General Dosing Considerations for Parkinson's Disease and RLS
Ropinirole can be taken with or without food. Patients may be advised that taking ropinirole with food may reduce the occurrence of nausea. However, this has not been established in controlled clinical trials.
If a significant interruption in therapy with ropinirole has occurred, retitration of therapy may be warranted.
Geriatric Use
Pharmacokinetic studies demonstrated a reduced clearance of ropinirole in the elderly (see ). Dose adjustment is not necessary since the dose is individually titrated to clinical response. CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY
Renal Impairment
The pharmacokinetics of ropinirole were not altered in patients with moderate renal impairment (see ). Therefore, no dosage adjustment is necessary in patients with moderate renal impairment. The use of ropinirole in patients with severe renal impairment has not been studied. CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY
Hepatic Impairment
The pharmacokinetics of ropinirole have not been studied in patients with hepatic impairment. Since patients with hepatic impairment may have higher plasma levels and lower clearance, ropinirole should be titrated with caution in these patients.
Dosing for Parkinson’s Disease
In all clinical studies, dosage was initiated at a subtherapeutic level and gradually titrated to therapeutic response. The dosage should be increased to achieve a maximum therapeutic effect, balanced against the principal side effects of nausea, dizziness, somnolence, and dyskinesia.
The recommended starting dose for Parkinson’s Disease is 0.25 mg three times daily. Based on individual patient response, dosage should then be titrated with weekly increments as described in Table 5. After week 4, if necessary, daily dosage may be increased by 1.5 mg/day on a weekly basis up to a dose of 9 mg/day, and then by up to 3 mg/day weekly to a total dose of 24 mg/day. Doses greater than 24 mg/day have not been tested in clinical trials.
Table 5: Ascending-Dose Schedule of Ropinirole for Parkinson's Disease
Week
Dosage
Total Daily Dose
1
0.25 mg three times daily
0.75 mg
2
0.5 mg three times daily
1.5 mg
3
0.75 mg three times daily
2.25 mg
4
1 mg three times daily
3 mg
When ropinirole is administered as adjunct therapy to L-dopa, the concurrent dose of L-dopa may be decreased gradually as tolerated. L-dopa dosage reduction was allowed during the advanced Parkinson’s disease (with L-dopa) study if dyskinesias or other dopaminergic effects occurred. Overall, reduction of L-dopa dose was sustained in 87% of patients treated with ropinirole and in 57% of patients on placebo. On average the L-dopa dose was reduced by 31% in patients treated with ropinirole.
Ropinirole for Parkinson’s disease patients should be discontinued gradually over a 7-day period. The frequency of administration should be reduced from three times daily to twice daily for 4 days. For the remaining 3 days, the frequency should be reduced to once daily prior to complete withdrawal of ropinirole.
Dosing for Restless Legs Syndrome
In all clinical trials, the dose for ropinirole was initiated at 0.25 mg once daily, 1 to 3 hours before bedtime. Patients were titrated based on clinical response and tolerability.
The recommended adult starting dosage for RLS is 0.25 mg once daily, 1 to 3 hours before bedtime. After 2 days, the dosage can be increased to 0.5 mg once daily and to 1 mg once daily at the end of the first week of dosing, then as shown in Table 6 as needed to achieve efficacy. For RLS, the safety and effectiveness of doses greater than 4 mg once daily have not been established.
Table 6: Dose Titration Schedule for RLS
Day/Week
Dosage to Be Taken Once Daily, 1 to 3 Hours Before Bedtime
Days 1 and 2
0.25 mg
Days 3-7
0.5 mg
Week 2
1 mg
Week 3
1.5 mg
Week 4
2 mg
Week 5
2.5 mg
Week 6
3 mg
Week 7
4 mg
In clinical trials of patients being treated for RLS with doses up to 4 mg once daily, ropinirole was discontinued without a taper.