charley, would you mind telling me what is the amantadine and how does it
help?   thanks a lot   paula
----- Original Message -----
From: "Charles Countryman" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, July 10, 2002 3:50 AM
Subject: Requip and etc.


> Ervin asked: Charley, what is your experience with ReQuip.
> Thank You.
>  Ervin McCarthy
>
> My main problems with PD are stiff slow movement with some
> shuffling and freezing.  Tremor has been controlled since
> I started with just Selegiline and Amantadine about 9
> years ago.  As the slow movement (and sometimes slow
> thought) became more of a problem, Parlodel and finally
> Sinemet CR 50-200 were added.
>
> About 3-4 years ago, when I started to have extreme
> problems with slowness, my neurologist replaced Parlodel
> and Amantadine with Requip, increasing the Sinemet CR from
> 3 to 4 times/day.  It seems to work best for me when I
> take the Requip at the same time as the Sinemet CR. My
> neuro later added the Amantadine back, but just twice/day,
> not the previous three or four. I also now take one Requip
> (1 mg) with Sinemet CR 50-200 four times/day and a fifth
> Sinemet CR alone when I go to bed at night.
>
> "Sleep attacks" seemed to be associated with Requip
> however (within 30 minutes of taking it).  But they have
> become much less of a problem this past year.   (It is
> interesting to me that this lessening of sleep attacks
> seems to coincide with me beginning to take Dr.
> Perlmutter's dietary supplement "brainsustain" and the Q-
> 10 and NADH he recommends.)
>
> I have been taking SAM-e for several years to help with
> mood.  I think that the SAM-e acts as a precursor for
> Glutathione.  Since I get my medical care from a HMO, I
> doubt if they would approve the Glutathione by injection
> that Dr. Perlmutter recommends.
>
> I see it as a package deal.  My body moves best when I
> take Requip at the same time as the Sinemet CR.
> Amantadine seems to increase the effect of the Requip/
> Sinemet CR combination for me.
>
> Are my problems with PD solved.  NO!  But my wife and son
> are witnesses to my daily "Mr. Hyde - Dr. Jekyl" routine.
> I wake up in an awful stiff state.  Sometimes my wife has
> to help me sit up in bed.  I shuffle to the toilet and
> then to the kitchen to take my first dose of Selegiline/
> Requip/Sinemet CR w/ orange juice.  Later I take SAM-e.
> With breakfast I take the Amantadine, Q-10, and
> "brainsustain."  The transformation gradually takes place.
> About an hour after breakfast, although I frequently still
> feel weak, I can do a T'ai Chi and cane form for exercise
> (and then walk or work in my garden if I want to.)
>
> After my second dose of Requip/Sinemet CR (about 9:00
> a.m.), I usually am "on" (although still a little slow
> compared to "normal" people)  through my second dose of
> Selegiline/Amantadine w/lunch and third dose of Requip/
> Sinemet CR after lunch.  About two hours after lunch, I
> take another SAM-e and the NADH. I need to take a long
> break later in the afternoon.
>
> I take my fourth dose of Requip/Sinemet CR about 5:00 p.m.
> Which takes me through dinner until about 9:00 p.m. Things
> begin to get very slow again about then.  So I take my
> last Sinemet CR about 9:30 p.m. and go to bed about an
> hour later.  I usually am able to sleep through the night
> now and begin the routine over again when I wake up about
> 5:00 a.m.
>
> A recent change from four to five Sinemet CR 50-200 seems
> to have been very effective in lessening unpredicted "off
> times."
>
> I will add that I can occasionally stay up late. (Like
> tonight and type this.) But the next day I pay for it with
> slow movement and freezing.
>
> Sorry for the long reply to your short question Ervin.
> But I think of my meds being together in a  package.
>
> Charley
> 51, diagnosed 1993, PD symptoms began 2-3 years before
> that.
>
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