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Thanks for the details of your prescription journey. I think I want to do this along the same lines..... work with the meds till I find what works best. Thankyou for sharing about the seriousness of the sleepiness issue. I tend to underrate that, I think. Linda ----- Original Message ----- From: "Rick McGirr" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Wednesday, August 29, 2012 8:12 AM Subject: Re: Requip >A cautionary tale... > > I was diagnosed in 2001 at age 47. My earliest drug was Sinemet and it did > nothing, so we stopped it. As my symptoms got more and more maddening, I > was then put on a low dose of Mirapex, which made me sleepy, and a low > dose of Sinemet, titrating all the way. I couldn't take the sleepiness, so > I was switched over to Requip. I seemed to tolerate it a bit better, but > was continually sleepy, taking naps. Truth be told, I was not handling the > whole thing well, complaining a lot and giving in to depression a lot. > Because I complained, my neuro prescribed more drugs, (what else do > neuro's do?) adding in Selegiline for good measure, and increased the > dosages on Sinemet and Requip bit by bit until I was quite OVER medicated > to the point where I fell asleep at the wheel at 2 PM, and had a serious > accident. After this shock, I looked at the drugs, all of them, as NOT my > friends, and I wanted nothing more than to be free of them. I worked on > that, and today I am off Selegiline, I'm off Requip, and I'm down to a > manageable level of Sinemet and Stalevo (I can't remember exactly when I > started Stalevo, but it seems to compliment Sinemet well.) I took > everything down to the bare minimum, and then gradually back up a little > bit. I never quite made it out of the Rx maze entirely, but now I prefer > to address the whole mess from a bit undermedicated, rather than > overmedicated like I was. Today I use Sinemet CR 50/200 3 times a day, > Stalevo 100 3 times, and Parcopa ODT 25/100, at my discretion, whenever I > need a quick boost (well, sort of quick) I usually resort to Parcopa only > once or twice per week. Now if my insurance would stop forcing me to take > the crappy generic brands, I'd be on easy street! Note: I feel that a good > workout controls my symptoms better than any drug I take, including single > malt scotch! > > -----Original Message----- > From: Parkinson's Information Exchange Network > [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of mschild > Sent: Wednesday, August 29, 2012 2:31 AM > To: [log in to unmask] > Subject: Re: Requip > > Ldopa is still the´gold standard´. It has side effects but its efficacy > goes on for many years. All agonists have side effects also and are > usually not prescribed for people aver 65 years old, at least in Europe > because of the possible cognitive effects. > Every PWP is different and everyone can choose the best treatment/ maryse > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > 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