Transitioning

[Polar Bear]

Excellent, I feel your positivity.

[shinderlider]

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 assuming is from the gabapentin since I never experienced it with the ropinirole. I will be reporting to my doctor later this week so we can determine the next step. I think I’m ready for the step down from 3mg to 2mg of the ropinirole. My question is if I should stay on the 300mg dose of gabapentin because of the grogginess. Thoughts?

[shinderlider]

A lot has happened since my transition from ropinirole to gabapentin. Because of these health concerns, we opted to stay at this level another month (3 mg ropinirole and 300 mg gabapentin).

[Polar Bear]

It's ok to stay at the 3mg until you feel ready to drop again. I stayed at various levels as I weaned down.
Have you considered that dropping from 3mg to 2mg is a big step and perhaps take smaller steps.
As I weaned I took very small steps..... But of course we are all.so different.

[shinderlider]

I’m continuing my current transition plan (3mg ropinirole and 300mg gabapentin) until I see my doctor in early August. I take 1/2 of the ropinirole at noon to get me through the daytime movement then the other half and the gabapentin around 7:00 pm. I have actually had several nights of sleeping for 2-3 hours until my bladder woke me. I would usually be able to go back to sleep for another couple of hours. Overall I’m pleased with the progress.

[Polar Bear]

Well done.

[shinderlider]

I am beginning the next transition phase, reducing the ropinirole from 3mg to 2mg. We decided to keep the gabapentin at 300mg to see if it effective or may need to be increased. I am pleased with how the transition is going; maybe one night per week I have issues but for most nights, I am actually getting some sleep. I do suffer with chronic pain which tends to affect my sleep more than my RLS but if the RLS is under control, I can focus on finding a comfortable position and being able to sleep without moving around much.

I do have a question about taking gabapentin. Does anyone take it more than once a day? The reason I ask is I currently split the ropinirole in half, taking half at lunch and the other half with the gabapentin after supper. This has been working very well with helping me get through the entire 24 hour period but am wondering how I will manage once I am off the ropinirole.

Thanks for any insights you may be able to share.

[Polar Bear]

I don't take Gabapentin but I do take (the max dose) Pregabalin which is a sister drug to G. My regime is twice daily, morning and evening. My friend who is a prescribing nurse agrees with twice daily believing that this prevents any in between withdrawal, keeping the level as constant as possible.
The pregabalin was actually prescribed for neuropathy but has the benefit of also treating my RLS.

I'd mention that dropping ropinerole from 3mg to 2mg is dropping by 1/3. When I was weaning my successful reductions of ropinerole were much smaller but this was at my own discretion. It was my third attempt and this was why I took it so slowly.

[shinderlider]

Thanks, Betty. I’ll keep in mind the size of the cut in ropinirole and if I have issues, will contact my doctor to adjust. In regards to the twice a day dosing of gabapentin, should it be my 300mg dose divided into two or 300mg twice a day?

[Polar Bear]

Sue, 300mg twice a day is doubling your daily dose and that's something you would need to discuss with your doctor. However 300mg gabapentin is quite a modest dose.
Many people only take one daily dose of gabapentin /pregabalin but I think your dosage and the consideration of twice daily is worth speaking to your doctor about.
Please bear in mind that my twice daily pregabalin was initially prescribed for neuropathy and I speak only of my own experience.

[Yankiwi]

I take 1,000mg of gabapentin two hours before going to bed. That's in addition to 2 x 60mg codeine, once an hour before bed then on my first wake up call around two hours after getting to sleep.
That drug arrangement seems to do the trick for me even though I rarely sleep more than two hours at a time then have an hour up.

[shinderlider]

Day two and I’m ready to either rip my legs open or cut them off.

Sorry, just needed to vent and have someone understand.

[Polar Bear]

I'm sorry you are going through this.

[shinderlider]

Day five and I’m seeing some improvement. There’s about a six hour period when the RLS is very active. The rest of the time the meds are keeping it under control. This is very similar to the last time.

[Polar Bear]

What medication dosages are you currently taking. i.e. Did you reduce to ropinerole 2mg and still on gabapentin 300mg.