getting off miraprex

[hercman4239]

I just checked the price of Lyrica and Horzant and can't afford either one on my retirement and SS income.

[QyX]

I just checked the price of Lyrica and Horzant and can't afford either one on my retirement and SS income.

This is so sad! This is something that is impossible in Germany. Even with (very) low income or being unemployed you have access to expensive drugs.

[Polar Bear]

We have free prescriptions/medications here in UK.
Of course, we also have rubbish hospital/Consultant waiting lists as well !!

hercman, I'm really saddened to hear this, are there no exceptions, approaching the supplier etc.

[hercman4239]

Polar Bear and QyX, I have not give up on this yet. I took Lyrica in the past and don't remember it being that expensive. I will certainly check it out more before totally giving up.

[hercman4239]

I don't understand but after my last post (of 2/26/14) my RLS/WED symptoms have become less intense and nothing in my daily routine has changed. I have even forgot a couple of my doses of Mirapex and it has made no diff. What's going on???

[Polar Bear]

You could probably analyze everything and find no clear reason for lessened symptoms. Or you could find what you think it might be.... but its not.
It could be anything from diet to exercise to temperature to weather etc etc etc.
Enjoy this time, make the most of it, and I hope it keeps going.

[badnights]

diet? exercise? level of stress? sunshine (vitamin D)? iron? air pollution?
If you can't figure it out, do as pb says and just enjoy it

[hercman4239]

Well my RLS symptoms are still mild but still there. I just found out a friend of mine's wife has RLS and uses RLS Cream by Magnilife and it works for her and so tonight, guess what. I'm trying it out. I never had much use for creams but I will try this. Hope it works.

[hercman4239]

Eureka, Eureka I think maybe I found it. Like I said before, I have had RLS Symptoms most of my adult life and it was the usual symptoms not too noticeable during the day but would fire up at bedtime.
Then after retirement and I became a decrepit old geezer with all the aches and pains that go along with it I had several operations for hip, back and hands, I started to notice that my RLS started to become more severe and started earlier in the day. That is when I started the various medicines for it.
I went thru several prescriptions until I found Mirapex which helped for a while.
What I forgot about was in addition to all the aches and pains that I acquired, I also come up with a serious allergy where I sneezed, sniffled and my eyes had tears constantly and made life miserable along with my RLS. But no problem, I found this pill that was like a miracle because no more Sinus problems and I took 1 a day since then. I started that pill about the same time as when my RLS became worse. duh I never thought of this until the other day when I was changing the old pillbox and read the Antihistamine label on my Sinus relief bottle. I remember hearing about the problem with this on the RLS Foundation long ago but never put it all together until a day or 2 ago.
So what do you all think? I know I will go back to sneezing and crying but maybe better controlled RLS. I have been off the sinus pills for the last 2 das and notice a little improvement in my RLS.

[Rustsmith]

Hercman, part of it may depend upon the specific antihistamine that you were getting from your sinus relieve medicine. If it was bendaryl or chloropheneriamine maleate (the two most common over-the-counter first generation antihistamines, then there is a good chance there is a relationship. However, no need to go back to the sneezing and sniffling. The second generation antihistamines are supposed to be WED friendly. The second generation (also billed as non-sedating) drugs are the ones such as Claratin and Allegra. I personally use Zyrtec, which the WED experts are kind of wishy-washy about. But my allergies are so severe that Claratin and Alegra do not work for me and I think my blood stream strips out all the Zyrtec before it has a chance to get to my brain.

[badnights]

hercman wouldn't that be great if you could reduce your WED/RLS simply by switching anti-histamines ! I know of one person only who said on here that even the 2nd-gen anti-histamines made their WED worse, but their WED may have worsened for other reasons; so if your sinus med is 2nd-gen, back to square one But gee- hahah I hope you have a fairly simple solution looming.

[hercman4239]

Steve I have no idea what generation my anti-histamine is, but the name is Loratadine and you take 1 a day
Beth I have been back to square one many times and probably will be there again.

[Rustsmith]

Loratadine is the generic name for Claritin - a second generation antihistame that is supposed to be WED friendly. However, everyone is different. I cannot take Allegra because it keep me from sleeping (not insomnia like WED, I just do not need to sleep). Neither of these drugs is supposed to cross the blood-brain barrier, but obviously Allegra got across mine.

I forgot to mention that there are three non-antihistamine allergy treatments that you should consider. The first is Nasalcrom. It is a nasal spray that for many is effective in preventing the allergic reaction. However, you might need to search for it a bit because it never became all that popular (not heavily advertised) once it became over-the-counter. The second is a Nasalcort, which has only recently been released for over the counter. This is a topical cortisone nasal spray that is frequently very effective. The last is a prescription pill called Singulaire, or the generic name montelukast sodium. Singulair has been a lifesaver for me. It treats the allergic reaction earlier in sequence before the histamines are released. It is technically termed an leukotriene receptor antagonist.

[WildOne86]

Loratadine is the generic name for Claritin - a second generation antihistame that is supposed to be WED friendly. However, everyone is different. I cannot take Allegra because it keep me from sleeping (not insomnia like WED, I just do not need to sleep). Neither of these drugs is supposed to cross the blood-brain barrier, but obviously Allegra got across mine.

I forgot to mention that there are three non-antihistamine allergy treatments that you should consider. The first is Nasalcrom. It is a nasal spray that for many is effective in preventing the allergic reaction. However, you might need to search for it a bit because it never became all that popular (not heavily advertised) once it became over-the-counter. The second is a Nasalcort, which has only recently been released for over the counter. This is a topical cortisone nasal spray that is frequently very effective. The last is a prescription pill called Singulaire, or the generic name montelukast sodium. Singulair has been a lifesaver for me. It treats the allergic reaction earlier in sequence before the histamines are released. It is technically termed an leukotriene receptor antagonist.

As a pharmacist, I would second both of these recommendations. You really can't beat singulair + nasacort at this point, with what is available out there. Nasacort type products (intra-nasal corticosteroids to be exact), are about 100x stronger than taking oral pills, for nose-specific symptoms. Singulair is known to work in a much broader way than antihistamines, is a mixed bag with regard to potency vs side effects, but thankfully has 0 effects on cholinergic/dopaminergic brain systems.

[hercman4239]

Thanks Steve and WildOne86 for the info on the available OTC sinus aids. I started Nasacort today and I realize its to early to see any affect but I am aware of the benefits of Nasacort. I used it a few years age when it was prescription req'd. I took it every morning before heading off to work and never had any sinus problems but then my prescription Insurance thought it was too expensive and made my Dr. try all kinds of different generic flops and I ended up with one that did not work and I just finally give it up. I finally tried the 1 a day claritin look a like and it did what I wanted except maybe messed up my RLS symptoms. I'll try this for a couple of days and see what happens. again thank you.