Gabapentin

[Blu34]

I am currently taking 5 300mg Gabapentin a day. I'm also taking 0.5 mg of pramipexole 5 times a day and hydrocodone 3 times a day which helps. Gabapentin alone didn't help me but I hope it does you.

[Joolsg]

5 ×0.5 mg Pramipexole will make your RLS so intense. I'll bet you can't sit still.Whoever put you on that dose needs to be sent on a compulsory RLS education course. Gabapentin will do nothing for you while you're on such a high dose of Pramipexole.

Read this article by Dr. Winkelman, a top RLS expert. These drugs are no longer prescribed for a very good reason. They make RLS 1000% worse for most people.

sleepreviewmag.com/sleep-tr...

[HeBgBgirl in reply to Joolsg]

Totally agree!!! I take .5 before bed. That’s it! Sometimes I’ll need another 1/2 of .5 but no more. There’s so much this doctor doesn’t know and understand it seems. The Hydro yes will definitely help and GABA. But not all that pramipexole!!!! Goodness gracious!!!

[SueJohnson]

.5 mg of pramipexole times 5 is 5 times the accepted maximum dose. I agree with Joolsg. That's criminal. I see you were on 1200 mg gabapentin 2 years ago before you started pramipexole. The reason it didn't work for you may be because you were taking 300 mg 4 times daily instead of taking it all at night in two 600 mg doses 2 hours apart. And although 1200 mg even taken all at night helps many people, according to the Mayo Clinic Updated Algorithm on RLS: "Most RLS patients require 1200 to 1800 mg of gabapentin" so you were on the low end. I would strongly suggest you reduce your pramipexole to at least .5 mg daily. And if you need to take it 5 times a day you are probably augmenting and need to get off it. The signs of augmentation are when you have to keep increasing your dose to get relief, or when your symptoms occur earlier in the day or there is a shorter period of rest or inactivity before symptoms start or when they move to other parts of your body (arms, trunk or face) or when the intensity of your symptoms worsen. To come off pramipexole, reduce by .125 mg every 2 weeks or so. You will have increased symptoms. You may need to reduce more slowly or with a smaller amount. Wait until the increased symptoms from each reduction has settled before going to the next one. You will suffer and may need to increase your hydrocodone temporarily to help out with the symptoms especially as you near the end. Check out the Mayo Clinic Updated Algorithm on RLS which will tell you everything you want to know including about its treatment and refer your doctor to it if needed as many doctors do not know much about RLS or are not uptodate on it as yours obviously isn't or s/he would never have prescribed a dopamine agonist especially at that high a dose at Https://mayoclinicproceedings.org/a...

[SueJohnson]

Have your had your ferritin tested? Improving your ferritin to 100 or more helps 60% of people with RLS and in some cases completely eliminates their symptoms. When you see your doctor ask for a full iron panel. Stop taking any iron supplements including multivitamins that have iron in them 48 hours before the test, fast after midnight and have your test in the morning. When you get the results, ask for your ferritin and transferrin saturation (TSAT) numbers. You want your transferrin saturation to be over 20% but less than 45% and your ferritin to be at least 100. If they are not, post them here and we can give you some advice. Improving your ferritin is one of the ways to help with your augmentation.

[kygigi3 in reply to SueJohnson]

sorry I was using speech to text. I meant I know someone that has had heroin withdrawals that were not near as bad as the gabapentin.

[SueJohnson in reply to kygigi3]

Your experience and I am so very sorry you experienced that is why one should never just stop taking gabapentin but should always reduce it very very slowly like 25 mg every 2 weeks.

[kygigi3]

warning! I took Gabapentin for 10 yrs for RLS. Once it’s in your system for awhile, when you decide to stop because it’s not working anymore, you will go through horrific withdrawals that will make you think you are dying. I did this for nine days before I ended up in the emergency room. They figured out that it was the withdrawals from the gabapentin. I’m talking it is so bad that you can’t even lift your head up, and you have to keep a big towel with you at all times to wipe all of the water pouring out of your body, I’ve heard somebody say that they had had here with the girls before that really not as bad as gabapentin withdrawals. On top of that, beware of the nerve damage that it causes. And severe nerve damage that cannot be fixed from this medication.

[SueJohnson]

If one reduces gabapentin very very slowly there will have no withdrawal effects.