Requip-XL Dosage

General Dosing Considerations

• REQUIP XL Extended-Release Tablets are taken once daily, with or without food. Taking REQUIP XL with food may reduce the occurrence of nausea; this has not been established in controlled clinical trials [see Clinical Pharmacology (12.3)].
• Tablets must be swallowed whole and must not be chewed, crushed, or divided.
• If a significant interruption in therapy with REQUIP XL has occurred, retitration of therapy may be warranted.

Dosing for Parkinson’s Disease

The starting dose is 2 mg taken once daily for 1 to 2 weeks, followed by increases of 2 mg/day at 1-week or longer intervals as appropriate, depending on therapeutic response and tolerability, up to a maximally recommended dose of 24 mg/day.

In clinical trials, dosage was initiated at 2 mg/day and gradually titrated based on individual therapeutic response and tolerability. Doses greater than 24 mg/day have not been studied in clinical trials. Patients should be assessed for therapeutic response and tolerability at a minimal interval of 1 week or longer after each dose increment. Caution should be exercised during dose titration because too rapid a rate of titration may lead to dose selection that may not provide additional benefit, but that may increase the risk of adverse reactions [see Clinical Studies (14.2)]. Due to the flexible dosing design used in clinical studies, specific dose response information could not be determined.

When REQUIP XL is administered as adjunct therapy to L-dopa, the concurrent dose of L-dopa may be decreased gradually as tolerated. In the placebo-controlled advanced Parkinson’s disease study, the L-dopa dose was reduced once patients reached a dose of REQUIP XL of 8 mg/day. Overall, L-dopa dose reduction was sustained in 93% of patients treated with REQUIP XL and in 72% of patients on placebo. On average the L-dopa dose was reduced by 34% in patients treated with REQUIP XL [see Clinical Studies (14)].

REQUIP XL should be discontinued gradually over a 7-day period.

Switching From Immediate-Release Ropinirole Tablets to REQUIP XL

Patients may be switched directly from immediate-release ropinirole to REQUIP XL Tablets. The initial dose of REQUIP XL should most closely match the total daily dose of the immediate-release formulation of REQUIP, as shown in Table 1.

Following conversion to REQUIP XL, the dose may be adjusted depending on therapeutic response and tolerability[see Dosage and Administration (2.2)].