substitute for Mirapex?

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akagrma

substitute for Mirapex?

Post by akagrma »

I'm new here on the board...was searching for information on Mirapex side effects and my search lead me here where I've found great information.

I've had rls from childhood and managed to cope with it until the past year or so. Up until then my problem was mostly in the evening before I went to bed and didn't bother me after laying down. Now the restlessness is waking me up around 2:00 a.m. and there's no more sleep for the night.

A year ago I had a sleep test for apnea (currently doing great on APAP) and the test also showed 81 PLM's per hour. Once I got the apnea under control and still had multiple wakenings during the night, I talked with my doctor who recommended a month's trial of Mirapex (.0125 an hour before bedtime). I had immediate relief from the night time rls and the best sleep I'd had in years. I still had the usual evening rls, but that I can cope with.

It's been six weeks since I started Mirapex and two nights ago I quit taking it because my ankles/feet had swollen to the point where I couldn't get shoes on. These past two nights have been hell...maybe two hours of sleep each night. Last night was especially bad...in addition to the rls, I was making multiple bathroom trips. About half the swelling is gone, so I'm convinced that the Mirapex was the cause.

Finally, my question...has anyone taken Requip or any of the other drugs after having an edema problem with Mirapex and not had the same problem with the other drugs?

I will be talking to my doctor next week and want to be ready with information. Sometimes I think I'm better informed than he is on my medical problems (I also have fibromyalgia and am hypothyroid). Before he prescribed the Mirapex he was going to give me a tricyclic antidepressant and I had to remind him that it would only make my rls/plm worse. Actually, it was after I tried an antidepressant a couple years ago for insomnia that my rls increased in intensity and duration.

For information purposes, the only prescriptions/OTC medications I'm taking are synthroid, multiple vitamin, low-dose aspirin, and occasional Tylenol or Aleve for pain.

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