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charley, would you mind telling me what is the amantadine and how does it help? thanks a lot paula ----- Original Message ----- From: "Charles Countryman" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Wednesday, July 10, 2002 3:50 AM Subject: Requip and etc. > Ervin asked: Charley, what is your experience with ReQuip. > Thank You. > Ervin McCarthy > > My main problems with PD are stiff slow movement with some > shuffling and freezing. Tremor has been controlled since > I started with just Selegiline and Amantadine about 9 > years ago. As the slow movement (and sometimes slow > thought) became more of a problem, Parlodel and finally > Sinemet CR 50-200 were added. > > About 3-4 years ago, when I started to have extreme > problems with slowness, my neurologist replaced Parlodel > and Amantadine with Requip, increasing the Sinemet CR from > 3 to 4 times/day. It seems to work best for me when I > take the Requip at the same time as the Sinemet CR. My > neuro later added the Amantadine back, but just twice/day, > not the previous three or four. I also now take one Requip > (1 mg) with Sinemet CR 50-200 four times/day and a fifth > Sinemet CR alone when I go to bed at night. > > "Sleep attacks" seemed to be associated with Requip > however (within 30 minutes of taking it). But they have > become much less of a problem this past year. (It is > interesting to me that this lessening of sleep attacks > seems to coincide with me beginning to take Dr. > Perlmutter's dietary supplement "brainsustain" and the Q- > 10 and NADH he recommends.) > > I have been taking SAM-e for several years to help with > mood. I think that the SAM-e acts as a precursor for > Glutathione. Since I get my medical care from a HMO, I > doubt if they would approve the Glutathione by injection > that Dr. Perlmutter recommends. > > I see it as a package deal. My body moves best when I > take Requip at the same time as the Sinemet CR. > Amantadine seems to increase the effect of the Requip/ > Sinemet CR combination for me. > > Are my problems with PD solved. NO! But my wife and son > are witnesses to my daily "Mr. Hyde - Dr. Jekyl" routine. > I wake up in an awful stiff state. Sometimes my wife has > to help me sit up in bed. I shuffle to the toilet and > then to the kitchen to take my first dose of Selegiline/ > Requip/Sinemet CR w/ orange juice. Later I take SAM-e. > With breakfast I take the Amantadine, Q-10, and > "brainsustain." The transformation gradually takes place. > About an hour after breakfast, although I frequently still > feel weak, I can do a T'ai Chi and cane form for exercise > (and then walk or work in my garden if I want to.) > > After my second dose of Requip/Sinemet CR (about 9:00 > a.m.), I usually am "on" (although still a little slow > compared to "normal" people) through my second dose of > Selegiline/Amantadine w/lunch and third dose of Requip/ > Sinemet CR after lunch. About two hours after lunch, I > take another SAM-e and the NADH. I need to take a long > break later in the afternoon. > > I take my fourth dose of Requip/Sinemet CR about 5:00 p.m. > Which takes me through dinner until about 9:00 p.m. Things > begin to get very slow again about then. So I take my > last Sinemet CR about 9:30 p.m. and go to bed about an > hour later. I usually am able to sleep through the night > now and begin the routine over again when I wake up about > 5:00 a.m. > > A recent change from four to five Sinemet CR 50-200 seems > to have been very effective in lessening unpredicted "off > times." > > I will add that I can occasionally stay up late. (Like > tonight and type this.) But the next day I pay for it with > slow movement and freezing. > > Sorry for the long reply to your short question Ervin. > But I think of my meds being together in a package. > > Charley > 51, diagnosed 1993, PD symptoms began 2-3 years before > that. > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] > In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn