does anyone no how to ween yourself of of ropinirole?

went to see my gp yesterday to change my meds(making me very sleepy) she told me ive got to ween myself of ropinirole she told me to not take it one day then every alternet day (going spare)just dont no were to put myself the med she gave me is pramipexole so i asked her if i could start taking it straight away she said no. so to ween myself of of ropinirole shes given me another tablet (lorazepam) to help me. i feel like a hypocondriact taking all these tablets

[jumpylegs]

Your GP is so wrong IMHO. I don't know what dose ropinerole you are taking but regardless of that, in my opinion, it is downright cruelty to expect you to wean yourself off ropinerole without the support of some good strong medication. It is well known that when stopping a DA that the symptoms will get way way worse for some time maybe 3 or 4 weeks and that it usually takes a strong opioid to help get through this.

I may be wrong in this but I don't think that Lorazepam which is a benzo and is for anxiety, will be enough to deal with symptoms.

I hope I am wrong about this. Good luck.

[nightdancer]

The pramipexole is the same kind of med as Ropinerole, it just is stronger, so that is why the startiing doses are smaller. Alternating days is no way to come off a DA. It is asking fr misery. I am heitant to give any other advice, since we do not know what dose you are coming off of the ropinerole. how many mgs? Jumpylegs is right, though. In my experience as you reduce the the ropinerole, you start to add in the other, which by the way has daytine drowsiness as a side effect , too. BUT, we need more info. You can also go to rlshelp.org or rls.org and get information, too. The lorazepam may help calm you, so that is not a bad thing. But, you need to get it straight with your doctor. You can't just skip a day with those meds even when weaning.

[eileen49]

I take half a ropinorole at a time now ( 1/2 a mg ) because, as I don't mind them making me sleepy at night, they made me groggy and snappy the next day. I usually take 1 1/2 a night.

[Kentish_Man]

I take Ropinorole, 2mg, every night for restless legs and it has improved things no end. Maybe you do not need to wean yourself off the medication, but be more careful as to when you take it. I take over 16,400 tablets a year. I do not feel like a Hypochondriac taking them all as it gives me a better quality of life. You have to weigh up what you want/need and discuss it further with your GP.

[Hidden in reply to Kentish_Man]

thankyou for your reply but the ropinorole (1mg)was fine if you wanted to spend all your time asleep (i didnt), it was effecting my daily life i drive for a living wanted to go to sleep all the time had no quality of life,going to bed every evening at 8.0 clock not spending any time with my husband.(yes its brilliant) took the pain away but i still wanted to stay awake until a resonable time (thats why i,m changing my meds to try and get the right one that suits me so i have to try and ween myself of because you cannot just come of of it been told its dangerous to do so

[Darcy]

Coming off any of the prescribed drugs for RLS is a bit hit and miss. Not all people have the same reaction(s). If you re going to 'wean' yourself off you should be reducing the dosage every other day IMHO. That is what my GP has said. I take 7/8 Zapain, 2 dihydrocodeine, and 4 Gabapentin daily for the CONSTANT pain of my osteoarthritis, that is on top of the RLS meds. If I ever have to come off that lot, I'll need a month or more in Rehab!!!!