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Just picked up on another report relating to "Sleep Attacks" and PD meds ...... I was one of the "few" who experience this and other problems with ropinerole so I thought a word of caution was indicated. ( Realizing the we all react differently and these do help a great number of people ,,,, it is best to be on guard.) Rob Parkinson's Drugs Can Cause Excessive Drowsiness -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WESTPORT, CT (Reuters Health) Aug 29 - Patients with Parkinson's disease who take ropinirole and pramipexole have been confirmed to be at significantly increased risk for excessive somnolence and sleep attacks. "About 2 years ago there were published reports that patients taking ropinirole and pramipexole were subject to sudden sleepiness called sleep attacks," Dr. Mahyar Etminan from the University of Toronto told Reuters Health. "There were at least 16 cases of sleep attacks reported, with a few patients involved in automobile accidents," said Dr. Etminan. Another study showed that patients taking the dopamine agonists experienced daily somnolence and were also involved in automobile accidents, Dr. Etminan added. To investigate, he and colleagues reviewed 11 randomized, controlled studies that collectively included 2066 patients with Parkinson's disease and measured somnolence or drowsiness. In one meta-analysis they pooled data from four studies that compared ropinirole or pramipexole with placebo, and in another they analyzed seven studies that compared ropinirole or pramipexole with levodopa. Ropinirole and pramipexole increased the risk of somnolence five times compared with placebo and two times compared with levodopa, Dr. Etminan said. The study results were presented Sunday at a meeting of the International Society for Pharmacoepidemiology in Toronto and are published in the August 31st issue of Drug Safety. Dr. Etminan's group does not know how ropinirole or pramipexole compares with other medications or with older dopamine agonists in causing somnolence. But Dr. Etminan stressed, "I do not know of any other drug that has a risk of somnolence five times that of placebo." "Physicians should emphasize this adverse event, and advise patients who feel drowsy [during the day] while taking ropinirole or pramipexole not to drive," he advised. Drug Safety 2001;24:000-000. http://www.adis.com/journals/drugsafety ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn