As well as RLS, dopamine agonist drugs are used to treat conditions such as Parkinson’s, pituitary gland tumours and some mental health conditions.
Alan was prescribed pramipexole in 2005 and his behaviour dramatically changed soon after, according to his family.
He became addicted to sugar and could eat up to 60 choc ices in a week. As well as losing nearly all of his teeth, he also lost his inhibitions.
“His libido was off the scale, which was incredibly embarrassing,” David said.
“It was uncomfortable at mealtimes, he was always talking about sex and making inappropriate comments. It was really difficult for the family.
“I really didn’t like him at all, I just thought he’d turned into a dirty old man. He lost all of his friends, luckily I never told him to his face that I didn’t like him.”
Alan went from being “tight-fisted” to investing in high-risk stocks and got involved in spread betting. It is estimated he lost about £350,000 over five years.
David, 45, did not think the changes were linked to anything and tried to ignore them, but made the decision to keep his two young children away from their grandfather.
“If we spoke to him about any of it, his answer was always, ‘I’ll die happy’.”
In 2007, Alan’s medication was changed to ropinirole, which is also one of the medications in the dopamine agonists family.
His dosage was increased three times overall, which made his RLS worse.
Alan’s compulsions and hyper-sexuality continued until his death from heart failure in 2023 aged 77, his family said.