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Hi Nilo, I too keep Excel spread sheets. As a matter of fact when I saw my new neuro, he was so delighted with it that he just became absorbed in it and took notes. He said, this is beautiful, I see this a lot with Engineers, I am a software developer. But that is the only way to go. I had one with colors for every fifteen minutees showing how I was feeling. At any rate, you are on the right track. Mario ----- Original Message ----- From: "Nilo Sarmiento" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Tuesday, March 06, 2001 12:34 AM Subject: Diary of New Parkinson's Patient > To all contributors to the listserv, thank you for the valuable > service/support you have provided. > > On Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2001, I was "formally diagnosed" as having the > symptons of PD. I say "formally," because I have had some symptoms for some > time, but whenever I saw my neurologist, he was not sufficiently convinced > that the symptoms were those of PD. Being 64 years old, going on 65, he > felt that the symptoms could be those of old age (as brain cells die due to > age, the resulting deterioration shows itself in the symptoms that could > be associated with Parkinson's). > > Finally, my wife came with me, and told my doctor all her observations (she > has done a lot of reading on PD, much more than I have!!). > > To make a long story short, the doctor prescribed sinemet the 25/100 > combination. His only directions were: take one tablet before a meal, three > times a day. This was not the first time I had taken a prescription with > such general directions. And it was not until I began to actually follow > those directions that I found them to be too general. If there would be so > many variations in the times of my meals, how could I measure the duration > of their effect. > > From the literature that came with them. I learned that: > 1. Sinemet works best when taken on an empty stomach; > 2. Vitamin B6 interferes with the effectiveness of levodopa, when taken > alone, but not when taken with carbidopa; and that some food have a good > measure of B6 (bananas, egg yolk, meat, peanuts were specifically mentioned.) > > Re "three times daily before a meal," absent any prohibition to the > contrary, and in light of the specific note that sinemet works best when > taken on an empty stomach, I decided to divide the 24 hours into 3 segments > of 8 hours each , and I figured that at least for now, 7 am, 3 pm, and 11 > pm were my pill time. > > Re food, I am a banana nut and a peanuts nut... but I decided to give > sinimet (and me!) the benefit of the doubt,and give it every chance to > work: From here on, no bananas and peanuts, even though they might be OK, > because of carbidopa. No multi-vitamin which has much as 300% DR of B6. > This is part of my effort to eliminate any element considered a potential > levodopa interferent. > > I decided to start a diary, in an Excel spreadsheet format; and I am doing > all this as part of my own research. The reason for the 3 segments of 8 > hours, is to find out how long the effect of each pill lasts, or if it even > has any effect, positive or negative on any of the symptoms. I do not > expect to see any noticeable improvement until at least a month on this > regimen. But the only way to determine improvement is for me to make some > detailed observations. > > As for my attitude, I have fully accepted the fact that I could have PD, > and that I will need to work around it. As the Roman poet Horace would say: > Fit patientia quicquid est corrigere nefas > This is echoed by the Serenity Prayer, which I am sure most of us know by > heart: > God grant me: > Serenity to accept the things I cannot change; > Courage to change the things that I can; and > Wisdom to know the difference. > > Here then are the hi-hlights of the first few days.. > > February 27. Tuesday, I took the first pill just before lunch, and the > second just before dinner around 7 pm. > > February 28, Wednesday, I had my first pill around 6:30 am, and realized > that I did not have a pill for almost 12 hours. I was not satisfied with > that imprecision and disparity in the length of time between the > pills. That's when I decided to divide the 24 hours into 3 segments, each > 8 hours long, and the times. > > March 1, Thursday, second day, took the pills within two minutes before or > after my pill-time, and I wait for around half an hour before I take any > food...to give the pill the chance to dissolve and be absorbed into my system. > > It is too soon to say, but I have not felt this good in the past month or > so; so far, I have had none of the side effects, except what could be a > "false sense of wellbeing" like what I just said. My urine is still "clear" > or not as discolored as I had anticipated. > > Note to members of listserv.. > > I do not know if any of you are keeping a similar diary; how are you > keeping it , and if it has served your purpose. I had thought of keeping > such diary, just for my own use; when I finally got diagnosed, I wanted to > find out in what way i could make a contribution to the group. It occurred > to me that sharing the highlights with all of you might help. > > And so, before I continue to share my own findings, on a day to day basis, > I would appreciate any feedback, from you. If, for instance, you want to > know what I mean by my keeping a diary in Excel format, let me know, and I > shall attach a copy by next installment. > > Thanks. > > Nilo