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Greetings:
 
My mother asked me to pass on this question to the discussion group. I
believe her main interest is in hearing what success people have had in
adjusting the kinds of medication my father is taking, and how to deal with
the disruption to sleep that frequent medication requires.
 
Any response, either to me directly or the discussion group, would be
appreciated.
 
(Question follows:)
 
John is 52 years old and has had symptoms of PD for 8 years and on
medication in increasing amounts for almost as long. He has a pretty good
mobility for a few hours in the day but with some bad 'drops'. He is having
to lie down and rest for much of the day. Without this dose of medication
he would have bad tremors and very hard muscles and cramping muscles. He
has some memory and confusion problems. The medication at this level
aggravates that problem. We have help in for three nights to give the pills
but I find the other four nights disruptive to my sleep.
 
He takes the following medication:
 
Type of medication -- Total daily amount
 
Pergolide 0.25 mg -- 2.75 mg per day
CR Sinemet 200/50 mg -- 2200 mg per day
Sinemet 100/25 mg in liquid -- 210 mg per day
Ativan 1 mg -- 2 mg per day
 
He takes one Pergolide and one CR every two hours from 8am to 10pm and the
same every two and a half hours at night. The liquid and Ativan supplement
the situation.
 
Any comments on what people have done at this point in terms of:
 
1) coping with side effects such as hallucinations, and
 
2) the inconvenience of the frequent nightly doses; and
 
3) has anyone taken larger doses of these medications successfully?
 
Darlene.