Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) Discussion Board

I've been taking 0.125 mg of pramipexole for restless legs for about 7 years. I take it intermittently as needed to control symptoms, but not on a daily basis. I have not experienced augmentation and still obtain relief with the same dose as I started with.

Ferritin level is at its highest level- 98 I take an 18 mg daily iron supplement.

I used to be a regular, every-two-months blood donor, but in the past seven years I have limited donations to 2 or 3 a year. This last year I have not donated due to an issue that made me ineligible for a year.

I exercise regularly, including stationary biking, which seems to help in subtle ways to reduce restless legs.

I'm in good health, except for the normal changes that occur with aging (I'll be 70 next month)

Glad to hear things are going well for you. Taking the pramipexole as you are likely will allow you to take it for many more years without issue.

Thanks for your response, Ann. I hope you are right about the pramipexole

It’s great to read of people who manage to control the dopamine agonist rather than it controlling them. You give me hope that I may manage to keep a low dose of pramipexole as part of my armory for some time to come. Thank you for posting.

TimG - good to hear from you again. It's wonderful that you're doing so well.
Don't you think you should stay away from blood donation? It's known to make WED/RLS worse, and you now have some evidence that it has been making yours worse: the fact that your ferritin is higher than it has ever been after a year of not donating. 98 is quite possibly not high enough for you. If you could get it higher, you might eliminate the need for pramipexole - and the associated dangers - altogether.
Anyway, I'm happy that you are managing so well. It's so nice to hear stories that give us hope.

Beth--Thanks for your reply and helpful suggestions. Yes, you are right that I should give up blood donation, based on my experience of a year without doing so. And thanks for your advice about further increasing ferritin to eliminate the need for pramipexole.