Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) Discussion Board

This is day 18 of my transition and it is going better than I anticipated. I’ve learned the timing for taking the meds and have actually slept for one stretch of four hours. I haven’t done that in many, many years. The only downside is the grogginess for about an hour in the morning which I’m assumi...

I’m finally feeling like there’s some improvement. I had three hours of uninterrupted sleep, got up to go to the bathroom, then slept about two hours more. I’m about halfway through the first transition stage from 4mg to 3mg of ropinirole plus adding 300mg of gabapentin. I also added an iron supplem...

Thanks, Beth.

I started a thread on the Augmentation forum entitled “Transitioning” where I am recording my journey off ropinirole. It will catch you up on the plan my PCP and I have agreed to implement at this time.

One week behind me. I’ve had very little sleep (which is nothing new). I’m hopeful things will gradually start to improve in the coming weeks so I’ll be ready for the next step down later in the month.

Thanks for sharing your story. 12mg of Requip daily? Wow! I’m trying to slowly come off 4mg as I switch to gabapentin and it’s rough; can’t imagine coming off 12mg. I found reading posts here to be helpful and comforting, just knowing there are other folks who understand what it’s like to struggle w...

I never thought about doing household chores but may give it a try. I like your belly reading idea but unfortunately I only have a loveseat and it’s not long enough for me to lay on. I guess I could try the bed in my spare bedroom.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

Not rambling at all, in fact very helpful.

So I’m on day five of transitioning and am not coping well. Haven’t slept in two days and crawling legs and arms are 24/7. Not sure I can handle this.

Just curious what folks do when they can’t sleep because of their RLS? I’m thinking of activities in particular. I love to read but when my arms and legs are crawling I’m not able to sit and do so. I’ve tried listening to audiobooks but am easily distracted. I’m not a TV watcher. So I find myself pa...

Were you on any medication prior to gabapentin? What dose of gabapentin did you start on and how did you increase?

How long after you started taking the iron supplement did you have relief?

I appreciate your input.

Thank you. That helps clarify things for me.

My doctor is addressing my low iron level and said to take a multivitamin with iron. None of them have more than 18mg of iron (most in the form of ferrous fumarate). 18mg does not seem like enough to make much of a difference. I’m contacting her about checking my ferritin level before proceeding wit...

Saving the oxy is a good idea. Last night went well though I was pretty groggy when I woke up. My legs started crawling about 11:00 this morning so I took 1/2 of the ropinirole and will take the other half at bedtime. I’m recovering from knee surgery and have a lot of down time icing and elevating w...

The plan is 3mg for 3-4 weeks with increasing the gabapentin at the 2 week mark. I have oxycodone from recent knee surgery that I have available if needed. I’m not a fan of opioids but my doctor is aware that I may need them to get over the initial hump. She is fairly knowledgeable about RLS and ver...

I’m starting the transition from ropinirole to gabapentin after seeing my PCP yesterday. She ordered labs (will have to have ferritin checked next time). Iron level = 33 (range 50-175) TIBC = 369 (range 250-450) % iron saturation = 9 (range 20-55) Transferrin = 258.12 (range 160-340) Reducing ropini...

Thank you. When I scan the results list, I see the following: iron level, % iron sat, TIBC, and transferrin. Would the ferritin be called something else or abbreviated? Is the iron level the same as the total serum iron (hemoglobin)?