Dear Bill,
You wrote:

>My mother was recently qiven Parlodel as an option to help decrease
>dyskinesia and to get off the Amantadine she had been taking <snip>... far
out weighed any proposed benefits of taking Parlodel.  My question to you
is:
>1) What other experiences have people had with Parlodel?
>2)  Has anyone tried to add the Parlodel to Orange Juice and take it as you
>would liquid Sinemet?
>3)  Permax has not yet been tried and any information on its effectiveness,
>ability to disolve to liquid for, and dosages in others would be
> appreciated.
>
I am currently taking 5 x .25mg Permax mixed with 9 x 25/100 Sinemet into
900 ml. of OJ.  I find that the pills mix readily even with part OJ and part
water. I take this solution every 2 hours (or every hour if needed).
For comparisons, I am attaching some previous posts(I hope the writers do
not mind)

Regards,
Margaret Tuchman (54, dx 1980)

Date:     Thu, 18 Jan 1996 16:58:30 LCL
From:   Carol Gray <[log in to unmask]>
Subject:        Re: How much Permax?

I take 3 mg. per day of permax.  My doctor considers this a maximum dose
for me. I also take eldepryl,liquid sinemet and amantadine.
==========
Date:           Thu, 18 Jan 1996 14:46:09 EST
From:   Ted Nelson <[log in to unmask]>
Subject:        Re: How much PERMAX is too much?

I take .25 PERMAX 11 times per day .   Total 2.75
                             T Nelson, 62/6

======================
Date:           Thu, 18 Jan 1996 11:55:03 -0400
From:   "Peter J. Kidd" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject:        Re: How much PERMAX is too much?

>I take 0.25 mg 3 times a day.  My doctor considers this a minimal amount.
>
>
=========================================
Peter J. Kidd

[C]; Moira [P] 56, 17
=========================================
Date:           Thu, 18 Jan 1996 02:53:00 -0500
From:   [log in to unmask]
Subject:        How much Permax?

I take about 2 mg. per day.

When I converted to Permax I was taking 12 - 15 x 25/100 Sinemet per day.  I
found that I was able to exchange .25 mg of Permax for  a 25/100 Sinemet.
At
that time I dropped to 6 x 25/100 Sinemet and 6 x .25 mg of Permax daily.
  Every three hours I would take one of each.  That was five years ago.
 Today I am taking 800 mg of Levodopa and 2 mg of Permax.  Interestingly, 1
mg pills of Permax cost $2.45 each and a Sinemet 25/100 (not generic) costs
$0.61 per pill.  It is interesting how Permax is almost exactly 4 times the
cost of Sinemet 25/100.  Could it be that 0.25 mg of Permax is about the
same
as a Sinemet 25/100?

A couple of things to remember about Permax:
(1) As you build up on Permax, you must reduce Sinemet.  The general way to
do this is to spead out the dosing times.
(2) Levodopa has a half-life of 90 minutes where Permax has a half-life of
about 9 hours.  If you miss a Permax pill, you should take it ASAP because
it
will be active in your system for a long time.
(3) My own experience with Permax pills was that when ever I would take a
pill, I would experience a slight reduction in response about 1/2 hour after
the pill.  After an hour, I was back to normal.
(4) It has been my observation that Young-Onset PD responses well to Permax.
 Normal and Late Onset PD respond well to Parlodel.
(5) Permax is slightly soluatble in water.  It can be added to Liquid
Sinemet
in some cases.  I am able to add 4 mg of Permax per liter of Liquid Sinemet.

How much Permax?  I think 3 mg per day is the target, but what ever level is
best for the patient should be acceptable.  I know one person taking 6 mg
per
day and no Sinemet.  I also know one person taking 13 mg of Permax.  It was
suggested to a friend that they may try to go off Sinemet by raising their
level of Permax to 20 mg per day.

If dyskinesia is experienced when increasing Permax, reduce Sinemet.

Regards,
Alan Bonander
======================
Date:           Wed, 17 Jan 1996 12:06:52 -0500
From:   David Rohrbaugh <[log in to unmask]>
Subject:        Re: How much PERMAX is too much?

I take 0.25 mg 3 times a day.  My doctor considers this a minimal amount.
=====================
Date:           Wed, 17 Jan 1996 09:15:30 -0500
From:   Barbara Patterson <[log in to unmask]>
From: [log in to unmask] (David Moreland)
Subject: Re: How much PERMAX is too much?

I, before my pallidotomy was taking as much as three mg Permax and about
600mg carbidopa/levodopa and you should have seen my dance. I had just about
run out of music that I could dance to. What I found was that the permax
exaserbated  the dyskinesia.
That was just my experience. David Moreland

>To All--
>I'm putting these questions on the PARKINSN  List because if you people
>don't know the answers....................
>
>My questions
>1 <<<What is the maximum recommended quantity  of pergolide (Permax) a
>day?>>
>2 <<<Does anyone take more Permax than I do?>>>
>
>I now take 5 mg  Permax  every day  (plus about 800mg of levodopa in
Sinemet)
>It is time for an increase but I may be at the max allowed for pergolide.
>BTW
>  My dreams are quite ordinary and I don't see things/people who are not
>there.
>All answers - comments welcome
>
>Anne Rutherford   [log in to unmask]
>St John's NF
>
>====================