Hello,
I had to develop something like the Daily Symptom Status
Evaluator on my own (I had not seen it when it was first posted)
when, after about 7 or 8 years on PD medicines, taking my pills
was getting complicated. This was when dyskinesia was
becoming bothersome and my responses (or occasional lack
thereof) to medicines began to vary from one dose to the next and
to depend on such things as what I ate and when I ate it and how
much.
My neuro had always given me a medication schedule in the form
of a table like this:
Courier New Time Time Time Time Time
Med 1 dose dose dose dose dose
Med 2 dose dose dose dose dose
Med 3 dose dose dose dose dose
Med 4 dose dose dose dose dose
ARIALAt visits to my neuro I wanted to present some data that would be
useful in adjusting the times and doses. So I started keeping a
detailed event log that looked something like this, using a new
sheet each day:
Courier NewEvent 1 Time
Event 2 Time
Event 3 Time
etc.
ARIALEach event would be something relevant to medication, like waking
up, going to sleep, medication dose, "on", "off", start of
dyskinesia, end of dyskinesia, meal, etc.
For a time I tried not taking the next dose until the previous dose
wore off, to see how long a dose would last.
Not only was all this very useful in adjusting dosage levels and
times, but I learned a few things, such as:
the interval from dose time to time "off" increased throughout the
day, and
the interval from dose time to time "off" at a given time of way was
more constant than the interval from dose time to time "on".
Although it seems a good idea, I don't maintain an event log very
often. I really ought to do this for a few weeks prior to each visit.
But in fact I have a hard time just sticking to my medication
schedule. This disease is for people with much more self-
discipline than I have. There are too many other things I'd rather be
doing (sigh!).
Phil Tompkins
Amherst, Mass.
age 62/dx 1990
