I'm about to try Meberal

[john_a]

Hi everyone,

I'm still having a terrible struggle with RLS, and am currently taking up to 6MG/day of Sifrol (pramipexole) which kind of works but makes me feel ill.

A local doctor suggested I try Meberal, I have had some relief from phenobarbital in the past so thought it might be worth a try.

Has anyone tried this or know of it?

Thank you.

[Polar Bear]

I think this is the same as Mirapex. First of all- it makes you ill. Have you tried taking it with food, or splitting the pill and taking it more often in smaller doses. I know this has worked for some people.

[ViewsAskew]

It's not a something most of us have tried. Barbiturates are not often used for RLS. Anti seizure drugs are used, that is true, but docs usually go for the newer ones such as gabapentin or pregabalin.

6 mg a day of pramipexole is a very large dose for RLS. I can imagine that you might have nausea at that rate. Do you take 2 mg a dose, 3x a day?

[badnights]

It's not listed in any of the references I have, and it's not listed per se in descriptions of the accepted treatments for RLS (eg. the Mayo clinic algorithm in PB's signature, or my favorite, the RLS Foundation's medical bulletin at http://www.rls.org/Document.Doc?&id=1296). You can also look on the Southern California RLS support group website at www.rlshelp.org. They have a page on drugs used for RLS. Their website is maintained by one of the most well-known RLS clinicians, Dr. Buchfuhrer, who also answers slews of emails from RLSers personally - you can acccess his email at that site. It might be useful for you to get his opinion on using phenobarbital for RLS.

It may have helped you in the past because of its anti-seizure properties, but there may be more effective things out there. What made your doc think of it, is it because you told him it had helped in the past or did he come up with it on his own? and if the latter, I wonder where he's getting his info from?

[john_a]

I think this is the same as Mirapex. First of all- it makes you ill. Have you tried taking it with food, or splitting the pill and taking it more often in smaller doses. I know this has worked for some people.

Yes I take it multi-doses of 1 mg. Usually 1 mg at lunch, 1mg at 6pm, 1 mg at 9pm, then 1 mg when I go to bed then every hour as needed until the RL's stop.

It's not a something most of us have tried. Barbiturates are not often used for RLS. Anti seizure drugs are used, that is true, but docs usually go for the newer ones such as gabapentin or pregabalin.

Phenobarbitone has worked for me in the past, and I think this one is a newer drug, but still a relative of Phenobarbitone. I can't tolerate any of the other anti-epileptic drugs.

It may have helped you in the past because of its anti-seizure properties, but there may be more effective things out there. What made your doc think of it, is it because you told him it had helped in the past or did he come up with it on his own? and if the latter, I wonder where he's getting his info from?

It was my GP that mentioned it out of the blue, like he had heard of it working before, and was quite keen I try it. He's heard of the other anti-epilectics etc. I was really excited when he mentioned it, telling me it was related to Phenobarbitone without knowing that had helped me in the past.

[ViewsAskew]

Hope it works.

[john_a]

Hope it works.

thx, ill keep you informed. : -)