Hello. I've been taking Klonopin for so long I can't rememer how long. I take 1 mg before bed, and sometimes have to take a second 1 mg during the night. It works fairly well most nights but I'm curious about Requip. Last week my doctor gave me two trial sample packs but I'm hesitant to try them, especially after reading some of the negative comments here on the board.
I'm worried about going from 1 mg (or 2) of Klonopin down to .25 of Requip to start. I'm more worried about the side effects I read about on the information sheet and again on this board.
Anyone have a positive experience with Requip - a comment I missed in my research here?
Requip - Anything positive to say?
-
ViewsAskew
- Moderator
- Posts: 16580
- Joined: Thu Oct 28, 2004 6:37 am
- Location: Los Angeles
Musiclover, many people really like Requip. They just aren't posting on these boards!
Truly, most of the people who come here are having problems, post about those problems, and so that's what we hear.
In the research trials, it works for 80% approximately. So, that's pretty high. The 20% are washed out by side effects, primarily nausea.
Much of the difficulties you see on this board are from people trying to switch from Mirapex to Requip, or initial problems with nausea or other side effects. Of the people who get nausea, at least some (I haven't seen percents) find it goes away if they change how they take their meds. With food, without food, at a certain time, or starting at a very low dose and increasing very slowly - those are all strategies I've read that have worked.
If Klonopin isn't working and you have nightly RLS, you need something that is. It doesn't have to be Requip. You could try Mirapex instead. But, stopping the K may be difficult. Then again, it may not; I think it's about 50/50.
Mirapex might be better for you in this instance because you can bet it in small doses and cut it into very small doses. You could start cutting your K in small doses while you slowly add small doses of the Mirapex. This would have the benefit of preventing your body from freaking out over either the withdrawal or the addition of the Mirapex. You can cut Requip, but it's really hard to do at all, but especially accurately.
Hope that helps a little.
Truly, most of the people who come here are having problems, post about those problems, and so that's what we hear.
In the research trials, it works for 80% approximately. So, that's pretty high. The 20% are washed out by side effects, primarily nausea.
Much of the difficulties you see on this board are from people trying to switch from Mirapex to Requip, or initial problems with nausea or other side effects. Of the people who get nausea, at least some (I haven't seen percents) find it goes away if they change how they take their meds. With food, without food, at a certain time, or starting at a very low dose and increasing very slowly - those are all strategies I've read that have worked.
If Klonopin isn't working and you have nightly RLS, you need something that is. It doesn't have to be Requip. You could try Mirapex instead. But, stopping the K may be difficult. Then again, it may not; I think it's about 50/50.
Mirapex might be better for you in this instance because you can bet it in small doses and cut it into very small doses. You could start cutting your K in small doses while you slowly add small doses of the Mirapex. This would have the benefit of preventing your body from freaking out over either the withdrawal or the addition of the Mirapex. You can cut Requip, but it's really hard to do at all, but especially accurately.
Hope that helps a little.
Ann - Take what you need, leave the rest
Managing Your RLS
Opinions presented by Discussion Board Moderators are personal in nature and do not, in any way, represent the opinion of the RLS Foundation, and are not medical advice.
Managing Your RLS
Opinions presented by Discussion Board Moderators are personal in nature and do not, in any way, represent the opinion of the RLS Foundation, and are not medical advice.
I'm one of the people Requip works for. I started with .25mg and find that 1 mg. at bedtime along with the Klonopin I've been taking forever for RLS work very well. I had developed daytime symptoms before the Requip, and fought those for awhile, but once my blood count was normal the Requip seems to be working well.
I h
I h
Jenny
-
musiclover
- Posts: 21
- Joined: Sat Feb 05, 2005 11:14 pm
There are a lot of medical problems that can contribute to RLS; after years of control with Clonazepam and Sinemet, I was having horrendous treatments day and night. It was the bloodwork that gave the doctor the reason mine got worse.
Please don't stop taking your Klonopin cold turkey if you have taken 1 or 2 mgs. and it has been quite awhile you've been taking it. You can have severe medical problems from that; get your doctor to work with you to get off it slowly if it's necessary. I detoxed probably a hundred people from tranquilizers while I was a nurse, and it was very tricky business. Not to scare you, just to make you aware.
Please don't stop taking your Klonopin cold turkey if you have taken 1 or 2 mgs. and it has been quite awhile you've been taking it. You can have severe medical problems from that; get your doctor to work with you to get off it slowly if it's necessary. I detoxed probably a hundred people from tranquilizers while I was a nurse, and it was very tricky business. Not to scare you, just to make you aware.
