Hello - I am considering stopping Requip which I have taken at 2mg at night for a little over a year. It was prescribed for Periodic Limb Movement Disorder which although it was documented over several sleep studies, I've never had any actual awareness of. (I was struggling with CPAP for sleep apnea, and this was added as another measure to help me sleep). However, after a bi-maxillary advancement surgery 6 months ago, my most recent sleep study show no apneas and an RDI of only 1.9 with no evidence of sleep disordered breathing. Since I am now sleeping so well and really never noticed the effect of the PLMD, I seriously question whether or not I need to be on this drug. It seems to me that the leg movements could also have been caused by the frequent apneas that I was experiencing.
I've been told that one should not stop it abruptly, but wean or taper off. What are the reasons for this, and what is the usual protocol for tapering off? Thanks for any information you can give.
weaning off Requip
Hi Cheri
I'm so glad your symptoms have dissipated and that you are sleeping so good now. As for weaning off of Requip (or Mirapex or most meds we take), you have to be very careful, especially the longer you are on them. I would suggest you talk to your doctor, or at the very least, a pharmacist, to see what the protocol would be. I can tell you this--even some doctors are not aware of the risk in stopping these drugs too abruptly.
Good luck to you and, if you don't mind, please let us know how you get along.
Best of luck!
Jan
I'm so glad your symptoms have dissipated and that you are sleeping so good now. As for weaning off of Requip (or Mirapex or most meds we take), you have to be very careful, especially the longer you are on them. I would suggest you talk to your doctor, or at the very least, a pharmacist, to see what the protocol would be. I can tell you this--even some doctors are not aware of the risk in stopping these drugs too abruptly.
Good luck to you and, if you don't mind, please let us know how you get along.
Best of luck!
Jan
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Apnea can cause leg movements - so you have good reason to wonder if you need it. There is only one way to find out - stop it. Many people have movements that do not wake them. You may be in that category. You will need another sleep study afterwards, though. None of us are aware of the movement during sleep, but some of us are greatly affected by them.
If you switch to another DA, such as Mirapex, you do not have to slowly reduce the Requip. But, when stopping it, I've always seen to taper it. I can't find any literature that says why, however. Most of Dr B's posts on www.rlshelp.org say to taper it. Well, just found this http://www.warfarinfo.com/tagq080306.htm that says it can be stopped without a taper. . .
I would imagine you should be able to stop it relatively quickly, even with a taper, though. Maybe someone else knows more about why they say not to stop it suddenly.
If you switch to another DA, such as Mirapex, you do not have to slowly reduce the Requip. But, when stopping it, I've always seen to taper it. I can't find any literature that says why, however. Most of Dr B's posts on www.rlshelp.org say to taper it. Well, just found this http://www.warfarinfo.com/tagq080306.htm that says it can be stopped without a taper. . .
I would imagine you should be able to stop it relatively quickly, even with a taper, though. Maybe someone else knows more about why they say not to stop it suddenly.
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.