Posted by Stan on July 13, 2003, at 0:04:13
In reply to Re: ame sans vie » jonh kimble, posted by Ame Sans Vie on July 12, 2003, at 23:45:04
> I began having the somnolence symptoms that they talk about in the Mirapex prescribing info. I just started to feel horribly sleepy all day (happy, and not anxious--but sleepy, lol) and occasionally I would drift off to sleep out of the clear blue. It was as if I were narcoleptic or something. Too bad though... it is a wonderful med.
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did you try lowering the dosage? i read one of your posts which indicated you were taking 4.5 mg/day, which is an extraordinarily high amount normally reserved only for patients with advanced parkinson's. in fact, i think the package insert mentions that several studies were done which showed that dosage levels above 1.5 mg/day provided no additional benefits for patients with parkinson's and only increased side effects (sleepiness, nausea, dizziness, hypotension, potential hallucinations, etc.). i realize that you were not taking it for that disorder but rather for psychiatric purposes, but you still may have been taking far too much. i'd suggest trying between .75 and 1.5 mg per day before giving up the ghost -- you'll probably feel more sleepy than you would without the drug, but perhaps not enough to nod off unexpectedly at inopportune times.
requip is a very similar drug that some find slightly less sedating -- as far as strength goes, it's about half as "potent" as mirapex, meaning that a .5 mg requip tablet packs roughly the same punch as a .25 mirapex tab.
good luck
stan
poster:Stan
thread:241334
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030708/msgs/241362.html