A study of 60 fibromyalgia patients who randomly received gradually increasing doses of Mirapex (pramipexole), a commonly prescribed medication for Parkinson's disease, or placebo showed promising results. According to the report in the August issue of Arthritis & Rheumatism:
- 42 percent of patients taking Mirapex had a 50 percent or more decrease in pain vs. 14 percent of the placebo group.
- 82 percent of patients taking Mirapex had "some improvement" in pain vs. 57 percent of the placebo group.
Study participants who recevied Mirapex (pramipexole) also showed improvement in fatigue and function. Mirapex (pramipexole) is classified as a dopamine receptor agonist and has also been studied as a treatment for Restless Legs Syndrome.
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I am in the process of weaning my self off of Mirapex, I can tell you that for fibromyalgia it really helps. Ive also noticed that since I have been weaning my self off of mirapex My restless leg syd.
has gotten real bad , also muscle spasms
and the usual aches and pains.
Could I ask why you are weaning yourself off mirapex if it helped you? Were the side effects really bad? Just wondering. I want to try Mirapex.
I have had Fibromyalgia for over 12 years with debilitating pain and muscle knots all over my body. I could hardly walk in the grocery store. I was using a cain to get around and had to have help getting up and down. I didn’t sleep well at all from the pain.
Every doctor I went to said there was no treatment for this.
Last month I went to a Rheumatolgist who prescribed Mirapex. In only one month my pain is nearly gone. I am walking on my own and sleeping well every night.
My husband has fibro, he’s had it for more than 8 years he has horrible pain everywhere all the time..legs,arms,back, abdomin,jaw,throat,head,eyes.. I can’t even begin to mention the things we’ve tried. We live in Canada and here medical care is useless for such a disease. He hasn’t tried Mirapex yet, but the fight or flight theory sounds right to him, he had traumatic experience at age 17 and the pain persisted in a a specific area after surgery, But after around 10 years started to appear everywhere else. What I would like to know is how many people out there have used Mirapex for a post traumatic fibromyalgia success or not.
I just wanted to throw something out there for you. What you are describing is CRPS, (complex regional pain syndrome)not Fibromyalgia. There are a few specialists in the country that can help, a Dr. Kirkpatrick at UCF in Florida I think. The two sound very similar in the later stages, but CRPS follows and injury of some sort, (surgery even) and progresses from that point. Could be wrong, but it would make sense as to why you are still looking for an answer. Take care.
Please be aware that a Mayo Clinic study found that 3/4 people taking Mirapex had compulsive behaviors that they didn’t even recognize they had, including gambling, shopping, eating and hypersexuality. Doctors are not aware of these side effects, or if they are, they don’t realize how bad it is. They tell the patient but the patient is too involved to realize what is happening (or too ashamed). If you decide to take this medicine, have a family member be on guard for you. I took it for 10 years for restless legs. It was terrific! Didn’t do a thing for my fibromyalgia! I did, however, lose all our money and two businesses to gambling. Once I found out it was from Mirapex, I stopped taking it and have never had an urge to gamble again. Never been compulsive before and am not compulsive now. Please research for yourself first!
I have been on Mirapex for quite some time and have just recently been Gambling like no other. I did discuss this with my (new) Dr. and we are trying the newly FDA approved Horizant. She took me off Mirapex “cold turkey”. I don’t recommend this~! Anyone else trying to go off Mirapex? Does your physician tell you to gradually go off? I started taking half of my Mirapex – on my own – because I had such terrible episodes for the first 3 nights…. Now I wonder how to wean myself off completely. Thanks, in advance! Julie