Requip

Requip is a prescription medication used to treat Restless Legs Syndrome and Parkinson's disease. Requip belongs to a group of drugs called dopamine agonists, which help the brain to control body movement.

This medication comes in tablet form and is taken with or without food. For restless legs syndrome, one tablet is taken once a day before bedtime. For Parkinson's disease, Requip is taken three times a day.

Common side effects of Requip include nausea, dizziness, and drowsiness.  Do not drive or operate machinery until you know how Requip affects you.

Requip is a prescription medicine to treat Restless Legs Syndrome and treats the signs and symptoms of Parkinson's disease.

This medication may be prescribed for other uses. Ask your doctor or pharmacist for more information.

• GlaxoSmithKline LLC

Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS)

• Most people who take Requip tolerate it well. The most commonly reported side effects in people taking Requip for RLS are nausea, vomiting, dizziness, and drowsiness or sleepiness. You should be careful until you know if Requip affects your ability to remain alert while doing normal daily activities, and you should watch for the development of significant daytime sleepiness or episodes of falling asleep. It is possible that you could fall asleep while doing normal activities such as driving a car, doing physical tasks, or using hazardous machinery while taking Requip. Your chances of falling asleep while doing normal activities while taking Requip are greater if you are taking other medicines that cause drowsiness.
• When you start taking Requip or when you increase your dose, you may feel dizzy, nauseated, sweaty or faint, when first standing up from sitting or lying down. Therefore, do not stand up quickly after sitting or lying down, particularly if you have been sitting or lying down for a long period of time. Take a minute sitting on the edge of the bed or chair before you get up.
• Hallucinations (unreal sounds, visions, or sensations) have been reported in patients taking Requip. These were uncommon in patients taking Requip for RLS. The risk is greater in patients with Parkinson's disease who are elderly, taking Requip with L-dopa, or taking higher doses of Requip than recommended for RLS.

Parkinson's Disease

• Most people who take Requip tolerate it well. The most commonly reported side effects in people taking Requip are nausea, headache, dizziness, drowsiness or sleepiness.
• You should be careful until you know if Requip affects your ability to remain alert while doing normal daily activities, and you should watch for the development of significant daytime sleepiness or episodes of falling asleep. It is possible that you could fall asleep while doing normal activities such as driving a car, doing physical tasks, or using hazardous machinery while taking Requip. Your chances of falling asleep while doing normal activities while taking Requip are greater if you are taking other medicines that cause drowsiness.
• When you start taking Requip or when you increase your dose, you may feel dizzy, nauseated, sweaty or faint, when first standing up from sitting or lying down. Therefore, do not stand up quickly after sitting or lying down, particularly if you have been sitting or lying down for a long period of time. Take a minute sitting on the edge of the bed or chair before you get up.
• Hallucinations (unreal visions, sounds, or sensations) have been reported in patients taking Requip. The risk is greater in patients with Parkinson's disease who are elderly, taking Requip with L-dopa, or taking higher amounts of Requip.
• If you are taking L-dopa for Parkinson's disease, Requip may make some of the side effects of L-dopa worse. Requip may cause uncontrolled sudden movements or make such movements you already have worse or more frequent.

Some patients taking Requip get urges to behave in a way unusual for them. Examples of this are an unusual urge to gamble or increased sexual urges and behaviors. If you notice or your family notices that you are developing any unusual behaviors, talk to your healthcare provider.

This is not a complete list of side effects and should not take the place of discussions with your healthcare providers. Your doctor or pharmacist can give you a more complete list of possible side effects.

Tell your doctor about all the medicines you take including prescription and non-prescription medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements. Especially tell your doctor if you take:

• other dopamine antagonists (such as phenothiazines, butyrophenones, thioxanthenes and metoclopramide)
• estrogens
• ciprofloxacin

This is not a complete list of Requip drug interactions. Ask your doctor or pharmacist for more information.

Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS)

• Patients with RLS should take Requip differently than patients with Parkinson's disease. A lower dose of Requip is generally needed for patients with RLS.
• There are known side effects of Requip. If you fall asleep or feel very sleepy while doing normal activities such as driving, faint, feel dizzy, nauseated, or sweaty when you stand up from sitting or lying down, you should talk with your doctor.
• Before starting Requip, be sure to tell your doctor if you are taking any medicines that make you drowsy.

You should not take Requip if you are allergic to the active ingredient ropinirole or to any of the inactive ingredients.

