Mirapex and Sleepwalking

crystina · Post by **crystina** » Thu Aug 16, 2007 6:13 pm

My doctor just upped my dosage of Mirapex from once before bed to 4 times per day. It makes me very tired all day long but I seem to be working. My RLS has gone from severe to moderate. My question is has anyone experienced sleep walking while taking Mirapex? For the last several night I have woke up in my living room with no knowledge of how I got there. It is really bizarre.

ctravel12 · Post by **ctravel12** » Thu Aug 16, 2007 9:29 pm

Hi Crystina I am glad that the med is working for you. I also take mirapex but just half of .125mg; however I would talk to your dr about the sleepwalking. That could be scarey.

Let me know what he says. Hope that you continue to do better each day.

Rachel · Post by **Rachel** » Sun Aug 26, 2007 12:21 am

Chrystina,

Please check with your doctor immediately. I believe it is known by the doctors that Mirapex can make you a little loopy which is dangerous.

Are you on Ambien also? Just curious because I am on both Mirapex and Ambien and although I do not sleepwalk, I order all sorts of jewelry off QVC which I don't remember doing.

Please get that checked out.

Rachel

Post by **ViewsAskew** » Sun Aug 26, 2007 6:52 am

Crystina, have you heard of a condition called augmentation? If not, or to learn more, please go to this thread and read the fourth post by me. http://bb.rls.org/viewtopic.php?t=1897

Augmentation, in simple terms, just means that the RLS is worse because of the drugs. Mirapex is one of the drugs that can do this. Taking more drugs can help, but it also makes it worse in the long run.

waterloo2 · Post by **waterloo2** » Thu Sep 27, 2007 5:16 pm

Hiya

God 4 times a day wow an awful lot, im on
just 1 at night sure helps me.

love gill (UK)

lovelyrita · Post by **lovelyrita** » Sat Oct 13, 2007 7:05 am

Hey all my doctor just prescribed Mirapex for me also. I am taking .125 for 5 days and than .25 for 5 more days. Can anyone approximate how long it takes for it to begin working. I took my first one at 9:30 PM and it is now 3:00AM. I am so tired but my legs aren't cooperating. Does it take a few dosages to provide any relief. I could not imagine having to take it 4 times a day. It has to be awful for you.

Post by **ViewsAskew** » Sat Oct 13, 2007 7:16 am

LovelyRita, we're all very different. For me, .125 worked wonders and I didn't need to increase the dose. It's not working for you, so you'll just need to increase it and see.

The average dose is about .5 mg total. Your doc has you increasing every 5 days - if you are miserable and have no side effects, you can bump that to every 3 days. But, remember, I'm not a doc - just spouting stuff I've read from here and other sites. According to one of the leading RLS researchers and docs (Dr Rye), you can start with large amounts. It just makes side effects much more likely. But, it won't hurt you if you know what I mean. Of course, I'd clear anything with your doc before trying it.

Some people need as 1 to 1.5 mg, so don't freak if it's still not working at .5 mg.

Oh, it works immediately when you get the right dose. Well, not immediately - it takes about 90 minutes to really completely work. And, it works much better if you take it 90 minutes before the RLS starts. If taken after it starts, it never seems to really help a lot.

Welcome to the group. Hope you find what you need here.

lovelyrita · Post by **lovelyrita** » Sat Oct 13, 2007 1:28 pm

Thanks again Ann for your response and welcome.

When you began taking the Mirapex it worked the VERY first time you took the pill, or did it take a few days? As last nite for me was the first pill I ever ingested. I am hoping that as I progress this will begin to work. I may take it 90 minutes before I go to bed instead of the 2 hours or so before that I did. If by Monday i don't get some relief I will call my doctor.

Tanks again.

ctravel12 · Post by **ctravel12** » Sat Oct 13, 2007 10:14 pm

Hi Lovelyrita and welcome to the group. I also take .125mg of mirapex. What I do is cut the pill in half and take half around 4pm my time and then the other half when I go to bed. I also take 1mg clonazapem with the other half of mirapex when I go to bed. I usually wait for about an hour before retiring and so far it seems to help me.

I hope that this is of some help to you. I know what works for one may not always work for someone else. You may have to get ahold of your dr if this is not working to see what other meds he can give to you.

Please keep us posted on how you are doing and hope that you get the relief that you so much deserve.

On this forum there is a sticky post called "Managing RLS" Mayo Clinic Algorithm has an excellent article. Please read it and you may want to bring in a copy to your dr.

Post by **ViewsAskew** » Sat Oct 13, 2007 11:24 pm

lovelyrita wrote:When you began taking the Mirapex it worked the VERY first time you took the pill, or did it take a few days?

It depends. If the dose is the right dose for you, you will see instant improvement - the very first time.

But, .125 is a small amount. You won't see any help if that isn't enough for you.

So, yes, you can see instant improvement (after 90 minutes, that is) if the dose is high enough to mask your symptoms. It's not a drug that needs to build up in your system.

You may not see any improvement until you get to .25, .375, .5, etc. depending on your physiology.

I hope that made sense.

lovelyrita · Post by **lovelyrita** » Sun Oct 14, 2007 1:04 am

Ann, it does make sense. I will talk to my doctor Monday if I have no real relief tonight or tomorrow night. Thanksss

Post by **ViewsAskew** » Sun Oct 14, 2007 7:40 am

At this dose, you may not have any relief. If you are not experiencing side effects, your doctor should agree to have you increase your dose more quickly - say every two or three days. Then you won't have to wait so long for it to work.

This was your third night, right? (or second...) You should be able to increase your dose tomorrow night to .25 without any problems. If it doesn't work in two nights at all, then the doc should have no problems going to .5 on the third night.

By then, you should have some idea if it dents the RLS at all. If at .5 it does nothing at all, you and the doc can talk. Some people do require more. You can continue to titrate slowly. . . or the doctor may allow you to jump to, say, 1 mg all at once. If it works but you have side effects, you could then reduce the amount temporarily and titrate to avoid them, or you could just live with them as they usually go away relatively quickly.

Fingers crossed. We truly all know what it's like to go lenthy periods without sleep. While I wish I knew some way to circumnavigate it, I don't. I also know that while it seems miserable, depresses us, and makes us feel hopeless, a few more days (or even weeks) will be worth it to get to the right dose if this is the right drug for you.

scootermom5 · Post by **scootermom5** » Mon Apr 07, 2008 3:50 am

crystina wrote:My doctor just upped my dosage of Mirapex from once before bed to 4 times per day. It makes me very tired all day long but I seem to be working. My RLS has gone from severe to moderate. My question is has anyone experienced sleep walking while taking Mirapex? For the last several night I have woke up in my living room with no knowledge of how I got there. It is really bizarre.

I wonder now that I saw your post. I don't think I sleepwalk now, but when I was younger, and I know now that I had RLS, I used to sleepwalk almost every night. Scary thing is you don't lie to your father when you've been somewhere you weren't supposed to be, when you sleepwalk. I told him things that, oh my! I could never figure out how he knew until I was older and he told me. haha

Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) Discussion Board

Mirapex and Sleepwalking

Mirapex and Sleepwalking

mirapex and sleepwalking

mirapex and sleepwalking

Re: Mirapex and Sleepwalking