very interesting. i wish i would of started a diary when i was DX 17 years,
1 pallidotomy and one coming up next week ago. keep it up, you wont be
sorry.

Burdette Anderson




al Message-----
From: Nilo Sarmiento <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Tuesday, March 06, 2001 2:01 AM
Subject: Diary of New Parkinson's Patient


>To all contributors to the listserv, thank you for the valuable
>service/support you have provided.
>
>On Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2001, I was "formally diagnosed" as having the
>symptons of PD. I say "formally," because I have had some symptoms for some
>time, but whenever I saw my neurologist, he was not sufficiently convinced
>that the symptoms were those of PD.  Being 64 years old, going on 65, he
>felt that the symptoms could be those of old age (as brain cells die due to
>age, the resulting  deterioration shows itself in the  symptoms that could
>be associated with Parkinson's).
>
>Finally, my wife came with me, and told my doctor all her observations (she
>has done a lot of reading on PD, much more than I have!!).
>
>To make a long story short, the doctor prescribed sinemet the 25/100
>combination. His only directions were: take one tablet before a meal, three
>times a day.   This was not the first time I had taken a prescription with
>such general directions.  And it was not until I began to actually follow
>those directions that I found them to be too general.  If there would be so
>many variations in the times of my meals, how could I measure  the duration
>of their effect.
>
> From the literature that came with them. I learned that:
>1. Sinemet works best when taken on an empty stomach;
>2. Vitamin B6 interferes with the effectiveness of levodopa, when taken
>alone, but not when taken with carbidopa; and that some food have a good
>measure of B6 (bananas, egg yolk, meat, peanuts were specifically
mentioned.)
>
>Re "three times daily before a meal,"  absent any prohibition to the
>contrary, and in light of the specific note that sinemet works best when
>taken on an empty stomach, I decided to divide the 24 hours into 3 segments
>of  8 hours each , and I figured that at least for now, 7 am, 3 pm, and 11
>pm were my pill time.
>
>Re food, I am a banana nut and a peanuts nut... but I decided to give
>sinimet (and me!) the benefit of the doubt,and give it every chance to
>work: From here on, no bananas and peanuts, even though they might be OK,
>because of carbidopa. No multi-vitamin which has much as 300% DR of B6.
>This is part of my effort to eliminate any element considered a potential
>levodopa interferent.
>
>I decided to start a diary, in an Excel spreadsheet format; and I am doing
>all this as part of my own research. The reason for the 3 segments of 8
>hours, is to find out how long the effect of each pill lasts, or if it even
>has any effect, positive or negative on any of the symptoms. I do not
>expect to see any noticeable improvement until at least a month on this
>regimen.   But the only way to determine improvement is for me to make some
>detailed observations.
>
>As for my attitude, I have fully accepted the fact that I could have PD,
>and that I will need to work around it. As the Roman poet Horace would say:
>Fit patientia quicquid est corrigere nefas
>This is echoed by the Serenity Prayer, which I am sure most of us know by
>heart:
>God grant me:
>Serenity to accept the things I cannot change;
>Courage to change the things that I can; and
>Wisdom to know the difference.
>
>Here then are the hi-hlights of the first few days..
>
>February 27. Tuesday, I took the first pill just before lunch, and the
>second just before dinner around 7 pm.
>
>February 28,  Wednesday, I had my first pill around 6:30 am,  and realized
>that I did not have a pill for almost 12 hours.  I was not satisfied with
>that imprecision and disparity in the length  of time between the
>pills.  That's when I decided to divide the 24 hours  into 3 segments, each
>8 hours long, and the times.
>
>March 1, Thursday, second day, took  the pills within two minutes before or
>after my pill-time, and I wait for around half an hour before I take any
>food...to give the pill the chance to dissolve and be absorbed into my
system.
>
>It is too soon to say, but I have not felt this good in the past month or
>so; so far, I have had none of the side effects, except what could be a
>"false sense of wellbeing" like what I just said. My urine is still "clear"
>or not as discolored as I had anticipated.
>
>Note to members of listserv..
>
>I do not know if any of you are keeping a similar diary; how are you
>keeping it , and if it has served your purpose.    I had thought of keeping
>such diary, just for my own use; when I finally got diagnosed, I wanted to
>find out in what way i could make a contribution to the group. It occurred
>to me that sharing the highlights with all of you might help.
>
>And so, before I continue to share my own findings, on a day to day basis,
>I would appreciate any feedback, from you.  If, for instance, you want to
>know what I mean by my keeping a diary in Excel format, let me know, and I
>shall attach a copy by next installment.
>
>Thanks.
>
>Nilo
>