Jenny
-
ViewsAskew
- Moderator
- Posts: 16580
- Joined: Thu Oct 28, 2004 6:37 am
- Location: Los Angeles
I'll third that. It took me 6 months to get off of clonazepam and I only took it for 7 months! Not everyone has that degree of difficulty, but it's better to go slow and see. If you have problems, go slower yet.
breakthrough means getting RLS during the period your drugs should be working. So, when you get RLS two hours after taking drugs, it's breakthrough. It shouldn't happen. If you are on the right dose and the right drugs or combo of drugs, most people experience no RLS at all.
Blood work is important because anemia and/or low ferritin levels can contribute to or cause RLS. If you are anemic, you need iron immediately. If you have ferritin below 50, you should also take iron. Most doctors do not yet know that. The labs set their own values as to what is low and high, so they can differ by lab. All labs set a ferritin range of between 10 and 20 for the low and 200 to 250 for the high. If you are at 15, say, the lab may say it's OK, but we know that people with lower values are more likely to have RLS problems and when it's higher, it may help reduce it.
Hope that makes sense. FYI, it may help you and your doctor to read the following thread: http://bb.rls.org/viewtopic.php?t=1068 This thread has some very good and basic information that everyone with RLS can benefit from. You can even print off parts of it and take it to your doctor if needed.
breakthrough means getting RLS during the period your drugs should be working. So, when you get RLS two hours after taking drugs, it's breakthrough. It shouldn't happen. If you are on the right dose and the right drugs or combo of drugs, most people experience no RLS at all.
Blood work is important because anemia and/or low ferritin levels can contribute to or cause RLS. If you are anemic, you need iron immediately. If you have ferritin below 50, you should also take iron. Most doctors do not yet know that. The labs set their own values as to what is low and high, so they can differ by lab. All labs set a ferritin range of between 10 and 20 for the low and 200 to 250 for the high. If you are at 15, say, the lab may say it's OK, but we know that people with lower values are more likely to have RLS problems and when it's higher, it may help reduce it.
Hope that makes sense. FYI, it may help you and your doctor to read the following thread: http://bb.rls.org/viewtopic.php?t=1068 This thread has some very good and basic information that everyone with RLS can benefit from. You can even print off parts of it and take it to your doctor if needed.
Ann - Take what you need, leave the rest
Managing Your RLS
Opinions presented by Discussion Board Moderators are personal in nature and do not, in any way, represent the opinion of the RLS Foundation, and are not medical advice.
Managing Your RLS
Opinions presented by Discussion Board Moderators are personal in nature and do not, in any way, represent the opinion of the RLS Foundation, and are not medical advice.
Requip was great for me, until....
I started Requip last summer and found that I did well dosing between .5mg and 1 mg nightly. I never had any nausea, and I was never tired from it.
Then I had gastric bypass last December. My stomach is now a little "pouch" the size of a large egg. I was sick on a regular basis and it took me 2 months to find out what was causing it. I experimented with it, taking with food, without food, one at a time, spacing them apart; you name it, I tried it. Some nights aren't as bad as others, but mostly I'm pretty miserable once I take it.
Unfortunately, most of the other meds (other than opiods) haven't seemed to help me in the past. My doctor just tried me with Neurontin, but with limited success.
Anyway, honestly, if I were you, I'd try it, especially if you haven't had a gastric bypass. Until my surgery, Requip was the best thing that had come along for me in a long time.
Then I had gastric bypass last December. My stomach is now a little "pouch" the size of a large egg. I was sick on a regular basis and it took me 2 months to find out what was causing it. I experimented with it, taking with food, without food, one at a time, spacing them apart; you name it, I tried it. Some nights aren't as bad as others, but mostly I'm pretty miserable once I take it.
Unfortunately, most of the other meds (other than opiods) haven't seemed to help me in the past. My doctor just tried me with Neurontin, but with limited success.
Anyway, honestly, if I were you, I'd try it, especially if you haven't had a gastric bypass. Until my surgery, Requip was the best thing that had come along for me in a long time.
