Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) Discussion Board

I have been taking 15 mg Vicodin daily at 8 pm for 9 years along with .25 of Mirapex to control retractable RLS. I wonder if it would be better to switch to oxycodone to avoid all of the acetominaphin in the Vicodin. Any advice? Or is a different opiate a better choice?

Yes, it would be better to avoid all that acetaminophen, which can be very hard on your liver. As for a different opioid, if the oxycodone in the Vicodin has been working, why switch? Methadone has a longer half life so that you don't have to take it as often, but it can generate some unpleasant stares at the pharmacy. The opioids tend to work equally on RLS, but each comes with a different set of potential side effects.

Why not just switch to Norco? It has less acetaminophen than Vicodin.

SleepyCharlie wrote:I have been taking 15 mg Vicodin daily at 8 pm for 9 years along with .25 of Mirapex to control retractable RLS. I wonder if it would be better to switch to oxycodone to avoid all of the acetominaphin in the Vicodin. Any advice? Or is a different opiate a better choice?

Acetaminophen when taken long term can also cause kidney damage. The problem with kidney damage is that the tests may not show that it is bad until it is really bad.

Yes, it would be best to avoid all Acetaminophen.

If you switch to Oxycodone, most likely you would require dose of approx. 10 mg of Oxycodone, maybe even less, which would be a fairly low dose.

When you have a doctor who is willing to prescribe Oxycodone, I would go for this option.

I'm on oxycodone. Working very well. I take 5-10 mg.

have been taking 15 mg Vicodin daily at 8 pm for 9 years along with .25 of Mirapex to control retractable RLS. I wonder if it would be better to switch to oxycodone to avoid all of the acetominaphin in the Vicodin

absolutely get something without acetominophen in it, as the others have said.
Have you been on pramipexole for 9 years as well? Did the dose go up in that time at all? If your dose has gone up and you think you're augmented, then you might want to consider the possibility that if you quit the DA, you might need even less opioid once the withdrawal was over? I'm not sure if it's worth messing with it, that would depend on your situation.

I use hydromorphone; not many doctors prescribe it, for some reason they all prefer oxycodone, but there seems to be no good reason for such a strong preference other than marketing. Either one would get rid of the acetominophen problem for you.