Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) Discussion Board

It scares me when I read of some of these problems people have with pramipexole. I take it and have for a few years now. Memory is bad so don't remember how long. I do have some problems, like weight gain, memory but have got relief from the WED. So are those problems from the pramipexole? I also take several other meds. When I read of the serious problems other people have, I wonder what is down the road for me.

BETTY/WV

Betty, most of the people with problems had them from the beginning. I've always had trouble with it. It changed my moods from day one. I'd be walking down the street and would start crying. Over time, it just got worse. Every side effect I had with it (and I had a lot of them) were present from the beginning with the exception of one that took a few months to start.

Thanks for the inform., medication causes all kinds of problems, funny thing is doctors never recognize it. Even when you tell them about whats happening, they never connect it to the meds. I had been falling asleep driving (I think I posted about it). Didnt drive for almost a year, I'm back to driving short distances. But I started checking my meds., talked to the pharmacist this morning, all of my meds say "may make you drowsy, be cautious about driving) and some say do not take with other meds that may cause drowsyness. The pharmacist said that all blood pressure meds have this warning. And I take 8 or so meds. I don't know if anything can be done about it, but I really hate to give up driving. Imagine all the people out there driving under the influence of their meds.

BETTY/WV

You are not alone....I share your frustration.

I also with you on all of this. I lost my job due to memory loss. I was on so many meds at the time. I'm off of some of them now, but on three now for my WED. My memory is still bad. I hardly ever drive and when I do it's for short distances. The older I get the more sensitive I am to side affects. Along with memory loss I can't spell any more. Words don't look right to me. Simple four letter words sometimes just don't look right. I use the dictionary all the time. I really don't know what the future has in store for me, or any of us. DEB

That is very frustrating.

Did anyone who ever found a doctor to get them off DA's lose the extra weight they cause?
I personally have this dream that when I finally find a doc who will listen and take me off them, I will have the needed impulse control to get the weight off.

jakesmom wrote:Did anyone who ever found a doctor to get them off DA's lose the extra weight they cause?
I personally have this dream that when I finally find a doc who will listen and take me off them, I will have the needed impulse control to get the weight off.

I lost most of what I gained on them....only to go back on them and put it all back on .

My first full 24 hours without the patch in 2 weeks (went back to Mirapex) gave me the first night of 7 straight blissful hours of uninterrupted sleep. Of course I ate like a crazed person yesterday, but I really needed the sleep.

Alas, I am no a patch success story and am back to square one and need off Mirapex. I will need 1mg by 10 am and possibly another 1mg before bed. Gotta get off!!!!!!

Ok my dear friends, IF I manage to find a doc who believes in drug holidays and gives me one, after 8 years of 1-2 mg of Mirapex per day, scale of 1-10, 10 being REALLY bad, how bad and how long should I expect withdrawls?

UPDATE

Shouldnt have been so happy. My WED has started up already. Gonna be a long and painful 9 hours of sitting today!!!
Sleep deprivation was easier to handle than this.

Gotta get off Mirapex!!!!!!!

As someone with severe RLS and augmenting on Mirapex right now I could care less about the other problems with it. I have not slept for days and would pay almost any price to be able to take it again. It has literally saved my life many times over the dozen years. Yeah I have gained 70 pounds since then but I am still alive. It is a miricle drug to me. Just like the other drugs that work and get complaints like my methadone it gets more difficult to obtain prescriptions because of bad press. This Mirapex has given me years of peace.

EeFall,

I am augmenting also, but can't convince my neuro to let me take a drug holiday from DA's. I want off for cardiac issues.

If I may ask, why can't you take it anymore?

jakesmom wrote:
Ok my dear friends, IF I manage to find a doc who believes in drug holidays and gives me one, after 8 years of 1-2 mg of Mirapex per day, scale of 1-10, 10 being REALLY bad, how bad and how long should I expect withdrawls?

So sorry it's a mess - it sux, doesn't it?

So, based on the people here over the last 5-7 years, I'd say one week is fast and one month isn't unheard of. A few people have had it a bit longer, but I'd say 2-3 weeks is the average.

I can honestly only remember two people since 2005 who actually managed to get through the increased symptoms without using any drugs. Most of us use a strong opioid to do it.

EeFall wrote:As someone with severe RLS and augmenting on Mirapex right now I could care less about the other problems with it. I have not slept for days and would pay almost any price to be able to take it again. It has literally saved my life many times over the dozen years. Yeah I have gained 70 pounds since then but I am still alive. It is a miricle drug to me. Just like the other drugs that work and get complaints like my methadone it gets more difficult to obtain prescriptions because of bad press. This Mirapex has given me years of peace.

I guess my opinion is very different because I augmented within a week of taking it and the last ten years have been like being on a merry-go-round operated by the devil. I wish I'd never taken it and hope I never have to take it ever again.

jakesmom wrote:EeFall,

I am augmenting also, but can't convince my neuro to let me take a drug holiday from DA's. I want off for cardiac issues.

If I may ask, why can't you take it anymore?

Augmentation. It started making RLS worse rather than to take it away. This has happened to me probably 4 times over the last 12 years or so. I have heard I am lucky that I was ever able to take it again after augmenting but I have been able to. The last time I started taking it was last year, I practically laughed at the doctor when he asked me to try it again I was so sure he had lost his wits and then it worked!

I am on a drug holiday, but only from Pramipexole. I am going to try to stay off a month and see if it starts working again. Nothing else works. My doctor has tried everything and told me I would have to wait for another new drug for RLS to come out and maybe it would help me. Right now Methadone and Lyrica make it so I can live fairly normal during the day but I get close to zero sleep. I only sleep when I fall to the floor from having fallen asleep. The RLS jolts me awake. This time it has been going on a little over a week and I am exhausted (to say the least), also I have to work or I will most likely be fired so I am working with zero sleep.

Mirapex allowed me to sleep at night, the most important piece of the puzzle and now it is gone. Years ago I could go months like this but now that I am getting older it is just too much.