Has anyone tried buprenorphine?

[Polar Bear]

I do hope your buprenophine continues to be successful. You have already stopped your tramadol and the muscles relaxant, I'd be making sure all was well settled before cutting back on the gabapentin. Well done so far.

[debbluebird]

Yes, I'm not going to try to do anything with the gabapentin for awhile, at least a week, probably 2 weeks.
I developed 2 more side effects after I wrote my last post. Hiccups and vomiting. I cut it down to an 1/8th of a film. No side effects today. I even had energy.
I also moved up the time to 7:30 when I take the gabapentin. Last night I was wide awake from 10 to 2 am. I won't care if I'm awake until midnight. See what happens.
I might even have to alternate doses. 1/4th and 1/8th. Again we'll see.
No RLS since I started this.
Yeah !!

[Polar Bear]

Yaay..... It's brilliant that there's been no rls since starting the buprenorphine. Such a shame about these side effects and I hope that by adjusting doses and times you find a positive balance. You are well experienced in managing medications. Good luck.
Discovering some energy is a blessing.

[debbluebird]

My RLS continues to be gone. I'm taking the smallest does possible, an 1/8th of a 2mg film. I started the itching again. Not so bad 2 nights ago, worse last night. I decided to take a Benadryl. It went away. I know that is iffy.
Then today, I was sleepy. After sleeping 8+ hours last night, 3 to 4 hours today. I just fell asleep in my chair, not planning to. I bet I will be awake tonight.
Question: should I take it in the morning? I started taking it between 9:30 pm and 10 pm. Moved it to 5:30 pm when I had some RLS sensations after an afternoon nap (sleepy during daytime again).
I'm not sure what to do. Last night the itching kept me awake until the Benadryl took affect.

[debbluebird]

I'm actually sleeping every night. This is the longest I've gone without any symptoms RLS. I cut the film even smaller. A 1/16th of one film. It seems crazy. I'm taking one in the morning and one in the evening. I had gotten some itching, which moved me to cut it further. It's the same dose per day. No Benadryl.
I didn't have this good of coverage with methadone.

[Polar Bear]

Well done on being able to reduce your buprenorphine. I hope this good fortune will continue.

[debbluebird]

I saw the Nurse Practitioner today. I have had some itching at times with the buprenorphine. She suggested trying Hydroxyzine.
My question is, is this on the list of meds that causes RLS ?
Thanks

[Rustsmith]

Hydroxyzine is a first generation anti-histamine, so it might be a problem with RLS. Three OTC anti-histamines that are generally RLS friendly are Zyrtec, Allegra and Claritin.

[debbluebird]

Do you think any of the OTC meds would work for itching ?

[Polar Bear]

I don't have much experience with antihistamines but I think the OTC are worth a try. Last week my stepson was stung quite extensively by a lion's mane jellyfish and found that Piriton provided some relief.

[Rustsmith]

Deb, I haven't used the OTC anti-histamines for itching, but I take one ever day for hayfever (severe). I don't see any reason why they wouldn't help with itching. As far as I can tell, the only difference between the first and second generation drugs is that the second gen don't cause sedation (so not very good as OTC sleep meds) and that because they haven't been around as long, doctors still prefer to use one they use - Benadryl.

[ViewsAskew]

Do you think any of the OTC meds would work for itching ?

It does for me, Deb.

[debbluebird]

I've used the Benadryl a few times. No issues. Now it's not a problem. The itching stopped.
I also had to move the dose to the morning instead of the evening. It was causing me to be awake at night and sleepy during the day. No dose at night.
I'm now only taking an 1/8 th in the morning. It's working great. No RLS.
I'm sleeping all night.

[Polar Bear]

"sleeping all right"..... what a wonderful thing to hear.
We hope this regime continues to work for you. Information such as your journey after starting to take buprenorphine is useful for others who are still seeking a medication that will work for them.

[debbluebird]

Well, things have changed. Even though my RLS was controlled at the beginning it began to change. Then I could never settle on a time that would work so that I could sleep when I wanted to sleep, at night. Then I was starting to sleep more during the day and awake at night. Plus I realized that I didn't feel good even when I got sleep. Then finally my RLS started to come back and not just mild RLS, my painful spasms came back.
I called the pharmacist and he said I could just stop it since I was taking so little. .25 mg
I couldn't reach my Doctor because of the weekend.
I resumed my methadone 2.5mg twice a day. I feel so much better. I've slept the last two nights.
I imagine that it can work for some people, just not for me. I am extremely sensitive to meds. That last morning when my RLS was going crazy, it reminded me of augmentation. That's how it felt.
The next hurtle will be my Doctor. I don't know if she will let me take methadone. I have quite a bit of a stash from before.
My stimulator helps which allows me to take the very small dose of methadone.