Ropinirole Drug Information

Falling Asleep during Activities of Daily Living and Somnolence Patients treated with

ropinirole tablets have reported falling asleep while engaged in activities of daily living, including driving or operating machinery, which sometimes resulted in accidents. Although many of these patients reported somnolence while on ropinirole tablets, some perceived that they had no warning signs, such as excessive drowsiness, and believed that they were alert immediately prior to the event. Some have reported these events more than 1 year after initiation of treatment.

In controlled clinical trials, somnolence was commonly reported in patients receiving ropinirole tablets and was more frequent in Parkinson's disease (up to 40% ropinirole tablets, 6% placebo) than in Restless Legs Syndrome (12% ropinirole tablets, 6% placebo) . It has been reported that falling asleep while engaged in activities of daily living usually occurs in a setting of pre-existing somnolence, although patients may not give such a history. For this reason, prescribers should reassess patients for drowsiness or sleepiness, especially since some of the events occur well after the start of treatment. Prescribers should also be aware that patients may not acknowledge drowsiness or sleepiness until directly questioned about drowsiness or sleepiness during specific activities.

Before initiating treatment with ropinirole tablets, patients should be advised of the potential to develop drowsiness and specifically asked about factors that may increase the risk with ropinirole tablets such as concomitant sedating medications or alcohol, the presence of sleep disorders (other than RLS), and concomitant medications that increase ropinirole plasma levels (e.g., ciprofloxacin) . If a patient develops significant daytime sleepiness or episodes of falling asleep during activities that require active participation (e.g., driving a motor vehicle, conversations, eating), ropinirole tablets should ordinarily be discontinued . If a decision is made to continue ropinirole tablets, patients should be advised to not drive and to avoid other potentially dangerous activities. There is insufficient information to establish that dose reduction will eliminate episodes of falling asleep while engaged in activities of daily living.

Syncope Syncope, sometimes associated with bradycardia, was observed in association with treatment

with ropinirole in both patients with Parkinson’s disease and patients with RLS. In controlled clinical trials in patients with Parkinson’s disease, syncope was observed more frequently in patients receiving ropinirole tablets than in patients receiving placebo (early Parkinson’s disease without levodopa : ropinirole tablets 12%, placebo 1%; advanced Parkinson’s disease: ropinirole tablets 3%, placebo 2%). Syncope was reported in 1% of patients treated with ropinirole tablets for RLS in 12-week, placebo-controlled clinical trials compared with 0.2% of patients treated with placebo . Most cases occurred more than 4 weeks after initiation of therapy with ropinirole tablets, and were usually associated with a recent increase in dose. Because the trials conducted with ropinirole tablets excluded patients with significant cardiovascular disease, patients with significant cardiovascular disease should be treated with caution. Approximately 4% of patients with Parkinson’s disease enrolled in Phase 1 trials had syncope following a 1-mg dose of ropinirole tablets.

In two trials in patients with RLS that used a forced-titration regimen and orthostatic challenge with intensive blood pressure monitoring, 2% of RLS patients treated with ropinirole tablets compared with 0% of patients receiving placebo reported syncope. In Phase 1 trials including healthy volunteers, the incidence of syncope was 2%. Of note, 1 subject with syncope developed hypotension, bradycardia, and sinus arrest; the subject recovered spontaneously without intervention.

Hypotension/Orthostatic Hypotension Patients with Parkinson’s disease may have impaired ability to respond

normally to a fall in blood pressure after standing from lying down or seated position. Patients on ropinirole tablets should be monitored for signs and symptoms of orthostatic hypotension, especially during dose escalation, and should be informed of the risk for syncope and hypotension . Although the clinical trials were not designed to systematically monitor blood pressure, there were individual reported cases of orthostatic hypotension in early Parkinson’s disease (without L-dopa) in patients treated with ropinirole tablets. Most of these cases occurred more than 4 weeks after initiation of therapy with ropinirole tablets and were usually associated with a recent increase in dose.

