Fran Landes wrote:

> Dear List Members,
>
> Please respond to a two part question as I am experiencing difficulty and am
> reluctant to take more medication than necessary.  I am 46, diagnosed at 45
> and in retrospect probably having symptoms for past 5 years.
>

I was diagnosed at 47--welcome to the club--
though I'm sure you are not that thrilled to be joining.

>
> I was diagnosed over a year ago and am now taking:
>
>  (1) 100mg. tablet of Amantadine and
>
>  (1/2) of .25 mg. of Mirapex in the morning and
>   the other (1/2) of the same .25 mg. pill in the afternoon.
>
>  My neurologist wants me to increase the Mirapex to (1) pill 3 x per day. I
> am doing so very slowly.
>
> Questions:
> 1) Would some of you please let me know if you are taking Mirapex or Requip
> and if one or the other seems to be more effective?

My only experience was with Mirapex.

After about a year the neurologist had
popped me up (multiple pops) to the maximum dose.
I didn't take it with anything else...except recently, when gradually
coming off of the Mirapex (took a month) and on to Sinemet,
I had overlap time on both -- that was just great.

Now I'm on Sinemet alone.  If I need to increase the dose, I just call him up.
The neurologist took me off Mirapex because of the
possibility of a "sleep attack" when driving. (I drive 3 hours to see him),
it may be a liability issue for some people.

I think I had some water weight gain, and insomnia.
I'm not sure I can blame it on the Mirapex--probably just Parkinsons.

But, I'm trying to minimize my Sinemet exposure
by taking enough during the mid-day to be productive and
I let myself be more symptomatic at night when I don't have to be active.
I'm in the process of installing an outdoor wood furnace
and building an egg shaped structure around it that will be
a woodshed and/or forge area for my eldest son.

I have plans for two more geodesic structures (a greenhouse and a house
addition).
I'm feeling handicapped to an extent, but, that ain't gonna stop me. I'll adapt.



>
>
> 2). What dosage are most of you taking and how long did you find the agonists
> (Mirapex or Requip) helpful before you had to start taking Sinemet?
>
> Thank you for your responses.
>
> Fran Landes
> 46/45/43

--
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                    Ray Strand
     mailto:[log in to unmask]
            48/47 dx/40 ?onset
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...on the edge of the prairie abyss ......................