Kratom for RLS

[Josana13]

can anybody tell me what medications have adverse affects with Kratom and which Kratom works well for RLS and insomnia. My doctor refuses to give me anything for insomnia other than the antidepressants that make RLS worse. Reason being is because I am taking Oxy for pain. Thank you

[ChrisColumbus]

A similar question was asked by a UK member a couple of days ago (kratom isn't actually legal here and has to be sourced from Holland, unlike the situation in most of the US). I don't know whether there's information in this chain that will help:

healthunlocked.com/rlsuk/po...

Perhaps US users like TeddiJ might be able to advise?

[Boldgirl45 in reply to ChrisColumbus]

isn’t there some kind of tea that you can get in the uk that gets around that ? Interested for my mum x

[ChrisColumbus in reply to Boldgirl45]

Kratom imports from Holland are often either described as 'tea' or 'for scientific research' or as 'not for human consumption'. The latter caused a couple of members some consternation!

[Boldgirl45 in reply to ChrisColumbus]

Thank you!

[Heavyd65 in reply to ChrisColumbus]

There is three kinds of Kratom leafs. Red Mengda is what you need at bedtime. Red is for bed..the white is for light (daytime) and the green is for in between (night and day) it is sold in every corner smoke shop in the US. Buy the capsules. I take six and it works in twenty minutes. I also take a low dose of Pramiprexel (30 mg) for long term sleep. I sleep all night. Opiates also are extremely effective for treatment. See what works for you. Everyone is different.

[ChrisColumbus in reply to Heavyd65]

The above information may be useful to Josana13 who asked the question about kratom

[kygigi3]

I haven’t found any issues with Kratom and my meds. And I take a lot of meds!

[knob]

Huge list of drug interactions here: kratom.org/interactions/

[Josana13]

Thank you, Knob. Looks like I won’t be taking Kratom because it highly interacts with my current medications. I tried the Red Vein and a couple of minutes later went into what seemed a panic attack (high anxiety) and trouble breathing. At this point, I take nothing for RLS. I am Sleeping 0 to three hours a night and suffering greatly. With both RLS and insomnia. Tried Buprenorphine - interacts with Oxy. Gabapentin - no help and now Kratom interacts with everything I am taking. Doctor won’t prescribe a sleep aid because of Oxy. Please does anybody have any suggestions. I am pretty desperate.

[SueJohnson in reply to Josana13]

I remember I suggested you increase your gabapentin. You apparently didn't want to. You might want to reconsider. Also the blood thinner I recommended to you dipyridamole is worth trying. It has helped some people on this forum and another forum I am on and has completely eliminated RLS in some. In the winter 2022 edition of Night Walkers, the publication of RLS.org there is an article by Sergi Ferre about dipyridamole discussing the effectiveness of it in a 2 week double blind placebo controlled study showing it completely ameliorated all symptoms. The study was by Dr. Garcia Borreguero movementdisorders.onlinelib... sciencedirect.com/science/a... movementdisorders.onlinelib...

[Josana13 in reply to SueJohnson]

Sue, I have increased the Gabapentin to 1800mg. How much more should I take? I don’t remember you mentioning the blood thinner, but these days I’m not remembering much of anything. I told my husband about the blood thinner and he is going with me to my pcp on Thursday. Hopefully he will prescribe it. I am in the process of looking for another care team. These doctors get angry when I don’t take what they prescribe which aggravates RLS. RLS Foundation sent me physician booklets for them, hopefully they will read them. Hubby wants me to go to Mayo Clinic in Arizona. Maybe there I can find somebody I can work with. Thanks for your suggestions. Will keep you informed on outcome.

[SueJohnson in reply to Josana13]

I assume you are taking 600 mg 1 to 2 hours before bed, 600 mg 2 hours before that and the last 600 mg 2 hours before that. You could try increasing it by 100 mg every couple of days to 2100 mg adding the additional amount 2 hours before the first dose, but unfortunately if that doesn't work after so many years on pramipexole, your dopamine receptors are probably damaged which is why it is not working. Then you will want to come off it very slowly to avoid withdrawal effects. If you do so, you won't have any. If it does work, you could switch to pregabalin which can be taken all at one time. Divide the gabapentin amount by 6 to get the correct amount of pregabalin.