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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/ > > ______________________________________________________ > Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com