Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) Discussion Board

I have not posted in a long time because I have been going through the worst hell imaginable trying to get off clonazepam, a benzo. I was
prescribed this awful drug to help me get some sleep while withdrawing from a dopamine agonist. What I have experienced since
last September makes my rls look ...

Clonazapan (Klonopin) or any benzo or sleeping drug
(e.g.Ambien, Lunesta) needs tapering very slowly.
I found out the hard way by tapering too quickly!! The website,
Benzo Buddies has lots of help. It stresses slow steady tapering,
as does the Ashton manual (available online. Just Google it)

I may have overreacted when I said never to reintroduce d.a.'s but it
was a reflection of the horror we all suffered during d.a. augmentation
and withdrawal. D.A.'s, for most, work so well in the beginning that it
would be very tempting to take them too long. For me, to ignore the
adage, "Better ...

Why anyone who has gone through the hell of d.a.augmentation and withdrawal
would want to go back on a d.a. is beyond me. I speak as one who has gone
through this hell and lived to tell the tale. Dr. Earley told me never to do this.
To me, dopamine agonist means POISON.

I had my long-awaited appointment with Dr. Earley this past Tuesday, Sept. 5.'
I found him to be caring, compassionate and empathetic. He seemed pleased
that I had taken myself off the badly augmented Neupro patch, even though
I used clonazepam. I was able to do this with the help of a local neuro ...

I saw Dr. Earley on Tuesday and he told me that RLS people should not be
concerned if we don't get the 8 hours of sleep that so many people say we 'should
have to maintain health and well being. We don't need it. He has one patient
who is extremely high functioning on 3 hours of sleep. He also told ...

Hi CJ I have tried MMJ but the clinic that issued me the permit to use it
only deals with one supplier. I got their strain that was high in cbd and very
low in thc. It didn't do a thing for me but I was at the height of augmentation,
so it might not have been the best scenario to try it. I may give ...

Hi Crazy Joe. How much Klonopin were you on? As I said, right now I am only on .375 mg. I was only on
.50 mg. of pram for 7 years. I transitioned to 2 mg. Neupro patch in Nov.2014 after augmenting on the pram.
Soon augmented on the patch. With the help of a local neuro, I stopped the patch 7 weeks ...

Crazy Joe, You say that your gabapentin withdrawal is similar to benzo
withdrawal. What was your benzo withdrawal like? I am currently on
.375 mg of clonazepam (down from 1.5 mg.) I am reducing it very slowly
1/8 of a pill every one or two weeks. I wonder what it would be like the
closer i get to no ...

I am wondering if anyone has gone through clonazepam withdrawal.
I seem to be over the worst of DA withdrawal. I am free of symptoms during the day (although this
was never a big problem). Lately, RLS symptoms have not been arriving until 11 p.m. and are less
in intensity. I seem to be more bothered ...

Last Nov. some "rls expert neurologist" had me on .5 mg of pram and 2 mg.
of the Neupro patch. To make a long story short, I ended up in the hospital
emergency room on Dec. 19 with ventricular tachycardia (at least 230 beats a minutes)
I came home with an implanted defibrillator. I asked my cardio ...

Viewsaskew and debbluebird: If you use a lotion to quell the itchiness, what do you use and
do you find it effective in stopping the nighttime twitchiness? There are so many non-prescription
meds that are not RLS- friendly. I was thinking of taking Claritin but evidenly that is not
always RLS ...

Jimmy: You make a very good point about the 90-day washout period. It's difficult to tell
when your baseline RLS has been reached and 90 days should do it. I have been off the DA
for 22 days (with clonazepam but nothing else). Augmentation is a hard beast to conquer
and doesn't want to let go, as I ...

I have been off the 2 mg Neupro patch (and all RLS meds) since July 15.
I take only clonazepam to help with sleep. Last night my back was extremely
itchy. Every time I attempted to lie down, my body would twitch and twist
when it came in contact with the bed sheets, making it impossible to keep ...

Jimmy: I agree with you completely about taking RLS drugs. They all have problems
connected with them. Lyrica screwed up my brain. One morning my wife found her food
processor all taken apart with the parts lying on the kitchen floor. I had no recollection
of doing that. Another incident involved a ...