Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) Discussion Board

I have struggled a bit with daytime sleepiness and fatigue. I actually made a doctor's appointment last month because of this, and he ordered a bunch of labs. Everything checked out OK. It seems to have improved since I started taking a Vitamin B-complex and Vitamin D3. It's mostly in the afternoon, and probably because I drink too much coffee in the morning (caffeine crash). Sometimes I'll have another cup of coffee in the afternoon, and that usually takes care of it.

My doctor also recommended I cut back the Lyrica to 75 mg to deal with the fatigue, but I'm not ready for that quite yet. Maybe next summer. I'll probably go off cold turkey for 2-3 weeks, then if needed come back at 75 mg instead of 150 mg. After the year I've had, I don't want to mess with my sleep again for the next 6 months or so.

I get not wanting to mess with something that is working for the most part!

I'm sorry about the M.S. along with the RLS. That really sucks. My sister also has both and gets some relief with kratom.

Good luck to you ..

Hello, I am new to this forum. I have had RLS since my early 20's. Symptoms worsened during my 3 pregnancies and became unbearable after my third pregnancy. (Acupuncture actually helped to lessen my symptoms when pregnant. I was put on Mirapex in my late 30's and take it every night. It is a low dose and allows me to sleep. If I forget to take it, I wake up with a bad case of RLS. I have not heard about any side effects or symptoms worsening while on Mirapex. Does anyone have any links to information supporting this? I finally have come to accept I need to take Mirapex each night because sleep is important. Now, I am worried I should no longer continue with Mirapex. I have had no side effects, take a low dose and it works for me.

As long as you don't have any side effects and can control your RLS and are sleeping well with a low dose, then there is no reason to change. If it works, don't fix it!

What you need to be aware of is that over time, many of us experience augmentation on the dopamine agonist drugs like Mirapex. Augmentation is where it requires higher and higher doses of the medication to control your RLS. The current recommendations are that the highest dose of Mirapex that you should take should be 0.25 to 0.5 mg per day. If you find that you have to go to higher doses to maintain control of your RLS, then it is time to talk to your doctor about switching to something else. But until then, count your blessings that it is working well and that you are not experiencing any side effects.

ajlombard - If your medication dosage is low and you are getting the relief that you need, then be really appreciative of that. Don't be too ready to increase the dosage without consideration and discussion if there comes a time when your Mirapex is no longer covering your symptoms.

You ask for a link to information regarding augmentation.
viewforum.php?f=21
This will take you to "Topic of the Year - Augmentation" which is actually listed on the Main Discussion Board Index.

Also, have you had your ferritin serum level checked, this is pretty important. It is a blood test that is not normally done with routine blood works and you need to ask for it. This tells the level of iron stored in your brain – and that is what is important to us sufferers of WED/RLS. We need a level of around 100, especially if we are taking a DA drug such as mirapex. When getting the results of this test please ask your doctor for the actual level = do not accept ‘normal’ as an answer. Doctors and Labs may consider 20 to be normal… but it isn’t normal for us.