Memory Loss

[DogBella]

Has anyone experienced memory loss with ropinirole? Not sure if it is caused by this drug. I am weaning myself off and my memory is getting worse.

[ChrisColumbus]

I have no direct experience of Ropinirole/Requip but 'common' side effects in treatment of Parkinson's with Ropinirole (according to Drugs.com) include amnesia, impaired concentration, confusion, anxiety, abnormal dreaming, nervousness. These side effects are not listed against RLS: perhaps they are therefore more associated with Requip XL, or perhaps there hasn't been as much research on RLS patients? (The British National Formulary doesn't list these particular side effects).

Memory problems have been reported associated with dopamine agonists in general, although there have been debates as to how much they should be linked to the drugs themselves and how much to disrupted and poor sleep patterns.

Hopefully forum members will have their own experiences to report...

[Boldgirl45 in reply to ChrisColumbus]

Following 👍

[TeddiJ]

I feel like my memory has been terrible this past year...during which time I stopped ROP and PRAM.

I don't know if it is from stopping the DA's, the constantly interrupted sleep, or if it is from the opioids, kratom, horizant, ambien, thc, delta 8-or whatever else I have thrown at the RLS every night.

I know this isn't that helpful but just wanted to commiserate!

[Heideinthewild in reply to TeddiJ]

there is a class action lawsuit forming against gabepentine for memory loss. on tiktok look up claudia a merandi who is a chronic pain patient advocate - she posts things about it. she is very anti gabepentine. I find that kratom (which works great for rls for me) and requip and gabepentine all causes hand tremors and memory loss for me so I dont take any of them. my mom was on gabepentine for 10 yrs and is now in memory loss care home. It runs in our family but I never had any problem with memory loss or essential tremor until taking those 3 things.

[John_naylor]

I am aged 70, have had serious RLS for over 15 years and my memory is causing me great concern. Have been through the DA’s, augmentation and am now suffering with tolerance of my daily Tramadol/ Gabapentin. Not sure what is causing memory loss but I imagine it is my sleep pattern. First noticed the problem about 5 years ago when returning from holidays I was asked about them and couldn’t recall any of the names of where we had been. It’s now worse and I can’t recall people’s names so tend to avoid such discussions. I now try to remember the first letter of places or names!

[SueJohnson in reply to John_naylor]

It's possible it is the gabapentin. It happens to a few people on it.

[John_naylor in reply to SueJohnson]

Thanks, Sue, never thought of that! Wonder if I ever came off Gabapentin my memory might improve again…

[SueJohnson in reply to John_naylor]

It may or it may not. If you decide to come off gabapentin, do so very slowly or you will have withdrawal symptoms in addition to RLS symptoms. If you do it slowly enough , you shouldn't have any except the RLS. It's also possible it is the tramadol. You might want to switch to a different opioid to see if that is the case before deciding it is the gabapentin. If you decide it is the gabapentin, another thing you could try is to switch to pregabalin. Although they are basically the same drug except you don't need to divide the doses, and the side effects are basically the same, some people find that the side effects that bother them on one don't bother them on the other. Divide the gabapentin amount by 6 to get the correct dose.

[John_naylor in reply to SueJohnson]

Many thanks. My GP wants me to take a Tramadol holiday and see if it is more effective afterwards and basically doesn’t like me being on an opioid. I am willing to try but very slowly. He has increased my Gabapentin from 1200 to 1800mg to help me and I have arranged liquid Tramadol so I can reduce slowly. Will see what happens!

[Heideinthewild in reply to John_naylor]

yes - there is correlation. there is a class action lawsuit forming against the makers of gabepentine because of memory loss issues.

[Hidden]

I've experienced a very selective memory loss when trying Gabapentin & Lyrica. Quite concerning --- no recall of having a mammogram in 2017, and a replacement of full upper denture in Sep 2016!!! Don't know what else I've forgotten! Very disturbing. Another side-effect of them both was a loss of spatial awareness, resulting in clumsiness and falls.3