The Parkinson's Network

Regimens: Withdrawal Warning on Parkinson’s Drugs 

 

Some people with Parkinson’s disease develop severe withdrawal symptoms when they try to taper off a widely used type of Parkinson’s drug, researchers are reporting.

The drugs, called dopamine agonists, include pramipexole, sold as Mirapex, and ropinirole, sold as Requip. They help control the movement problems caused by Parkinson’s, but may cause other troubles in some patients — including impulse control disorders, in which people compulsively eat, gamble or shop.

Some patients who have tried to stop taking the drugs because of the compulsions quickly developed other ills: withdrawal symptoms like anxiety, panic attacks, nausea, sweating, pain, fatigue, dizziness and drug cravings.

The problems are described in an article being published Tuesday in the journal Archives of Neurology by researchers from NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell hospital. They studied 93 patients; 40 had taken dopamine agonists, and 26 had tapered off them, often because of compulsive behaviors. Five of those 26 had severe withdrawal.

Two recovered fully, but three could not stop taking the drug. The researchers advise that people trying to quit these drugs be monitored closely.

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