Parkinson's Disease

• Patients with Parkinson's disease should take Requip differently than patients with Restless Legs Syndrome. For Parkinson's disease, a higher dose of Requip is generally needed.
• There are known side effects of Requip.
• If you fall asleep or feel very sleepy while doing normal activities such as driving, faint, feel dizzy, nauseated, or sweaty when you stand up from sitting or lying down, you should talk with your doctor.
• Hallucinations (unreal visions, sounds, or sensations) have been reported in patients taking Requip. The risk is greater in patients with Parkinson's disease who are elderly, taking Requip with L-dopa or taking higher doses of Requip. If these occur, you should discuss them with your doctor.
• Requip may make some of the side effects of L-dopa worse. Requip may cause uncontrolled sudden movements or make such movements you already have worse or more frequent. You should notify your doctor in such a case as dosage adjustments to your anti-Parkinson’s medications may be necessary.
• Studies of people with Parkinson’s disease show that they may be at an increased risk of developing melanoma, a form of skin cancer, when compared to people without Parkinson’s disease. It is not known if this problem is associated with Parkinson’s disease or the medicines used to treat Parkinson’s disease. Requip is one of the medicines used to treat Parkinson’s disease, therefore, patients being treated with Requip should have periodic skin examinations.
• Before starting Requip, be sure to tell your doctor if you are taking any medicines that make you drowsy.

Unusual urges: Some patients taking Requip get urges to behave in a way unusual for them. Examples of this are an unusual urge to gamble or increased sexual urges and behaviors. If you notice or your family notices that you are developing any unusual behaviors, talk to your healthcare provider.

You should not take Requip if you are allergic to the active ingredient ropinirole or to any of the inactive ingredients.

Medicines can interact with certain foods. In some cases, this may be harmful and your doctor may advise you to avoid certain foods. In the case of Requip there are no specific foods that you must exclude from your diet when receiving Requip.

Be sure to tell your doctor if:

• you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant.
• you are breastfeeding.
• you have daytime sleepiness from a sleep disorder other than RLS or have unexpected sleepiness or periods of sleep while taking ropinirole.
• you are taking any other prescription or over-the-counter medicines. Some of these medicines may increase your chances of getting side effects while taking Requip.
• you start or stop taking other medicines while you are taking Requip. This may increase your chances of getting side effects.
• you start or stop smoking while you are taking Requip. Smoking may decrease the treatment effect of Requip.
• you feel dizzy, nauseated, sweaty, or faint when you stand up from sitting or lying down.
• you drink alcoholic beverages. This may increase your chances of becoming drowsy or sleepy while taking Requip.

Tell your doctor if you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant.

The FDA categorizes medications based on safety for use during pregnancy. Five categories - A, B, C, D, and X, are used to classify the possible risks to an unborn baby when a medication is taken during pregnancy.

This medication falls into category C. In animal studies, pregnant animals were given this medication and had some babies born with problems. No well-controlled studies have been done in humans. Therefore, this medication may be used if the potential benefits to the mother outweigh the potential risks to the unborn child.

Tell your doctor if you are breastfeeding or plan to breastfeed. It is not known if Requip is excreted in human breast milk or if it will harm your nursing baby.

Take Requip exactly as as directed by your doctor or healthcare provider.

Restless Legs Syndrome

• The usual way to take Requip is once in the evening, 1 to 3 hours before bedtime.
• Your doctor will start you on a low dose of Requip. Your doctor may change the dose until you are taking the amount of medicine that is right for you to control your symptoms.
• If you miss your dose, do not double your next dose. Take only your usual dose 1 to 3 hours before your next bedtime.
• Contact your doctor, if you stop taking Requip for any reason. Do not restart without consulting your doctor.
• You can take Requip with or without food. Taking Requip with food may decrease the chances of feeling nauseated.

Parkinson's Disease

• Your doctor will start you on a low dose of Requip. Your doctor will change the dose until you are taking the right amount of medicine to control your symptoms. It may take several weeks before you reach a dose that controls your symptoms.
• If you miss a dose, do not double your next dose.
• Contact your doctor, if you stop taking Requip for any reason. Do not restart without consulting your doctor.
• Your doctor may prescribe Requip alone or add Requip to medicine that you are already taking for Parkinson's disease.
• You can take Requip with or without food. Taking Requip with food may decrease the chances of feeling nauseated.

Take this medication exactly as prescribed by your doctor. Follow the directions on your prescription label carefully.

Parkinson’s Disease:

The recommended starting dose is 0.25 mg taken three times daily. The maximum daily dose is 24 mg.

Kidney Impairment: The maximum recommended dose is 18 mg/day in patients with end-stage renal disease on hemodialysis.

Restless Legs Syndrome:

The recommended starting dose is 0.25 mg once daily, 1 to 3 hours before bedtime. The maximum daily dose is 4 mg.

Kidney Impairment: The maximum recommended dose is 3 mg/day in patients with end-stage renal disease on hemodialysis.

If you take too much this medication, call your healthcare provider or local Poison Control Center, or seek emergency medical attention right away.

• Do not share Requip with other people, even if they have the same symptoms you have.
• Keep Requip out of the reach of children.
• Store Requip at room temperature out of direct sunlight.
• Keep Requip in a tightly closed container.