just started Mirapex - questions

I have been using a bipap machine for almost 2 years and many of you have helped me with that! Recently I have experienced the 4 hours of sleep then 6 or more awakenings for the rest of the night pattern. The doctor wanted to do a titration study (never had one before - just the sleep study). It didn't show anything unusual according to him (I will get the real study so I can at least look at it myself) - my machine settings seemed to be about right. I did have 67 PLMS an hour. Seems my original sleep study showed about the same thing. I am unaware of any leg problems during the day and I am not aware of any leg movements during the night but I can believe they would be causing the arousals. He prescribed Mirapex - lowest dose to start. I have taken it 2 nights now and it seems to cause nasal congestion to the point I can barely use the bipap machine. I have tried all the ways that usually help with congestion but it is very annoying. I want to give this drug a chance so I have a few questions:

1. is 67 limb movements an hour as bad as that sounds? I must be tap dancing under the sheets.
2. Do the initial side effects of Mirapex calm down after you get used to it?

thanks for the input,
Laura

Laura,

That is a lot of sleep dancing you're doing there! The key is how many of them cause arousals. That should be on the report when you get your copy. At 67 per hour, that's more than one per minute. You probably actually have periods of time when there are many more and periods when there are fewer, since this is an average per hour.

Some people's movement's are just a repeated slight flexing of the toe that doesn't disrupt their sleep. Others involve the whole lower leg contracting and relaxing. And there's everything in between. Even though you averaged 67 per hour, the time spent in the movement is another thing to think about when you wonder what all is going on. The stronger movements last at least a few seconds - time to contract then time to slowly release.

Mirapex side effects with me seem to increase as the dose increases. Maybe you'll get relief from a low dose. I never had congestion from it, but had other side effects. To this day it upsets my stomach real bad, and I've been on it most of the last 5 years. I take 1.5 mg at bedtime.

Before I was diagnosed with the limb movements, I wasn't aware of them, just knew my covers were in disarray every morning. I thought I was a restless sleeper and changed positions a lot. Later I realized that when I frequently woke up changing the position of my legs, the was the end of one of the movements that had awakened me.

Hope that between the bipap and the Mirapex you rediscover good sleep.

Kathy