Reversing Restless Leg Syndrome

[buglegs]

I'll be going back to my neurologist after I get completely off the Requip for further evaluation and long term treatment plan..Hopefully the Gabapentin will control my RLS by itself when I'm no longer on any dopamine antagonist drugs. I would rather be on a lower dose of Gabapentin because 1500 spread out through the day seems a bit high, maybe some type of Opioid along with a lesser dose might be the recipe for controlling RLS in the absence of all dopamine antagonist. Thanks for your feedback Polar Bear..Have a great day!!

[buglegs]

I'll be going back to my neurologist after I get completely off the Requip for further evaluation and long term treatment plan..Hopefully the Gabapentin will control my RLS by itself when I'm no longer on any dopamine antagonist drugs. I would rather be on a lower dose of Gabapentin because 1500 spread out through the day seems a bit high, maybe some type of Opioid along with a lesser dose might be the recipe for controlling RLS in the absence of all dopamine antagonist. Thanks for your feedback Polar Bear..Have a great day!!

[buglegs]

OH yeah by the way..I've talked with several doctors, pain management, ankle and foot doctors, neurologist, etc. I've asked about the Peroneal Nerve Tunnel Decompression surgery that the podiatrist Dr. Anderson in Colorado claims will reverse RLS, (I mentioned in one of my previous post) seems to just be a money grabbing gimmick according to all the physicians. It's a shame someone would be giving false hope to people that are fighting with such a terrible illness but money will make people do just about anything these days. I know I was willing to travel to Colorado and get this surgery done if it would help but I should have known it wasn't anything but a money scam. Anyways, I'm looking forward to being dopamine antagonist free soon...Have a great day and everyone on here suffering from this horrible disease will be in my thoughts and prayers.

[Polar Bear]

Everyone should be wary of promises of cures for RLS , especially where money is involved.

[buglegs]

Well I'm on day 13 continuing with 1500 MG gabapentin and 2-MG Requip...Day 15 I continue with Gabapentin and reduce Requip to 1-MG hopefully the Gabapentin stays effective in controlling RLS, especially at sleep time. My RLS now seems to be concentrated in muscle groups, like my calves, hips and thighs. The symptoms are swollen feeling muscles, tingly burning stretching feeling with pulsating feelings, and it moves from one muscle group to the other, just cycling around to different areas in my body. The Gabapentin seems to be helping control my RLS but is now causing swelling in my feet and ankles. I'm gonna continue with the Gabapentin and continue reducing the Requip until I'm at 0-MG Requip..I'll keep everyone posted on how it goes...

[Polar Bear]

If I understand you correctly - On day 15 you plan on dropping from 2mg to 1mg requip. That's a 50% drop.

I did it very differently and took 10 months to wean off 5mg requip by very small drops, using a pill cutter, and with the support of pregabalin and cocodamol.

[buglegs]

Well I've been on Gabapentin 300 MG in the morning, 300 MG @ Noon and 900 MG @ Night with 2.0 MG Requip. The Gabapentin has started making my feet and ankles swell really bad and all my joints have become very stiff. My doctor switched me to 75 MG Lyrica (Pregabalin) in the mornings and 150 MG @ night, today will be the first day switching. Last night was the last night with the Gabapentin and I dropped my Requip from 2.0 MG to 1.5 MG. I went to bed around 9:45 PM and I was wide awake at 3:30, mild RLS and just wide awake, tired and legs aching, muscles in my calves burning and pulling feeling. The more I cut-back on the Requip the less I've been having the really bad creepy, crawly feelings in my legs but seems to have become more of a aching, burning, pulling/stretching feeling mostly in my calves and backs of my legs. I start the Lyrica this morning, so I'll continue posting on my journey.

[Polar Bear]

I hope you have a seamless switch from the Gabapentin to the Pregabaline. Good luck on your journey.

[buglegs]

Thanks,..I'm still having some transient withdrawals from dropping from 12- MG of Requip being taken for approx: (1) Year, dropping to 4-MG on 28 December 2023..now down to 1.5 MG daily..Its was bad the drop from 12-MG to 4-MG thought I was gonna die about day 4 afterwards..seems the side effects still come and go, don't know if the large dosage drop has anything to do with it or not? I just want to be Dopamine Antagonist Free..thats some bad medicine with some serious side effects, especially after taking it for over 23 years as myself..Everyone take care and hope whatever you doing is keeping your RLS under control!!

[buglegs]

Well I had been taking Gabapentin 1500 MG distributed throughout the day but my ankles and feet were swelling really bad. I went back to my Doctor at the VA Hospital, he switched me to 75MG Pregabalin in the mornings and 150 MG at night. The Pregabalin don't seem to be as effective combating the RLS, no negative side effects yet but it has only been 2-days since starting Pregabalin...So, now I'm taking 75-MG Pregabalin and 1000-MG B-12 in the mornings and 150-MG Pregabalin and 1.5-MG Requip (was on 12-MG Requip just 3-months ago) at bedtime or before..I plan on continuing dropping the requip MG by 0.5 every 2-weeks until I'm completely DA free..Hopefully the Pregabalin controls the RLS by itself...or I might need some sort of sleep aid at night..thinking low dose of a benzodiazepine maybe..not sure yet until I get this Requip off my back.

[ronnier]

I had a TENS Unit that I had been prescribed for low back pain, and I found by accident that using it before bedtime as prescribed for my low back/buttocks helped calm my legs. There seemed to be an accumulative effect, as the longer and more consistently I did it, the better my legs did. Several years later I finally can say I hardly ever needed to use it. A recent leg surgery has caused a flareup, but a few months later here things have calmed back down considerably.