In 12-week, placebo-controlled trials of patients with RLS, the adverse event orthostatic hypotension was reported by 4 of 496 patients (0.8%) treated with ropinirole tablets compared with 2 of 500 patients (0.4%) receiving placebo. In two Phase 2 studies in patients with RLS, 14 of 55 patients (25%) receiving ropinirole tablets experienced an adverse event of hypotension or orthostatic hypotension compared with none of the 27 patients receiving placebo. In these studies, 11 of the 55 patients (20%) receiving ropinirole tablets and 3 of the 26 patients (12%) who had post-dose blood pressure assessments following placebo, experienced an orthostatic blood pressure decrease of at least 40 mm Hg systolic and/or at least 20 mm Hg diastolic.

In Phase 1 trials of ropinirole tablets with healthy volunteers who received single doses on more than one occasion without titration, 7% had documented symptomatic orthostatic hypotension. These episodes appeared mainly at doses above 0.8 mg and these doses are higher than the starting doses recommended for patients with either Parkinson’s disease or with RLS. In most of these individuals, the hypotension was accompanied by bradycardia but did not develop into syncope . Although dizziness is not a specific manifestation of hypotension or orthostatic hypotension, patients with hypotension or orthostatic hypotension frequently reported dizziness. In controlled clinical trials, dizziness was a common adverse reaction in patients receiving ropinirole tablets and was more frequent in patients with Parkinson’s disease or with RLS receiving ropinirole tablets than in patients receiving placebo (early Parkinson’s disease without L-dopa: ropinirole tablets 40%, placebo 22%; advanced Parkinson’s disease: ropinirole tablets 26%, placebo 16%; RLS: ropinirole tablets 11%, placebo 5%). Dizziness of sufficient severity to cause trial discontinuation of ropinirole tablets was 4% in patients with early Parkinson’s disease without L-dopa, 3% in patients with advanced Parkinson’s disease, and 1% in patients with RLS.

Hallucinations/Psychotic-Like Behavior

In double-blind, placebo-controlled, early-therapy trials in patients with Parkinson’s disease who were not treated with L-dopa, 5.2% (8 of 157) of patients treated with ropinirole tablets reported hallucinations, compared with 1.4% of patients on placebo (2 of 147). Among those patients receiving both ropinirole tablets and L-dopa in advanced Parkinson’s disease studies, 10.1% (21 of 208) were reported to experience hallucinations, compared with 4.2% (5 of 120) of patients treated with placebo and L-dopa. The incidence of hallucination was increased in elderly patients (i.e., older than 65 years) treated with extended-release ropinirole tablets . Postmarketing reports indicate that patients with Parkinson’s disease or RLS may experience new or worsening mental status and behavioral changes, which may be severe, including psychotic-like behavior during treatment with ropinirole tablets or after starting or increasing the dose of ropinirole tablets. Other drugs prescribed to improve the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease or RLS can have similar effects on thinking and behavior.

This abnormal thinking and behavior can consist of one or more of a variety of manifestations including paranoid ideation, delusions, hallucinations, confusion, psychotic-like behavior, mania, disorientation, aggressive behavior, agitation, and delirium. Patients with a major psychotic disorder should ordinarily not be treated with ropinirole tablets because of the risk of exacerbating the psychosis. In addition, certain medications used to treat psychosis may exacerbate the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease and may decrease the effectiveness of ropinirole tablets.

Dyskinesia Ropinirole tablets may cause or exacerbate pre-existing dyskinesia in patients treated

with L-dopa for Parkinson’s disease. In double-blind, placebo-controlled trials in advanced Parkinson’s disease, dyskinesia was much more common in patients treated with ropinirole tablets than in those treated with placebo. Among those patients receiving both ropinirole tablets and L-dopa in advanced Parkinson’s disease trials, 34% were reported to experience dyskinesia, compared with 13% of patients treated with placebo.

Decreasing the dose of dopaminergic medications may ameliorate this adverse reaction.

Impulse Control/Compulsive Behaviors Reports suggest that patients can experience intense urges to

gamble, increased sexual urges, intense urges to spend money, binge or compulsive eating, and/or other intense urges, and the inability to control these urges while taking one or more of the medications, including ropinirole tablets, that increase central dopaminergic tone. In some cases, although not all, these urges were reported to have stopped when the dose was reduced or the medication was discontinued. Because patients may not recognize these behaviors as abnormal, it is important for prescribers to specifically ask patients or their caregivers about the development of new or increased gambling urges, sexual urges, uncontrolled spending, binge or compulsive eating, or other urges while being treated with ropinirole tablets for Parkinson’s disease and RLS. Physicians should consider dose reduction or stopping the medication if a patient develops such urges while taking ropinirole tablets.

