How long does requip withdrawal last???

[jy13131]

I am having that "increase in WED symptoms".......the kind where you begin to wonder if sawing your legs off would help I am off requip 13 days and I know the doc said could be weeks or maybe a little longer than a month to stabilize. Can someone share their experience with me? Some hope? Little bright at the end of this dark tunnel ?please!!!!!

[rthom]

i'm sorry you are having so much trouble with the requip--it seems to have so much hope then when it goes bad it's a real downer eh. I took it but not for long as i had trouble right from the start, Bear in mind i was not on it for long. Well hope yours goes fast. Ok, well it's almost 5am think it's time to try to get some sleep again (or walk the dog--lol)--thanks again the reminder is like a gift to me--notice the positive. Good luck. Hope everyone well.

[Polar Bear]

Well done for getting to 13 days.

I tried it and lasted 3 days, even though I had Tramadol to help.

Have you had help from your dr through this time.

[badnights]

Hey jy how are you now?

For some people it's bitter hard, but most people are over it in under 3 weeks. Even if it takes longer for you, it DOES end; hang in there!

I don't know if this is relevant to you, probably not : some people who have been treated for RLS/WED for a while, go off the meds long enough for the meds to leave their system, but their symptoms remain way worse than before, because the RLS/WED has gotten worse while they were on the meds. The worsening was masked by the meds. So going off the meds just allowed the worsened condition to be felt, but the sufferers thought it was a withdrawal phenomenon.

[jy13131]

I have been working with dr b through the process. Methadone seems to be working well ago far and I just keep popping the 5 mg pills every hour starting at 5 until they are sufficiently dominated. (the legs that is). Sometimes it feels like a battle going on in my body. I have been sleeping through the night like a baby (like a good baby that actually sleeps through the night that is). dr b told me today to figure on two
Months before we could accurately gauge where my legs are at. So I am grateful I get relief for the most part from
The meds I am currently on. No more wanting to amputate with a saw

[ViewsAskew]

I had to quit Mirapex with horrendous augmentation, not Requip. Not sure how identical they are in that regard.

It took about 3-4 weeks, I'd say, before the worst was over. But, I never got a huge decrease in symptoms that I wanted. A small blip, more like it. Over time, it's decreased a bit more, so that now I have 18/24 WED instead of 24/24 WED. But, I don't have the 2 or 3 day a month WED that I had when this whole thing started!

[jy13131]

I am hoping through this process to keep my medication doses as low as possible throughout the course of this disease (my life). I don't think the DA I was on made anything permanently worse, I think my disease has gotten worse with exaggerated symptoms due to augmentation. I hope to address the exaggerated symptoms only. I hope my expectations are realistic.

[jy13131]

So I am nearly one month off requip and just wanted to give an update. My body has calmed down a LOT. Phew! Those first 2 weeks not fun. I don't really see how someone could do (or SHOULD HAVE TO ) without opiates. Anyway I take tramadol during the daytime if I have symptoms. I take much less methadone and sometimes I take a hydrocodon first as the intensity if my symptoms are decreasing. And the methadone makes me sleep so it is really only appropriate for sleep time. I am much more comfortable and hopeful that I'll be a "piece of cake " for dr B to treat! Thanks for all the support!

[Polar Bear]

Well done. You have come a long way.

[rlsidaho]

My withdrawal took about 5 weeks an was not fun in any way. By the way, my RLS has remained 24/7 but dr b has been a godsend on finding treatments that give us hope. I too, wanted to amputate me legs!

[jy13131]

So let me get this right.....there was an INCREASE during withdrawal but then after that it went back to where you were before you got off requip? No decrease whatsoever?

[Polar Bear]

My understanding is that if augmentaton is involved and you come of the requip/mirapex, then during the withdrawal the symptoms are very very greatly intensified. Then eventually, you should be at a base level of how it was before you went onto the requip/mirapex. Bearing in mind of course that this condition generally can gradually worsen so the base level may not be as low as it previously was prior to the requip/mirapex.

I hope I have explained this clearly.

[ViewsAskew]

Agreed with PB.

You have X level of WED.

You augment on dopamine agonist and you go to XX or xxx level.

You stop dopamine agonist and go to XXXXXX level.

Within 1-4 weeks, you usually go back to X level, but never less - it's what you started with.

Some of us stay at XX or xxx level, though. That is supposedly because the disease progressed while you were taking the DA. Some of us believe that something happens during augmentation to permanently progress the disease very rapidly. Fortunately it doesn't happen to many.

[rthom]

I agree with Ann my symptoms are still worse than before i took the requip and i only took it for a couple of weeks and it has been about 4 months now so it seems to be as good as it's going to get. I have had something like a 20% increase in symptoms since before i took it--(end of DEC and quit in the beginning of Jan)