.

I hope things settle soon for you and you can figure out the meds that work...

[Hidden in reply to TeddiJ]

Great news that it’s less intense Teddi. Could stopping the DHEA have helped too? Or maybe the morning berberine —which I imagine takes about two weeks to begin to work-might be making a difference as well. Keep going!

[TeddiJ in reply to Hidden]

Thank you so much, SA! It could be? Yes, it does seem less intense, in that the movements are not as strong. Although it still wakes me all night long. We shall see how the berberine factors in, and I hope it DOES, obviously!

[Hidden in reply to TeddiJ]

How long have you been off the DHEA now?

[TeddiJ in reply to Hidden]

looks like about 11 days or so?

[Hidden in reply to TeddiJ]

I think you can expect to continue to improve. If you can hold off, I would try not to take Kratom except for sleep and to try to keep moving if the RLS hits you early in the evening. Also, I would take the iron first and see if that gets you anywhere then take however much Kratom you need to get you the rest of the way there. You’re headed in the right direction. It’s almost time to celebrate. 🥳

[TeddiJ in reply to Hidden]

Thank you!

[Hidden in reply to TeddiJ]

Right on time my RLS kicked in at midnight. I purposely didn’t take iron earlier. I just took one teaspoon of cream of tartar in water. I believe I’ve done this in the past without relief. However, this time I will take another teaspoon in 30 minutes. Some people swear by this - and it is pure potassium bitartrate so it makes sense why it should work. In VERY large quantities potassium is actually well known to evoke a pop of dopamine release. I’m hoping that maybe one or two teaspoons might be something you can add to your arsenal.

[TeddiJ in reply to Hidden]

I did buy some potassium powder based on a poster's experience on here-but it didn't seem to do anything.I'll pick up some cream of tartar and try it! Thanks!