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As I said in my original memo response, my personal experience is that
caffeine really adds to the "jitters" of drug induced dyskenesia.
 
I echo someone else's comment that it tended to drive my "bad" right leg
crazy, when sitting it refused to be still- like Thumper the Rabbit.  And
when walking it made my right side gait even worse, adding to the cramping
/pronation.  End of dose was worst time..
 
I asked my neurologist about it , and  he said while not all his PD patients
had  trouble w/ Caffeine, enough did , that eliminating it is an almost standa
rd suggestion to those w/ dyskensia.
 
I may be off on the exact #'s , but I once  had a little wallet card from
 the office food service listing foods/ bev w/ caffeine . Fresh -brewed
regular coffee was the worst @ 140mg.  Regular Instant coffee was @75mg, just
a little ahead of brewed tea. Cola drinks are next @ 40-60, chocolate in its
many  forms is  @ the cola range , and lastly decaf coffee, tea, colas etc,
which vary between 0 and a few mg. Of course Tea and coffee  caffeine levels
will vary with quantity and length of brewing/steeping.
 
One last observation , if you can't  give up all the "real hi -test"
completely , I found the  AM cup more of a problem, because of my high start
of day medicine doses.  So when I take a cup of real "joe", I try for after
lunch. And although I often get  those peripheral vision hallucinations, the
"so-called little woodland animal syndrome", never once have I seen a
Columbian farmer and his donkey loaded with the coffee crop. That surely
would be the time to switch to decaf!!
 
Take care.    Stephen Holahan([log in to unmask])