Sifrol Tabs

[Happychappy1945]

Hi all, I am wondering what medication I can take instead of sifrol ? I also take 250mcgs tab per night, plus 1/2 if needed. and I take 25mgs pregabalin 2 morn, 3 at ni ght, and tapendol sr 50mgs evenings.

Thank you, I look forward to hearing from you .

[Madlegs1]

Sifrol is Mirapex.Tapendol is an opioid.

I'm not sure why you are on 3 different medications. Any one of them would control normal RLS.

I would suggest that you taper off the sifrol as soon as possible.

It may just be possible with the tapendol, to go cold turkey, but I would rather go down by small amounts every two weeks.

Others will come on with more specific advice.

Good luck.

[Happychappy1945 in reply to Madlegs1]

Thank you, I take pregablin for nerve pain as I have a pinched nerve in my groin and tapendol for the pain in my legs and sifrol to control RLS. With all this medication I still have sleepless nights! my legs just burn from top to my ankles, plus jump all over the place.

[Happychappy1945 in reply to Madlegs1]

Thank you

[Joolsg]

Sadly, with that dose of Sifrol, you will be experiencing severe RLS, caused by Sifrol itself.Ask your doctors to monitor your withdrawal because it is hellish for the vast majority and involves at least 4 nights with little to no sleep. Exhaustion causes falls. I had several while going through withdrawal.

If your Doctor is willing to learn about RLS, direct him/her to RLS-UK website and rls.org, the US website.

Buprenorphine, a low dose opioid, is highly effective at low dose for RLS AND it can eliminate the severe withdrawal symptoms. So first ask your doctor if they will prescribe low dose Buprenorphine. I know we have several Australian visitors to this forum who are taking Buprenorphine. The average effective dose is 1 to 1.5mg. I do very well on 0.4mg.

If your doctor agrees to Buprenorphine, you can withdraw from Sifrol more quickly.

If he/she refuses, you will have to withdraw very, very slowly over at least 6 months.

You swap long release Sifrol for the equivalent dose of normal release Sifrol..Then, reduce by half a 0.088 (0.125) pill every 2 weeks. You may need to increase the opioid pain killer you take to settle the withdrawals. You can expect the RLS to increase in severity at each dose reduction. Wait for it to 'settle' before reducing again.

Start pregabalin or gabapentin 4 weeks before you drop the last dose of Sifrol. Average pregabalin dose for RLS is around 150mg, the max dose is 450mg, taken at night. They take 3 to 4 weeks to be fully effective, BUT they won't help settle the RLS until around a month after your last Sifrol pill. That's why Buprenorphine would be a safer option for you, to avoid severe withdrawals and potentially disastrous falls.

In the meantime, ensure serum ferritin is above 200ųg/L via pills or iron infusion. So arrange full iron panel blood tests asap. (Morning, fasting.)

[Happychappy1945 in reply to Joolsg]

Thank you. I will try and talk to my Dr, but I'm afraid he won't listen to me.

[Joolsg in reply to Happychappy1945]

Ask a friend or family member to go with you, armed with all the information from here and RLS-UK website.I know the medical profession aren't taught about RLS or the dangers of dopamine agonists (Sifrol) but they have a duty of care to treat you properly and avoid suffering.

[Happychappy1945 in reply to Joolsg]

Thank you I'll try next I go to see him, cross your fingers he'll listen

[SueJohnson]

I previously gave you advice which is basically the same as Joolsg.

[Happychappy1945 in reply to SueJohnson]

Thanks Sue , yes you have given me that same advice before, I'm afraid I couldn't find it on my computer so I am now printing all the information which is given to me, I can read it again and try to understand it better.

[DicCarlson]

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