Withdrawal-Emergent Hyperpyrexia and Confusion

A symptom complex resembling the neuroleptic malignant syndrome (characterized by elevated temperature, muscular rigidity, altered consciousness, and autonomic instability), with no other obvious etiology, has been reported in association with rapid dose reduction of, withdrawal of, or changes in, dopaminergic therapy. It is recommended that the dose be tapered at the end of treatment with ropinirole tablets as a prophylactic measure .

Withdrawal Symptoms Symptoms including insomnia, apathy, anxiety, depression, fatigue, sweating, and pain

have been reported during taper or after discontinuation of dopamine agonists, including ropinirole tablets. These symptoms generally do not respond to levodopa. Prior to discontinuation of ropinirole tablets, patients should be informed about potential withdrawal symptoms, and monitored during and after discontinuation.

In case of severe withdrawal symptoms, a trial re-administration of a dopamine agonist at the lowest effective dose may be considered.

Augmentation and Early-Morning Rebound in Restless Legs Syndrome Augmentation is a phenomenon

in which dopaminergic medication causes a worsening of symptom severity above and beyond the level at the time the medication was started. The symptoms of augmentation may include the earlier onset of symptoms in the evening (or even the afternoon), increase in symptoms, and spread of symptoms to involve other extremities. Augmentation has been described during therapy for RLS. Rebound refers to new onset of symptoms in the early morning hours.

Augmentation and/or early-morning rebound have been observed in a postmarketing trial of ropinirole tablets. If augmentation or early-morning rebound occurs, the use of ropinirole tablets should be reviewed and dosage adjustment or discontinuation of treatment should be considered. When discontinuing ropinirole tablets in patients with RLS, gradual reduction of the daily dose is recommended whenever possible . 5.10 Fibrotic Complications Cases of retroperitoneal fibrosis, pulmonary infiltrates, pleural effusion, pleural thickening, pericarditis, and cardiac valvulopathy have been reported in some patients treated with ergot-derived dopaminergic agents.

While these complications may resolve when the drug is discontinued, complete resolution does not always occur. Although these adverse reactions are believed to be related to the ergoline structure of these compounds, whether other, non-ergot-derived dopamine agonists such as ropinirole can cause them is unknown. Cases of possible fibrotic complications, including pleural effusion, pleural fibrosis, interstitial lung disease, and cardiac valvulopathy have been reported in the development program and postmarketing experience for ropinirole.

While the evidence is not sufficient to establish a causal relationship between ropinirole and these fibrotic complications, a contribution of ropinirole cannot be excluded. 5.11 Retinal Pathology Retinal degeneration was observed in albino rats in the 2-year carcinogenicity study at all doses tested. The lowest dose tested 1.5 mg/kg/day the maximum recommended human dose (MRHD) for Parkinson’s disease (24 mg/day) on a mg/m 2 basis. Retinal degeneration was not observed in a 3-month study in pigmented rats, in a 2-year carcinogenicity study in albino mice, or in 1-year studies in monkeys or albino rats.

The significance of this effect for humans has not been established, but involves disruption of a mechanism that is universally present in vertebrates (e.g., disk shedding). Ocular electroretinogram (ERG) assessments were conducted during a 2-year, double-blind, multicenter, flexible dose, L-dopa–controlled clinical trial of ropinirole in patients with Parkinson’s disease; 156 patients (78 on ropinirole, mean dose: 11.9 mg/day, and 78 on L-dopa, mean dose: 555.2 mg/day) were evaluated for evidence of retinal dysfunction through electroretinograms. There was no clinically meaningful difference between the treatment groups in retinal function over the duration of the trial. 5.12 Binding to Melanin Ropinirole binds to melanin-containing tissues (e.g., eyes, skin) in pigmented rats. After a single dose, long-term retention of drug was demonstrated, with a half-life in the eye of 20 days.