HI sleep dancer _ i'm curious about how/where you use the TENS unit? I have one from prior injury / surgery and it might be worth trying...
thanks
Ronnie

[buglegs]

Well here I sit in front of the computer... once again the bugs have come alive in my legs, been fighting them since 3:00 am..I'm so tired, seems like my RLS has become so much worse since being overdosed on Requip..Approx. 77-78 days ago I was on 12-MG Requip (1) time daily, usually at night. Terrible side effects from such high dose of Requip, weight gain, shortness of breath, severe muscle stiffness, feelings of suffocation, etc.. I'm currently taking 75 MG Pregabalin and 1000 MG B-12 in the mornings and 150 MG Pregabalin and 1.5 MG Requip in the evenings. Today I will be dropping my Requip dosage to 1.0 MG in the evenings for 10-days and then drop it to 0.50 for 10 days and then 0.0 ...I just hope that when I reach 0.0 in 21 days that the Pregabalin will control the creepy/crawly bug feelings, electrical impulse feelings, muscle pulling and burning, its been really weird feelings I've experienced during this requip reduction process. After I think about it, the only way I've been able to go to sleep over the past 24-years has been through taking a dopamine agonist usually Requip, which has been they only thing that would shut my brain down and stop the weird sensations in my legs, had to be taken every time I've fallen asleep ... unless I for some reason, over indulged in some sort of alcoholic beverages but I would pay for that later..Anyways, over the years the requip has been a wonderful drug until it didn't work any longer or started making the RLS worse. The Pregabalin (Lyrica) don't seem as effective with more significant negative side effects compared to regular Gabapentin (Neurontin). The Gabapentin helped my RLS more effectively but had my ankles/feet swollen and hurting or sore feeling, Im thinking about switching back but hate to keep jumping from one medicine to the other without giving it a fair chance ....I don't really know what the answer is going to be for me...In 21 days I'm going to be Dopamine Agonist Free and don't know what drug combinations I might need to control the RLS...only time will tell, I'm just hoping for the best..sometimes I just feel like trying to live with these symptoms just isn't worth it anymore, I'm just so tired rest has to come..hope everyone has great St. Patricks Day!!

[ViewsAskew]

Well here I sit in front of the computer... once again the bugs have come alive in my legs, been fighting them since 3:00 am..I'm so tired, seems like my RLS has become so much worse since being overdosed on Requip..Approx. 77-78 days ago I was on 12-MG Requip (1) time daily, usually at night. Terrible side effects from such high dose of Requip, weight gain, shortness of breath, severe muscle stiffness, feelings of suffocation, etc.. I'm currently taking 75 MG Pregabalin and 1000 MG B-12 in the mornings and 150 MG Pregabalin and 1.5 MG Requip in the evenings. Today I will be dropping my Requip dosage to 1.0 MG in the evenings for 10-days and then drop it to 0.50 for 10 days and then 0.0 ...I just hope that when I reach 0.0 in 21 days that the Pregabalin will control the creepy/crawly bug feelings, electrical impulse feelings, muscle pulling and burning, its been really weird feelings I've experienced during this requip reduction process. After I think about it, the only way I've been able to go to sleep over the past 24-years has been through taking a dopamine agonist usually Requip, which has been they only thing that would shut my brain down and stop the weird sensations in my legs, had to be taken every time I've fallen asleep ... unless I for some reason, over indulged in some sort of alcoholic beverages but I would pay for that later..Anyways, over the years the requip has been a wonderful drug until it didn't work any longer or started making the RLS worse. The Pregabalin (Lyrica) don't seem as effective with more significant negative side effects compared to regular Gabapentin (Neurontin). The Gabapentin helped my RLS more effectively but had my ankles/feet swollen and hurting or sore feeling, Im thinking about switching back but hate to keep jumping from one medicine to the other without giving it a fair chance ....I don't really know what the answer is going to be for me...In 21 days I'm going to be Dopamine Agonist Free and don't know what drug combinations I might need to control the RLS...only time will tell, I'm just hoping for the best..sometimes I just feel like trying to live with these symptoms just isn't worth it anymore, I'm just so tired rest has to come..hope everyone has great St. Patricks Day!!

Congrats on reducing the Requip. That first few weeks you are DA free often are very tough. Hang in there! I have an idea how tired you are (I still remember how tired I was when I did it). You will get through it.

[buglegs]

Thanks for the reply..I'm ready to get off this Requip..drop to 1-MG tonight, probably gonna be rough trying to get any sleep once I'm no longer taking any Requip but hopefully the RLS will subside after a few days. I don't know really what to expect or how I'm gonna get to sleep because I can't remember the last time I've been able to fall asleep without taking Requip...the bugs in legs/electrical feelings just don't stop until I take Requip...I don't know, guess I'll just play it one day at time.

[ViewsAskew]

Thanks for the reply..I'm ready to get off this Requip..drop to 1-MG tonight, probably gonna be rough trying to get any sleep once I'm no longer taking any Requip but hopefully the RLS will subside after a few days. I don't know really what to expect or how I'm gonna get to sleep because I can't remember the last time I've been able to fall asleep without taking Requip...the bugs in legs/electrical feelings just don't stop until I take Requip...I don't know, guess I'll just play it one day at time.

At the worst, I was sleeping about 20-30 minutes a night, in 1-5 minute segments. It was torture. I would finally fall asleep in a yoga pose, then awaken moments later. I suffered for about 12-16 months - unable to work or function - and tried many doctors. Then I found this site - in 2004 - and went to a conference in the fall where I learned of options. In the spring of 2005, I found a doc who helped me - he prescribed methadone. I had reduced the pramipexole from .75 to .0625 on my own, but stopping it seemed impossible until I had the opioid.