Hello I am fairly new here. I am wondering what besides restless legs can this drug cause while tapering? I cut 25% of my dose and my depression has increased immensely. Hardly able to function. I have horrible flu like symptoms like nausea and no appetite at all until late at night. I am very fatigued and weak, in a huge brain fog. I was feeling poorly before starting the taper thinking that the Pram was causing many of my symptoms but man I am much worse as I have started tapering. I wonder if I am experiencing DAWs ? am also on Klonopin and Mirtazapine along with Pram. None of which have helped with my depression. My dr was using Pram off label for depression hoping it would increase dopamine and help things out. No such luck. Now I am so messed up trying to get off it.
Anyone have horrible mental issues while tapering? I have decided to reinstate to my original .50mg dose and start over with doing a much slower taper. It is so hard to cut low doses so am considering going to a compounding pharmacy to have it be turned into liquid form and then be able to take smaller tapers.
I feel so scared and alone in this whole ordeal. Thankfully I have not had much rls or any compulsive disorders while on it. It’s just a drug that I don’t need to be on any longer. I was put on it 1yr ago to stop side effects of another psych med and to see if it would help depression. Wish I never started this drug!
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I went back up to my original dose .50mg last night hoping I would feel better but it’s not and the sedation is even worse.Maybe it takes a few days?? Mirtazapine is not helping things and is a big part of the daytime sedation. Does Pram normally cause sedation as well? I don’t want to taper too fast but I also need to be able to get off of it so I can start tapering mirtazapine sooner than later.
I have a hard time cutting .125mg pill in half as it is never equal cuts. Do you have any knowledge about getting a jewelry scale to taper correctly? Like how much to take each night? I guess it would help to get .125mg in half dose correct?
I am also looking into getting it compounded to liquid but going so slow with liquid like less then 10% a month seems like it will be taking quite a long time to get off. But it may be safer??
Tapering 1/2 of .125mg every 2 or 3 weeks has done well for most I guess you are saying?
I am sorry to hear this.I've NEVER heard of any doctor prescribing Pramipexole ( or other DAs) for depression.
If I were you, I'd get a second opinion asap.
If you don't have RLS, then getting off Pramipexole won't cause the usual hellish physical withdrawal, but it WILL cause mental symptoms as your brain is being deprived of that extra dopamine.
As Madlegs suggests, slow it down.
For RLS, we suggest a withdrawal schedule of half a 0.125 pill every 2 to 3 weeks.
You will experience lower mood so ensure your doctor monitors the withdrawal.
Thank you for your reply. Did you taper off Pramipexole as well?
If so, did you have an increase in depression?
I went back up to my starting dose. .50mg last night after cutting 25% for last 2 weeks. I was hoping to feel better but it has been one of my worst days. Worst nausea ever and very sedated and weak along with the very low mood.
I am going to re start the taper after a few days and try cutting the .125mg in half but that has been hard to do as it doesn’t cut even. I have heard of getting the jewelry scale but not sure how much to reduce using that!
Any reason you can’t taper off Mirtazapine first? Let things settle down with the Pramipexole re-instatement first. I don’t have experience with tapering off both, just Pramipexole. But it sounds like your body is very sensitive to that dosage…
Unfortunately mirtazapine will be a very long taper and not sure I should stay on Pram for that long. Mirtazapine is a horrible drug to taper and I am going to be tapering very slowly and I am on a much higher dose than Pram. I was hoping to taper Pram slowly but not be a huge amount of time like Mirt is going to be. I am sensitive to everything and I think I am my worst enemy worrying about it. I have already been on Pram for over a year and it is not doing any good for me but because I already suffer from depression I worry I will end up with DAWS. Unfortunately my dr doesn’t know much about Pram as it was the hospital dr who prescribed it to me. He feels like it’s important to not be on it long term.
How did you taper Pram and did you have any issues with becoming depressed when you tapered? We may have to try adding a med or supplement that helps with dopamine as I taper. I guess today was worse because I re instated and my brain is reacting? Do you think it’s wise to maybe wait a week or so before trying to start the slower/safer taper?
My taper went unusually fast. Started off with hydrocodone to help, but switched to buprenorphine and was able to go from .25mg (that was frequently becoming .5 or .75 with augmentation) to zero in 3 weeks, after being on it for 12 years.
I did have depression and tried bupropion for it. But that made the RLS act up. The depression eased up after 6 weeks or so.
My wife is also extremely sensitive to drugs like you, so I understand your dilemma a bit. I can only guess that your taper off Pramipexole shouldn’t take too long because you’ve only been on it for a year and you don’t have to worry about RLS symptoms as a major issue during withdrawal. Hopefully knowing that it is a temporary condition, along with trying all the non-pharmaceutical depression fighting techniques, will make it bearable.
RLS is one of the most unfair conditions because it hits you hardest when you are tired and/or vulnerable. The advice you have received about slow reduction in dose is good, but in my case I have never been able to actually get low enough to even change medication. The side effects are numerous, but not universal to everyone. I would encourage you to read the whole document which comes with your medication. Some of them you may realise apply to you and some you will not have connected them before. Most, I hope, you will not experience. Good luck.
Are your symptoms mostly increased rls when tapering? I was prescribed the med off label for depression but it has not helped and my dr wants me off before it causes more trouble the longer I am on it. Did you have issues with depression as you tapered? What dose are you on and for how long. I don’t have the document with my medication but I guess I could google it. Fortunately I don’t have issues with rls but I do have severe depression.
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