Hello All,

I am new here .. have just found this board. When I googled Mirapex and side effects, I found some posts (about this) on this board under the Parkinson's area.

My husband has taken 1 mg Mirapex to help with restless legs for approximately 3 years now. It is only just recently that I believe that I have figured out why things have been going so badly, since (approximately) six months after he began on the Mirapex.

My husband began going to a new psychiatrist three years ago. With the new doc came a whole new medication regimen. He began on Effexor XR (low dose) and quickly moved up to 375mgs. He also was prescribed Ambien for sleep issues and then Mirapex for his RLS.

Once (at the beginning) my husband asked if I would accompany him to one of his new dr. appts. (I'm thinking that his dr. probably requested this.) This was after he had been on his new medication regimen for approximately six months. I remember mentioning to his dr. that in the beginning my husband seemed to so much better. I attributed it to the Effexor. Well, shortly after he was started on the Effexor, husband's dr. added in the Mirapex.

My "theory" is that the Mirapex problems probably took six months (to kick in?) or so and this is why things went down hill so quickly.

All of a sudden, my husband insisted on spending almost every night at the bar. At first, it WAS an issue, since I knew that it was not good in regards to his depression and also with mixing the alcohol with all of his meds.

Well, from worse .. it went to even worse. Sometime during this time frame my husband decided that he could not work any longer. My kids and I knew that something was wrong, because husband was home all of the time. (He is supposed to be a self-employed electrical contractor.) Local economy was (IS) bad, so that is the excuse he always gave us (his family) and anyone else who might ask him about work.

I then discovered that husband's partner has all of a sudden increased his take home .. twice what it used to be. It is quite obvious that he has taken up the slack .. in what my husband is not doing. (How very frustrating for me!)

So, my husband (in my eyes) refuses to work. He continues to drink and spend large amounts of money (monthly) to do this. I believe that his monthly bar bill is just over (average) $1000. This is a lot for us!! $1000 would go a lot towards our monthly mortgage payment!

My husband "says" that he will do better .. "next week". Of course he is not able to do that and continues on as he has been.

We have a beautiful home on quite a few acres. We HAD a lot of equity in our home/property. Since he has been on his new medication regimen we have refinanced twice and now my husband is advocating that we refinance again!! The refinance monies and has paid our mortgage and kept him with drinking money.

We have argued terribly about all of this. My husband .. in MY opinion, cannot see the forest from the trees right now. I don't believe that he is capable of seeing "what" exactly the problem might be.

I have just sent my husband's pdoc a letter telling him what has been going on. I was pretty adamant in telling his doc that I thought it was way too much of a coincidence that my hard working husband (sometime throughout this new medication regimen) decided that he could no longer work. Definitely .. no less of an issue, is the fact that his drinking and spending money, to do this is (in MY eyes) uncontrollable.

I am anxiously awaiting my husband's next appt. with his pdoc. (June 27) I am SO hoping that his dr. will not hesitate in taking him off of the Mirapex.

I am posting this, so that others can read about yet another true (very sad) story about how Mirapex is ruining lives.

Hi Flame,

Welcome to Neurotalk. I am sure glad that you found us but so sorry for the reason that brought you here. I can hear the frustration and exhaustion in your post. We are good listeners here at NT. I hope that your doctor can help your husband and that things can get back on the right track. If you ever need to talk or vent, we are here to support you.

Gentle

Hello Shelley,

Thanks for your warm welcome!

I guess I was so busy with my initial "rant" I forgot to mention how I came to the conclusion that it is the Mirapex that brought on my husband's current problems.

http://www.nwpf.org/articles_printable.asp?id=1778

This is one of MANY articles/documents that support my "theory".

Apparently Mirapex can (and does) cause compulsive tendencies in some people. It was (originally) found that gambling seemed to be what was most prevalent. Since then though, individuals and doctors have been reporting all kinds of different "compulsive" tendencies that are brought on by Mirapex.

My (our) personal situation is so bad right now .. I am almost in a "holding my breath" stance, until my husband goes in for his next appointment with this doc.

Best,
Flame

Yes this can happen, and is usually secondary to the increase of dopamine in the CNS. Dopamine is responsible for feeling pleasure and the reward response in the brain. why don't you just have him stop the drug?

"why don't you just have him stop the drug?"

Hi Ana,

My husband is very "dependent" on the Mirapex and Ambien to sleep. At one time .. when he thought he had run out of his prescription, he was almost in a panic because he knew he wouldn't sleep without it.

