I take anantadine for the tremors and sinemet for the rigidity. I also am
taking neurontin and depakote. I still have some stiffness, but not as much.
the tremors are down some and so I can continue working and getting on with
my life. Glad to hear that it works for others as well.  Getting the meds
adjusted to each person is quite a procedure and is an on going process.
Kathie
----- Original Message -----
From: Par Schark <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, January 11, 2000 10:51 AM
Subject: Re: Gabapentin - Nancy Martone update


> Bob,
>
> Nice to hear Nancy's improving.  I've also had good luck with Anantadine
and
> will ask my neuro about Neurontin.  Right now I'm trying to adjust to
> Comtan.  Tell Nancy we're getting closer to our golf game!
>
> Regards,
>
> Pat
>
>
> >From: ROBERT A MARTONE <[log in to unmask]>
> >Reply-To: Parkinson's Information Exchange Network
> ><[log in to unmask]>
> >To: [log in to unmask]
> >Subject: Gabapentin - Nancy Martone update
> >Date: Tue, 11 Jan 2000 12:00:08 -0500
> >
> >Nancy Martone Update  - use of Gabapentin
> >
> >We just wanted to share the latest update on Nancy's overall
> >condition. Nancy will be 55 soon. This is her 25th year of
> >overcoming as many PD obstacles as she can. Right now she is
> >doing the best she has done in the last 2 years. After a
> >significant deline this summer, Nancy has rebounded once
> >again.
> >
> >  Why?  While with PD no single solution seems to solve all
> >the PD problems, occasionally something works that really
> >improves the quality of life. We seem to have stumbled on
> >one of those again.  After learning that Nancy has developed
> >a hypothyroid condition, .075 mg of synthroid were added to
> >her daily diet of meds.
> >This seemed to make her feel better but did not seem to
> >improve her PD symptoms. About six months ago we added 400mg
> >per day of Amantadine back to her med schedule and her
> >sinemet started working better again. (Starting and stopping
> >amantadine, through careful titration, over the last 10
> >years has always yielded measurable improvement in all of
> >Nancy's PD symptoms when she restarted the amantadine).
> >
> >This time however we received little benefit for her now
> >very pronounced stooped posture and the attendant hip pain.
> >After trying a variety of pain relievers Nancy's neuro
> >suggested we try Neurontin for the back pain. She started
> >with 1200 mg and started to sleep a lot; day and night.
> >Since there were no other side effects, she was raised to
> >2400 mg. Today she is taking 3600 mg with no side effects.
> >
> >The beneficial results now are impressive. The hip pain is
> >being managed with a few Ibprofen. She is alert all day long
> >her speech is stronger and less slurred, and she is sleeping
> >all night long. The benefits of her 1995 bilateral
> >pallidotomies (actually two unilateral pal's) continue. She
> >has virtually no dyskinesia, minor tremor and minor rigidity
> >in her extremities but still has major rigidity in her
> >trunk. The benefit of being able to sleep all night long has
> >been wonderful for both of us. Day time living is greatly
> >improved. Nancy has started a bridge group that comes to our
> >house and plays twice a month. There are PD and non-PD
> >players.
> >
> >We are currently managing without a caregiver. I still do
> >the cooking  and minor daily cleaning and then we get help
> >on the weekends.
> >
> >
> >Neurontin/Gabapentin in conjunction with Amantadine
> >
> >After obseving these benefits now for several months I
> >started to do a little research on Neurontin/Gabapentin and
> >Amantadine. It appears that both of these meds, Neurontin
> >for sure, and Amantadine maybe, actually work on the brain's
> >glutamate system and serve as a glutamate inhibitor.
> >Glutamate inhibits dopamine at the receptor sites hence if
> >you inhibit glutamate you enhance dopamine. We have reduced
> >Nancy's sinemet intake by 20% or 200 mg with no ill effects.
> >
> >I would like to here from the lists guru's on the use of
> >Gabapentin in the treatment of PD. I discovered that it is
> >used for Lou Gehrigs disease  and focal epileptic seizures
> >but haven't found any specific recommendations for its use
> >with PD.
> >
> >I hope this is informative and look forward to a new thread
> >on Neurontin generic form is Gabapentin.
> >
> >Bob Martone
> >[log in to unmask]
> >http://www.kingwoodcable.com/martone/
>
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