Fantastic Improvement!

[Islay9]

Wow! What a fantastic improvement there is so far and wanted to share in case it helps anyone else. Also thanks to the members in here who gave me advice.

I’ve increased my gabapentin to 1500mg (600mg at 6pm/600mg at 8pm/300mg at10pm) and one 30 mg dihydrocodeine with the 10pm dose.

Now getting to sleep easily and only waking once or twice. The later I wake I sometimes have the legs start but can mange to get back to sleep pretty quickly.

Compared to previously being up 3-4 times a night and then being up for ages each time this is such a good improvement!

The side effects seem minimal and the only negative is I’m woozy in the evening so can’t drive.

Spoke to my GP and he’s been supportive so far. It’s useful quoting the NICE CKS information which is more up to date (as well as the updated Mayo clinic algorithm as in the UK they like to follow UK information.)

Can’t seem to post a link but it’s cks.nice.org.uk and search restless legs syndrome.

Hope this helps someone else and thanks again folks!

[Madlegs1]

Great news.

Long may it continue!

[Islay9 in reply to Madlegs1]

Thank you. Yes, early days but after 5 years of hell it’s something to celebrate!

[SueJohnson]

That's great! So pleased for you.😀

But you should take the 300 mg at 6 pm and the 600 mg at 10 pm. That might keep you from waking up. If not you could increase more.

[Islay9 in reply to SueJohnson]

Thank you so much. I did wonder which way round would be best. I’ll try that first and see how it goes.

I know that moving to pregabalin is a possibility, I think I’ve read in here that it can be taken in one dose and therefore I was thinking maybe it would be better for my evenings? Do you know what time it’s normally taken?

Sue, if you don’t mind me asking, I’ve read that you take 1500mg gabapentin, is there a reason you’ve stayed with that? Because I’ve not had too many symptoms I’m hesitant to change but if I could get my evenings back it might be worth it!

Thanks 🙏

[SueJohnson in reply to Islay9]

Yes you could switch to pregabalin by dividing the gabapentin dose by 6 and then take it 1 to 2 hours before bed.

I don't need more than 1500 mg. It completely controls my symptoms.

[WideBody]

I was taking 1500-1800mg of gabapentin before I switched to pregabalin. I was so happy. IIRC - 300 mg of pregabalin 1-2 hours before bed, was a lot more consistent than missing a dose of gabapentin and not taking enough.

[Islay9 in reply to WideBody]

Great to hear!

[PoorRichard]

Fyi: cks.nice.org.uk is not available in the U.S.

[Islay9 in reply to PoorRichard]

I’m in the UK. The Mayo clinic is the US.