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A sleep-related note for all pramipexole users A question; does pramipexole have a side effect of drowsiness for you? .It does for me. From discussions with other users and my drug test case worker, I suspect that drowsiness is a significant side effect for others, too. Could this be the reason behind its not being marketed? At the suggestion of my neurologist, I was the subject (victim ?) of a sleep disorder study at the Med school ot U. South FL . The regimin was first night, a sleep wired with 28 electrodes to monitor everything from rem sleep to eeg. The following day, 5 nap periods, separated by 2hrs without sleep. but with the # of electrodes reduced to about 10. THEN, a cold turkey cessation of ALL PD meds for the following 2 weeks. At the end there was a repetition of the sleep and nap test followed by an immediate resumption of PD meds. Two weeks without meds had been an academic discussion with my neuro, what would my base line PD be without any chemical help? How much of my present good health and trivial PD symptoms are a result of pramipexole? (A discussion that seemed to present a dillema not too different from that of a person who might be the future victim of some heritable disease like Huntington's chorea., should one know ones possible fate or not?) The real test was revealing. First , major symptoms appeared and disappeared within a day of stopping/restarting pramipexole. Second, in the drug-free state all of the classic symptoms were present to a magnitude that ranged from obvious to very uncomfortable, tremor and sleeplessness to BIG restless leg syndrome, respectively. No freezing, however. The general diagnosis: I probably had a latent narcoleptic condition that was amplified by the combination of PD and pramipexole , but could be missed in the absence of PD. Without pramipexole, I had very real, but not obviously narcoleptic, sleep problems. My own reactions; first, in my case, the quality of life gained through pramipexole was immense. Second, I suspect that the reults and conclusions would have been the same if my med was sinemet. Finally, the med-free period was not really fun, but knowing that, should I need it, the safety net of sinemet or pramipexole was available, eased the suffering and made the experience one of a "scientfic/discovery" character. (Ain't it amazing the rationalizations the human mind can contrive?). Meds before the test: 1.5mg pramipexole at 3x/day and 5 mg Eldepryl 2x/day. A dose that I have been using for a little over three years. A few weeks after the "sleep" test, pramipexole reduced to 1.25 mg at 3x/day and .5 25/100 sinemet 3x/day. The sinemet was added because of the emergence of a significant balance problem ( couldn't make short putts) and replaced. to some extent, the lowered amount of pramipexole. The result, fewer sleep problems and regaining balance. (Still miss short putts but "cures" of 19th hole are extremely effective.) [log in to unmask] <D.C.Hoesterey>