This is a progress report in my battle to quit Pramipexole:
TIME: I have done just 6 days on a reduced amount of Pramipexole ( one 0.088 tablet at night ) This allows me to sleep for most of the night.
PLAN: to stay on one tablet for the next 10-14 days, then move to half a tablet for the next 10-14 days. Then to move off completely. Whooooo!
THE WITHDRAWAL: feeling uncomfortable all day. I would compare it to a bad case of flu. Symptoms: arms shake, legs shake, constant pain in thigh regions, feel weak, panic attacks morning and night. The worst part is trying to fill the day when it’s so difficult to concentrate. Hence this diary.
WORRIES: will my doctor agree to some pain relief? Is taking a low dose opiate a good idea. If not what else can I try?
GOOD NEWS: the battle has started; I’m moving in the right direction.
Written by
Lineker
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My memory was that you had problems sleeping with gabapentin. Did you try pregabalin? If you had problems with them buprenorphine would be a better bet.
I've literally just came off pramopexole, I felt they were making my head fuzzy and being forgetful. I wasn't told yo wean off them, instead my doctor put me on Neupro patches, so far so good, but don't work when sweaty lol. Fall off 🤣 🏴
With the help of people on this site, I am also in the process of withdrawing from a dopamine agonist, Neupro. To aid in this transition, my doctor prescribed a 20mg Buprenorphine 7 day patch. After 7 weeks of cutting back, I am down from a 2mg patch to a 1/4 mg patch starting today. So far the RLS symptoms have been tolerable. Much milder than what you are describing. And much milder than the symptoms I experienced 5 years ago when my doctor suggested I stop Pramipexole cold turkey. As SueJohnson said, a low dose opioid can help. For me, the Buprenorphine patch has softened the landing quite a bit. Good luck to you! It is a difficult transition but I can already tell that it will be well worth it. R
This is a great response and made me feel so much more positive. I am so pleased to hear that the Buprenorphine has helped with the withdrawal. Thanks for taking the time to get in touch. Nice guitar by the way!
Because of other peoples experiences and your own worries about how you will manage without the medication you will probably be on high alert for any issues which feel like withdrawal and just generally hyper sensitive. That’s entirely normal and is one reason you need to go slowly, so you can work out what is normal and what is due to changes in the drug. You will also acclimatise to new levels and they will start to feel more normal if you go slowly. Some of the things that you think are down to withdrawal may in fact be other factors like normal aches, viruses etc so leaving it a while will help identify these. I think it’s good to keep a log or record of where you are to help you rationalise what you are feeling and additionally, it can help to reduce your focus on issues. If you write them down and sort of “dump” them in your log. It’s also important to focus on how you are feeling at the moment, rather than building a picture of everything you’ve experienced so far, combined with your worries about what you may feel. Until you experience something it hasn’t happened so it’s important to stay grounded with how you are feeling at the moment. I have found meditation useful when going through periods like this either reducing medication or dealing with pain and one of the key learning for me was to try to let things go that weren’t actually happening now. Try not to worry because that in itself makes us more keyed up and hypersensitive. Many people have successfully come off DAs and are now happier for it. Good luck.
This is such great advice. You should be a doctor! It is such a skill to move away from a constant 'high alert' situation where it is easy to ramp up every imagined issue. This morning, these emails have proved a valuable distraction. This afternoon I shall try some meditation and this evening I will try and stay in the moment while watching the rugby. Maybe tonight I'll buy one of those T-shirts with the advice -" Let that shit go."
People like you restore my faith in the human race. Thanks so much.
Good job so far! And you have very organized thinking through crazy withdrawals. Yes and yes...a low dose opioid is a good idea. There are dozens of testimonials on this site that supports it. No risk of dependency at that level for RLS relief, unless you are an addict😉. It will assist in the final stage of withdrawals. Btw....I had those symptoms plus sweating profusely then chilled like mad. Do you as well? Just curious I suppose. Good luck!
I used to have to go stand outside on my deck (in 🇨🇦) at -15C to cool off the sweats! Yup, funny when we can look in the rear view mirror of our lives at those moments!! You too will look back and go Yup, I succeeded.
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