Knowing my husband as I do, it will take the strong suggestion of his dr. before he would "agree" to go off of it. If I insist (or even suggest) I would face the fall-out (his anger).

Even though my husband and I have been in a constant "argumentative" stage for the past six months about these issues (caused by the Mirapex) he thinks that it is because I am going through my "change". In my opinion, my husband is not able to see the forest from the trees, right now. I believe that he would "accept" the suggestion to get off the Mirapex much easier from his psychiatrist, than he would from me.

Does that make sense?

Thanks for your reply!

Best,
Flame

There are other meds that can work for RLS that do not have this risk of increasing impulsive and addictive behaviors. It is also possible that RLS is caused by another medication??

Yes, I believe that it very well could be. My husband started having the RLS while he was on Paxil. (He was on a Paxil/Buspar regimen for years.) When he changed psychiatrists, the new doc changed his meds to the Effexor (375mgs .. I think this is high), Ambien, Mirapex and Provigil. My husband takes the Effexor for anxiety and depression. He has been on theaw new prescriptions for apprximately three years.

I have read that some anti-depressants do cause the RLS. I guess another thing I should ask his doc about? I am wondering if they (husband and doc) might think that the RLS would be an okay trade off, as long as his anxiety and depression are under control?

Flame, you have all hit the right nails on their heads. Mirapex can indeed cause compulsive behavior and Paxil - and almost every other antidepressant - can cause and or worsen RLS.

I haven't a clue as to how to approach the situation...could you could call the doctor and explain your concerns and send him the info on the compulsive behavior/Mirapex connection? And on the connection between antidepressants and RLS?

In this situation, Requip might work. . .but it might also lead to compulsive behavior. If your husband needs an antidepressant, he could try others, however, such as Wellbutrin which the majority of the time does not cause a worsening of RLS, and may even help it.

Getting off of the Paxil can also be very difficult. This is also documented.

Flame, I have severe RLS. I can assure you that I'd be a basket case without my meds. That said, I also know that there are about 25 meds that can be used for it, so if one doesn't work another one is available. While not one of them was developed specifically for RLS, there are a few that tend to work well for a lot of people.

Last thought. . .stopping Mirapex when you have RLS can sometimes cause a tough two or three weeks in the RLS department. Not for everyone, but some people have a hard time. The RLS researchers have found that during this time opioids seem to help the most. If you need more help about any of this, consider posting Dr Buchfurer on the So Cal RLS Support Group site. He's a sleep doc who specializes in RLS (has written a book, was on the RLS Foundation's medical advisory board, etc.) and he replies to people who post letters on the support group's site - rlshelp.org.

Good luck.

Hi VA,

I have "tried" to talk with husband's doc by phone. He suggested that I write a "confidential" letter to him, in regards to all that has been going on. I don't believe he expected me to be so strongly suggesting that he take husband off the Mirapex. (That is what I did .. tried to "convince" him that things are at a dire enough point currently, that something needs to be done!) Anyway, for speed sake, I faxed that letter to husband's pyschiatrist just this past Wednesday.

My thinking is that because of husband's "addictive" tendencies he should not be on anything (even related) to Mirapex .. at all. So .. I'm not sure what will be suggested?

I have written in to the RLS support group site that you listed. (I'm hoping I did that right?) I will wait to see what Dr. Buchfurer has to say about my husband's situation.

Thanks so much for your wonderful post!

Best,
Flame

Hi VA and All,

Well, I sent an email out to the RLS help site that you gave me (VA), and received a very quick response. Would it have been the Dr. that responded to me twice .. on a Sunday?

Anyway, what was said (basically) is that my husband's Mirapex dose of 1mg is considered relatively high for use as a RLS medication. It is considered pretty "average" dose as a Parkinson's med. So, considering this, the Dr. (or whoever it was that answered me) maintained that at the 1mg dosage, it very well could be the Mirapex that is causing his alcoholic/compulsive tendencies.

The response I received indicated that other options for him might be Neurontin or Lyrica. That said, now I read very recent posts (on this board) on all of the side effects that these might cause ...?

So very frustrating! I am wondering if I might also suggest that his doc lower his Effexor medication or change it to something else? My husband takes the Effexor (375mgs.) of which I think is pretty high. This is to help control his depression and anxiety. In thinking back, all of his RLS symptoms began when he had been on his first round of antidepressants. (Before Effexor, husband was on Paxil for years.)

Best,
Flame