I was diagnosed three and a half years ago. My symptoms are general weakness and slowness with acute bradykinesia of my right arm. I started with Eldepryl, then stopped to join the ELLDOPA study (in which I feel sure I was getting low-dose Sinemet). I'm still on no meds and wanting to be in studies as much a possible. Yesterday I took .25 mg of Permax for a cognitive study and--vomited it all within 4 hours. I was disappointed not to be able to have the learning experience of the study--but I found out that my usual cast-iron stomach was not up to Permax--at least not yesterday. I've been wondering about amantadine.

Good luck with agonists and all of PD.

----- Original Message -----

From: [log in to unmask]>Emily Nelson

Sent: Saturday, February 24, 2001 10:53 PM

Subject: Requip side effects

I was diagnosed with Parkinson's 3 and a half years ago. My symptoms are brady kinesa, weakness, and some tremor (after exercise or strain) on my right side. Because of my relatively mild symptoms I have been only using amandatine (symmetrel) as medication. To relieve the rigidity of my arm and shoulder, my neurologist suggested trying Requip. I used a "starter kit" that started with .25 mg. three times a day for 8 days and then moved the dosage to .5 three times a time. About the 9th day I began experiencing severe stomach upset--like the lining of my stomach and esophagus was on fire. I figured increasing the dosage might be at fault and my doctor suggested returning to the .25 three times a day for a longer time. Thus, I decreased the dosage but the stomach irritation was so severe and continued despite the decrease in dosage that I had to stop taking the Requip all at once. Within 24 hours the stomach problem ceased and I could actually begin breathing and eating fairly normal.

I would like to know if anyone out there has had this experience with Requip. If so, were you able to handle it if you stayed on a lower dosage for a much longer time before increasing the dosage? I'd also like to know if other similar agonists have the same side effects. Should I give the Requip another try. (This is the second time I've tried it; the first time I only took it for three or four days when I experienced nausea and lethargy which I mistook for the flu and stopped the drug as a result.)