Update on appointment at Vanderbilt QCC

[Flowergarden2]

I have secured an appointment for a 2nd opinion with Dr Arthur Walters who is the Director of Vanderbilt's RLS QCC. This will be a telemedicine visit so I do not need to travel 2 hours to be seen again. I was initially seen by Dr Kishan Tarpara at Vanderbilt but was very disappointed that he would not give me an iron infusion. So I will see what happens with this appointment.

I have been taking the oral iron that he wanted me to start on. Could not tolerate this daily due to terrible constipation even with Colace or MIralax. I have switched it to every other day but still struggling with the constipation. Maybe this will play in my favor for getting an iron infusion! LOL

I am now taking 600 mg Gabapentin every evening at 7 pm. I will say I am sleeping much better and feel the quality of my sleep is improved. I am experiencing less RLS symptoms in the afternoon which in my mind I attribute to better sleep. I am not sure if I should increase the Gabapentin to 900 mg or not. How do you tell if you need to increase the dosage? What parameters am I looking for?

Thank you so much for your feedback...it has proven so helpful.

[SueJohnson]

That's great you will be having the teleconference visit. Assuming it is soon, I would wait to do anything until you have it.

On the iron, are you taking the iron bisglycinate which is less likely to cause constipation? And yes every other day is the way to go.

[Flowergarden2 in reply to SueJohnson]

The appointment is on Sept 19. I am already taking the Gabapentin as prescribed by Dr Tarpara along with my same dose of Ropinirole (2 mg daily) that I was taking before adding the Gabapentin. The iron is not iron bisglycinate…I will look for that.

[CathyJoH]

I see Dr. Walters at Vanderbilt and really like him. He listens, attentive, knowledgeable and has helped me. Best wishes - hope it goes well for you too!

[Flowergarden2 in reply to CathyJoH]

Thank you!

[lorri214]

I tried to get an appt with Dr. Walters. They would not give me an appt. since I was out of state. I treated with Dr. Walters 30 years ago and he moved out of NJ. He was the best Dr. You are lucky to have an appt with him.