RLS Requip (the devil med) and then Gabapentin(my savior)

[Maystamper1]

I was on Requip for years always inching up in the dose as I went. It really didn’t stop the pain or movements. Then I had a blast of some kind of mental dysfunction and I began to gamble. I gambled away $200,000.00 of my retirement money. I also acted different. More than one person told me that. I lost a close friend, almost my spouse, etc. I looked it up as a side effect. More and more people were reporting this. I tried to find a lawyer to take my case with no luck. My md switched me to Gabapentin so I slowly tapered off the other med.

Guess what? My restless leg symptoms stopped completely after one month.

I have not had jumping, pain, etc for the past year and 4 months.

I am really sad about all my friends and family went through.

Good luck all! You really have to keep trying!

[SueJohnson]

I am so sorry for what you went through and you doctor was definitely negligent in not warning you of that danger.

I really do think you should be able to find a lawyer to sue the heck out of that doctor. Perhaps one will take it on contingency. And sue also for emotional distress.

That's great that you are finally off it and have found that gabapentin works.

[pyramidhiker in reply to SueJohnson]

Hi Sue and others in this thread,

I am very sorry that the medication resulted in such a loss. However, a lawsuit against the physician also assumes you are not doing your own due diligence regarding ANY medications or recommendations from any physician. We must be skeptical partners in our healthcare as well. That is why this forum and the RLS foundation are so critical in our decision making. Physicians are not omniscient and we should not expect them to be so. I am not sure any of us know everything about our vocation or specialty. Please continue to share experiences and those docs that may have more extensive knowledge with RLS. I wish the best to all of us as well struggle with this affliction.

[Joolsg]

I am so sorry to hear this. There have been thousands of cases in the USA and hundreds here in the UK for failure to warn of the VERY high rates of Impulse Control Disorder.Please see another lawyer. Here in the UK the time limit is 3 years from realising the drugs caused the gambling to bring action. You can't sue the pharmaceutical company, because they put warnings in their med leaflets around 2012 BUT you can sue the doctors who prescribed requip, if they failed to warn and monitor you.

I'm pleased you are now free of Requip and doing well on gabapentin.

Thanks for sharing your story. More people need to realise how these dangerous drugs completely change our brains and make us act totally out of character.

[Jumpey]

Thanks for sharing your story so that others can learn ftom it.I'm sorry you suffered. And pleased gabapentin works for you.Hope you can find justice.

[DicCarlson]

From Wikipedia...

"In November 2012, GlaxoSmithKline was ordered by a Rennes appeals court to pay Frenchman Didier Jambart 197,000 euros ($255,824); Jambart had taken ropinirole from 2003 to 2010 and exhibited risky hypersexual behavior and gambled excessively until stopping the medication."

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ropin...

[LotteM]

I second the other replies. I just want to add the suggestion to get in touch with the US patient organisation, rls.org. They are large and active and can probably advise you on legal matters as well.