-
musiclover
- Posts: 21
- Joined: Sat Feb 05, 2005 11:14 pm
Thank you all for your replies. I appreciate your time. Several of you mentioned not stopping Klonopin (Clonazipam) cold turkey. I've not heard of this and now I'm concerned. Can I take Requip and Klonopin together? Decrease the Klonopin dose as I'm increasing the Requip dose? Now that I read the description of Breakthrough that fits me to a tea. Some nights I don't even take the Klonopin when I go to bed as I know I"ll just be awake again in an hour or so to take another one. I know these are questions I should ask my doctor - but didn't have them questions when he gave me the samples. They cropped up after reading the literature and reading the threads.
Hi musiclover
I'm now in the process of decreasing my dose of Clonzepam (Klonopin) from 1.5 to .5 mg. at night. I've been on 1.0 mg. since June 11 and am supposed to continue that dose until July 11, then drop to .5 mg. I haven't had a problem at all this time.
You should ask your doctor about what to do... But, it definitely is not wise to go off of Klonopin "cold turkey."
Good luck....
Jan
I'm now in the process of decreasing my dose of Clonzepam (Klonopin) from 1.5 to .5 mg. at night. I've been on 1.0 mg. since June 11 and am supposed to continue that dose until July 11, then drop to .5 mg. I haven't had a problem at all this time.
You should ask your doctor about what to do... But, it definitely is not wise to go off of Klonopin "cold turkey."
Good luck....
Jan
No one is alone who had friends.
-
ViewsAskew
- Moderator
- Posts: 16580
- Joined: Thu Oct 28, 2004 6:37 am
- Location: Los Angeles
Klonopin, like all other medications in its class, should always be tapered when stopping them. About 50% of people who stop it have no trouble cutting it down by .5 mg intervals. About 50% have a lot of problems cutting it by that much and have to make much smaller cuts. Many doctors aren't aware of how hard it can be for some people to cut it in that high of increments.
I stopped it cold turkey after taking it for about 7 months. I just didn't think about it - I had taken it to "help" the Mirapex when I got augmentation. When I finally got off of the Mirapex, I thought, "Gee, I can just stop taking this, too." Five days later I was ready for the emergency room: vomiting, fever, unbelievable pain in my hips, sleeping 17 hours a day, etc. As soon as I added it back in, I started to get better. My doctor, who is a really nice guy and very knowledgable, had never heard of anyone having so much difficulty. Yet, when I researched it on the Internet, I found that thousands of people do have trouble.
I couldn't even cut more than 1/10th of my dose at a time or those symptoms would come back.
My advice? Call your doc and ask. Or send a fax (that's what my doc likes). If your doc says .5 mg at a time, try it. If you start to feel bad within 3 to 5 days, add .25 or all of it back in and try cutting it more slowly. Hopefully you will be one of the lucky 50%
.
I stopped it cold turkey after taking it for about 7 months. I just didn't think about it - I had taken it to "help" the Mirapex when I got augmentation. When I finally got off of the Mirapex, I thought, "Gee, I can just stop taking this, too." Five days later I was ready for the emergency room: vomiting, fever, unbelievable pain in my hips, sleeping 17 hours a day, etc. As soon as I added it back in, I started to get better. My doctor, who is a really nice guy and very knowledgable, had never heard of anyone having so much difficulty. Yet, when I researched it on the Internet, I found that thousands of people do have trouble.
I couldn't even cut more than 1/10th of my dose at a time or those symptoms would come back.
My advice? Call your doc and ask. Or send a fax (that's what my doc likes). If your doc says .5 mg at a time, try it. If you start to feel bad within 3 to 5 days, add .25 or all of it back in and try cutting it more slowly. Hopefully you will be one of the lucky 50%
.Ann - Take what you need, leave the rest
Managing Your RLS
Opinions presented by Discussion Board Moderators are personal in nature and do not, in any way, represent the opinion of the RLS Foundation, and are not medical advice.
Managing Your RLS
Opinions presented by Discussion Board Moderators are personal in nature and do not, in any way, represent the opinion of the RLS Foundation, and are not medical advice.
Clonazepam is a longer acting benzodiazepene and you may not always feel the effects of a decrease or stopping immediately. I don't want to harp on this, but those can be very tricky to get off of. I went from 2 mgs. at night to 1.5 mgs. and after 2 weeks I was shaking and quaking like a drug addict detoxing! I'd estimate I've been been on it 10 yrs., so I'm going to try 1.75 mgs. per night. Good luck to everyone stopping this medication, and good luck with the Requip or Mirapex. Finding what will work for each person is the hardest part of trying to control this disease!
Jenny