My body is Restless. Insomnia night after night. I can't get my mind or body to relax and wind down. Nothing causes me full relaxation. I'm a tad depressed and moody. I walk around everyday in Pain. And not a dull pain. I don't think anyone should have to deal with this kind of pain just because they wanted to walk from the car to the store and home again.
My Legs are Restless. Which in turn makes my mind restless and exhausts my body and it is a vicious cycle. Last week the Neuro gave me ANOTHER new pill for RLS (Restless Leg Syndrome) which I started this Friday night and man the side effects are killing me. Mirapex is a somewhat popular RLS drug that is popular for use in Parkinson's Disease (according to my sisters - RN and Pharmacy). The first night I took it knocked me on my butt, Exhausted me to sleep from 10pm to 4pm the next day! Though not a straight sleep, I felt like I was hit by a bus, however I have to tell you the drug worked within 1 hour for my RLS.
I had several side effects, Hallucinations, Headache, Flashing lights in my Left Eye (I have a thinning of my Retina), Nightmares like you would not believe, it made me feel very foggy when I was awake and trying to hold conversations with friends was difficult. My blood pressure dropped really low a few times, and the Dizziness I've experienced over the past few days is making me just want to sit still. Today I was trying to walk up only 2 steps and everything started spinning I almost hit the pavement, but my hubby was there to catch me. So tonight I am not taking the drug, even though I know when I took it the past few nights, with all the side effects my legs were pain free. That's right..no pain. Until today, when the drugs wore off and the pain is back.Do you ever wonder if you should push through the side effects of a drug? Will your body get used to it? I don't think I could get used to all these side effects even though it completely calms my legs down. Will someone in Big Pharma please create a drug that can just address the issue without having all these side effects?
Can anyone comment on any RLS drugs they've taken and side effects they've experienced?
8 comments:
Hallucinations? That's downright scary. I took Baclofen for the night "jimmy legs." Seemed to help. I DO still get leg spasms at night (I don't take anything currently for them. They are mild and not every night now.) The Baclofen made me slightly sleepy, but I guess that's good if you're going to bed anyway.
I'd like to have fewer side-effects from the Betaseron. I hope the oral meds coming out soon will be better in terms of this!
Hi Jen:
Yes Hallucinations. And this morning, Matt woke me and I did not know where I was. And 2 hours later, I still feel foggy. I am So done with this med. I'll have to find other options and just be in pain for now Baclofen doesn't work for me for pain. I do find it interesting if you take away the leg pain, I can walk farther and feel something I haven't felt in awhile...pain free.
Hi Lanette:
I, too, took Mirapex and it knocked me on my ass. I woke up very disoriented, would lay for a minute to get adjusted and get up to go to the bathroom, and damn if I didn't fall back to sleep again for hours. Hallucinations, shooting lights, the works. Hated it. I was so drugged that nothing was restless in my body - everything was dead. Ruins the sex life too.
Took care of the RLS but the side effects were not worth it for me.
It works for some people, but was not the drug for me.
I tried the Baclofen, and Zanaflex and both zonked me.
When Requip came out, I gave it a try and I have to tell you, I will never be without it again. I only take 0.25 mg of it once during the day when my legs get jumpy if I am inactive for too long of a period.
Otherwise, I only take it night time. I take two 0.25mg tabs (I use generic and it works fine) along with my Ativan (helps me wind down from the craziness in this house) and I have time to sit up and read my book for at least an hour and a half before I am ready to lay down to go to sleep.
If I want to go to sleep around 10PM, I make sure I get the meds in by 7:30PM or so. I have noticed that if I take them after 8:30-9PM, I am up that much longer. And 5AM still comes at the same time every morning, so I need to get sleep.
I have RLS every single time I get into bed, take a car ride, go on vacation, am in any confined space and if it weren't for Requip, I'd never go anywhere.
When I first started Requip, doc started me on two during the day and one at bedtime, then slowly changed the dosage to one during the day IF NEEDED and then two at bedtime. I've been on this dosage for about four years and have not had to increase since it does the trick.
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I've been off the blogs for a while and I didn't see where the decision had been made for you to move back to PA. Good luck in whatever decision you make.
Take care,
Anne
Anne - did you have ANY side effects with Requip? If so, what were your side effects? I just called my Neuro and requested that be called in today.
Wow, sorry to hear that. Hope the new meds help!
No side effects with Requip to complain about - except that it has a one to two hour set up time. That is why I take it at 730PM so I can be ready to go to bed anywhere from 9PM onward.
You can read about side effects, etc. here:
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/meds/a698013.html
PLEASE KNOW THAT I HAVE HAD SOME OF THE SIDE EFFECTS LISTED IN THE ABOVE LINK BEFORE STARTING REQUIP AND THEY DID NOT WORSEN AFTER I STARTED TAKING IT.
I call it my miracle drug. I can finally ride in a car, sleep comfortably, and lead a less restrictive life.
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There is an extended release formula which I do not use because the regular stuff works great for me. However, it is something to keep in mind if regular Requip doesn't work out for you.
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If you take Ambien or other sleeper, you need to read the literature.
Hope that helps,
Anne
Thanks Anne! :)
Hi all . I have suffered from RLS for years and have tried everything, I find for me that muscle cream works and I have experimented and found out that if I don't get enough potassium in my system that's when RLS hits I try to eat one banana a day for the potassium as well as drink 2 glasses orange juice a few hours before I go to bed as well I try to walk or bike ride every day to ware the muscles out so far so good. good luck to all !
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