Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) Discussion Board

Thanks. That at least gives me an idea of what to expect. The OxyContin is controlling my symptoms thankfully. Also on Lyrica 150 mg 3/ day.

Mine was dreadful for about 5 days, but went on for about 3 weeks. I am not sure if the withdrawal ended at some point during the 3 weeks and I was experiencing my (dramatically worsened) baseline symptoms, or if I was still in withdrawal at 3 weeks, but at that point I was put on an opioid.

Sounds awful! I've been Requip free for 10 nights I'm on the OxyContin for a month. Hopefully my Dr will refill it at the end of the month.

Nice! You might want to pay attention to the symptoms to see if at some point you could do with a lower dose. I would expect the dose could be lowered after the withdrawal is over.

I have not taken OxyContin during the day for the last 2 days! Done great! No symptoms until 7:30pm both days. Took 10 mg OxyContin which allowed me to sleep all night. I'm so happy!!

Ladyslider wrote:I have not taken OxyContin during the day for the last 2 days! Done great! No symptoms until 7:30pm both days. Took 10 mg OxyContin which allowed me to sleep all night. I'm so happy!!

YAY!!!!!

Well done ladyslider - you seem to have managed your withdrawal incredibly effectively. I hope you can continue to reduce your dose of OxyContin. It must feel great to be free of the dopamine agonist. I was on a much lower dose than your original 6mg but still found that my need for medication continued to reduce for several months after I discontinued mirapexin. At first I needed 30mg OxyContin daily but eventually I reduced it down quite a lot. I had to eliminate it when a sleep test revealed central sleep apnea and now I can manage my symptoms with Kratom, intermittently supplemented with Lyrica (pregabalin), and alternated every few weeks with neupro for two or three weeks.

Good stuff ladyslider.

Now you need to figure out a long-term management plan with your doctor, who should be pleased that you have reduced the dose in recognition of the diminishing effects of withdrawal. You may not be able to reduce much more, but if you can, wow that would be great! If not, maybe your doctor will keep up a prescription of oxycontin, or maybe you can look at some sort of alternation like legsbestill does.

Ladyslider - Well done.
To hear of your success gives hope to other sufferers who may find themselves in your position.
Thank you.

My restlessness is starting between 4-7pm now. I take a 10mg dose of OxyContin. The last 2 nights it was worn off around 2-3:00am. I stretch and walk around. This helps. I did break down and take another dose of OxyContin at 3:00am. So the start of my afternoon restlessness varies. I will try the Kratom to see if that helps Thanks for all the encouragement. My next dr appt is in 2 weeks. I'm also taking Lyrica 100 mg 2-3 times a day. I think the OxyContin helps better than the Lyrica. The Lyrica makes me very sleepy. I'll keep everyone posted.

What time do you take the oxy? As soon as the symptoms start? What if you held off and took it an hour before bedtime - trading middle- of the -night pacing for evening pacing, I guess. Maybe not the best of solutions.

Maybe you can bunch the Lyrica up more toward bedtime, too, since it makes you sleepy, and it doesn't do much for the symptoms anyway. The added sleepiness might carry you past those 3 AM symptoms. Maybe.

Is it your wonderful neuro that you're seeing in 2 weeks? I hope she continues with the opioid-pregabalin combo. If she suggests something that you have misgivings about, just let her know what your misgivings are. If you decide to accept the suggestions anyway, you should set up a plan with her for how to contact her if it doesn't work out. She seems decent enough anyway that she wouldn't leave you hanging, but some doctors do. Fingers crossed.

Good idea about the Lyrica because it just makes me sleepy. I can't tell it does anything for the RLS. It is my neurologist that I'm seeing in 2 weeks. I'm so fortunate to have a dr that is willing to learn and work with me. I feel very blessed after reading the experiences of others. I've been taking the Oxycontin as soon as the symptoms start because I'm so miserable. With the exception of a couple of days my symptoms are holding off until after 7:00 PM. usually starting between 7-7:30PM. I get up at 5:00am to go to work so taking the Oxycontin between 7-7:30 works great. I find it only lasts 10 hours instead 12 hours.
I will definitely talk with my dr about a Oxycontin/Lyrica combination. She has been very supportive. I just hope she will continue to prescribe the low dose Oxycontin (10 mg) for me long term. I would really like to stop the Lyrica unless it helps me sleep. The less meds the better.
Thanks for your advice:)

Good luck!

I'll keep everyone posted.

Sorry I haven't been active lately. Life has been busy and I went on vacation too. I'm totally off the Requip since 9/8/17. Thankfully the Oxycontin 10 mg every 12 hours for 11 days got me through the withdrawal period with little discomfort. I feel so much better during the day. I'm not having any restlessness at all now until late at night. It feels good to not be so drugged too. I'm taking a 10mg Oxycontin and Lyrica 200 mg between 8-10PM every night. I'm symptom free until around midnight to 1:00am. I get up and walk around, take a hot shower, and/or stretch. This lasts about an hour then I am able to go back to sleep. My symptoms are nothing like they used to be even when I have them.

Saw my neurologist yesterday and she told me she didn't know how much longer she could keep writing me a prescription for the Oxycontin. It is being frowned upon even with the evidence supporting the use of opioids for RLS. She wants me to try and not take it and just do the Lyrica. I just take the Lyrica in the evening around 8:00PM 200 mg and then 200 mg again around 10:00PM. I'm going to try not taking the Oxycontin tonight and see how I do.

I'll keep everyone posted on how I do. I don't want to get too sleep deprived.