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Thanks Warren, yes it was Aricept I was thinking of. I"ve heard of Rasagiline. No problems with Tasmar? Let us know how the Azilect works for you. good luck, Ray ----- Original Message ----- From: "Warren Newman" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Saturday, July 15, 2006 3:56 AM Subject: Re: Azilect is becoming available in the US > Hi, Ray, > > > > Maybe I should introduce myself before answering your question. I'm 55 > years old, was diagnosed with PD over 10 years ago, and of course I had > plenty of symptoms for years before that. I've been a member of this > forum > for about 10 years, mainly as a lurker. I was an electronics engineer > until > I retired in December of 2004. The prescription drugs I generally take > too > much of are Sinemet 25/100, Tasmar and Mirapex. > > > > Later today I plan to introduce my body to 1 mg per day of Azilect. I've > been having some fluctuations (unpredictable on-offs) with my current mix > so > I'm hoping that the addition of this new drug will smooth things out for > me. > > > > > > > Getting to your question, > > > > What's in a name? > > > > The drug I believe you're referring to is Aricept (donepezil). The new > drug > for PD is Azilect (rasagiline). It's pretty amazing how close these names > are to each other. I'll bet there will be lots of confusion from this for > a > long time to come. > > > > Aricept is used for the treatment of mild to moderate dementia in > Alzheimer's Disease. > > > > Azilect is used for the treatment of Parkinson's Disease. The drug is a > monoamine oxidase type-B (MAO-B) inhibitor that slows the breakdown of > dopamine within the brain. > > > > Azilect was approved for use with Parkinson's Disease by the FDA on May > 17, > 2006. Apparently it takes a few months from the FDA approval date for a > pharmaceutical company to actually get a new drug packaged and distributed > to the retail pharmacies. It's a monomine oxidase inhibitor (MAO-B) > similar > to selegiline (Eldepryl, Deprenyl) but it does not break down in the body > to > amphetamine. Here's the link to the FDA's press release. > > > > www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2006/NEW01373.html > > > > I know 2 people who have been importing Azilect from Canada. They both > claim that the drug is helping them considerably. > > > > I'm guessing that there are a lot of people out there holding > prescriptions > for Azilect. I'm still waiting for my prescription to be filled. The > latest info I have is that it should be ready for me at about 11AM today > (Saturday). The pharmacist said that their main wholesaler has already > exhausted its initial stock and the pharmacy will be getting it from an > alternate supplier. > > > > Warren > > > > > > ----Original Message----- > From: Parkinson's Information Exchange Network > [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of rayilynlee > Sent: Thursday, July 13, 2006 11:38 AM > To: [log in to unmask] > Subject: Re: Azilect is becoming available in the US > > > > Warren, thanks for the info on Azilect. Isn't that the drug that works > > well for Alzheimer's? Let us know how it works for you. > > Ray > > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: "Warren Newman" <[log in to unmask]> > > To: <[log in to unmask]> > > Sent: Wednesday, July 12, 2006 2:11 PM > > Subject: Azilect is becoming available in the US > > > > > >> Azilect (rasagiline) is now available to PWP's in the US or will be >> within > >> a > >> few days. > >> > >> > >> > >> My local CVS pharmacist said it is now listed in her main computer and >> she > >> ordered it for me today. She said she will have it for me tomorrow or > >> Friday. > >> > >> > >> > >> I also called Teva's (the Israel-based manufacturer) Customer Service > >> department (215 591 3000) and they said that they have already shipped it > >> out to all of their US distributors. > >> > >> > >> > >> The Quest for the Cure website (http://www.questforcure.net/) is opening >> a > >> user forum dedicated to Azilect. > >> > >> > >> > >> Warren Newman > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > >> 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 > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > 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