Why is Ropinirole being discontinued? Ropinirole is a Dopamine based medicine which is used in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease and Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS). This is why specific parameters are followed in treating Parkinson’s disease and RLS. Doctors usually recommend this medicine even though it has specific side effects. But it helps cure the problem of RLS and for kids’ disease quite quickly, which outweighs its side effects.
Recently there was news that Ropinirole medicine has been discontinued. Many people were saying that since it was unsafe and had many side effects, the FDA decided to discontinue its production. The brand discontinued the ropinirole hydrochloride (Requip) tablets and the 2-mg extended-release (Requip XL) tablets. Although the 4-mg, 6-mg, 8-mg and 12-mg tablets of Requip XL have yet to be discontinued.
As per the announcement made by FDA, there is an indication that the medicine has not been discontinued for safety and health measures. It is a conscious decision that manufacturers make after their business discussion. This means that the two variants the brand has discontinued will no longer be available in the market.
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Why is Ropinirole being discontinued?
This medicine was beneficial in covering a lot of ailments such as Parkinson’s Disease, RLS Treatment Ropinirole Hydrochloride and more. But the FDA announced that this medicine would no longer be available in the market. The medicine has been discontinued since May 2019. As per the notice released by the FDA, people could decipher that the medicine has been discontinued because of a conscious decision by the manufacturers.
This medicine was said to be addictive. As it was Dopamine based, suddenly not taking your required dosage may lead to withdrawal symptoms. Many people felt a fever, a fast heartbeat, muscle stiffness, sweating, and confusion. This is why it is advised by doctors and professionals to not instantly stop the consumption of this medicine, as it may have some severe health implications. Instead, it would help if you slowly decreased your daily dosage and then, at a gradual pace, stopped consuming it.
This is the right way to make your body acclimated to not using this medicine. This medicine is also not listed in the control substance list of the United States of America. This means that consuming this medicine can even cause severe health-related problems; thus, it must not be consumed without professional supervision.
Why is Ropinirole suddenly stopped?
If you have been consuming this medicine for a long time, it is advised that you must not stop taking it all of a sudden. Since it’s dopamine-based, it can become addictive after a point of time, and your body becomes dependent on it. Suddenly, not giving your body what it has become customary to will lead to withdrawal symptoms.
Sometimes these withdrawal symptoms can become so life-threatening that a person may even lose his life. This is why you must go by the advice of your doctor and reduce your daily dosage slowly and steadily. This way, you can get rid of this intoxication very quickly. Start with consuming this medicine for three days a week.
Then slowly reduce it to 2 days a week and just one day a week. Now slowly also decrease the mg of your medicine. Over some time, you will come to a point when you have to take this medicine once in two or three weeks. And finally, you will reach a point where your body will not need this medicine. That should be your ultimate goal, but remember that to reach there, you must start today and trust the process.
Alternative to Ropinirole for restless legs
Over time, Rupini role became an essential part of the therapy routine of a lot of people. It was used for various purposes, such as treating RLS and Parkinson’s disease. Now that it has been discontinued, people have been actively looking for its alternator, which is as good and efficient as medicine.
Currently, there are a lot of such alternatives that are present in the market. Choosing the best out of so many options in front of you can become confusing. The medicine must be efficiently able to stimulate the Dopamine releasing parts in the brain so that your Parkinson’s disease can be regulated and their new abnormal psychomotor reactions. There are a lot of other medicines that can be taken in place of Ropinirole. The medicines that you can take care of-
- Neurontin (gabapentin)
- Horizant (gabapentin enacarbil)
- Lyrica (pregabalin)
- Pramipexole
- Mirapex ER (pramipexole extended-release)
- Neupro (rotigotine)
- Sinemet (carbidopa/levodopa)
- Carbidopa/levodopa ER (extended-release)
- Azilect (rasagiline)
- Zelapar (selegiline)
- Xadago (safinamide)
- Amantadine
- Trihexyphenidyl
- Benztropine
All of these medicines are very effective in curing restless legs. The dosage must be discussed with the doctors, and you must not take any of these medicines alone as a patient.
Can Ropinirole make legs worse?
A lot of people who have consumed this medicine have reported that after taking this medicine, their symptoms have become worse than they were before. Many people have witnessed a drop in their blood pressure, whereas others have seen that they have been experiencing hallucinations. The medicine probably increases your drowsiness by 20% and the chances of you falling asleep during the day while doing any task are higher after consuming this medicine.
All of these side effects have been more serious for people over 65. This means that older people must take lighter dosages of this medicine, and if they can avoid it, they must avoid it. Also, people with kidney ailments must take this medicine in significantly less quantity. Otherwise, it can harm a person significantly.
Who manufactures Ropinirole?
GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals manufacture this medicine. This manufacturing company decided in 2019 to stop the production of two ropinirole medicine variants.
The reason behind this discontinuation of manufacturing still needs to be discovered by the public. But some say that due to a higher number of complaints and intense side-effects, the company decided to withdraw the production of this medicine. This was also done to remain immune from any lawsuits the company might have faced due to the side effects people had been getting from the medicine.
