 |
 |
I take about 2 mg. per day. When I converted to Permax I was taking 12 - 15 x 25/100 Sinemet per day. I found that I was able to exchange .25 mg of Permax for a 25/100 Sinemet. At that time I dropped to 6 x 25/100 Sinemet and 6 x .25 mg of Permax daily. Every three hours I would take one of each. That was five years ago. Today I am taking 800 mg of Levodopa and 2 mg of Permax. Interestingly, 1 mg pills of Permax cost $2.45 each and a Sinemet 25/100 (not generic) costs $0.61 per pill. It is interesting how Permax is almost exactly 4 times the cost of Sinemet 25/100. Could it be that 0.25 mg of Permax is about the same as a Sinemet 25/100? A couple of things to remember about Permax: (1) As you build up on Permax, you must reduce Sinemet. The general way to do this is to spead out the dosing times. (2) Levodopa has a half-life of 90 minutes where Permax has a half-life of about 9 hours. If you miss a Permax pill, you should take it ASAP because it will be active in your system for a long time. (3) My own experience with Permax pills was that when ever I would take a pill, I would experience a slight reduction in response about 1/2 hour after the pill. After an hour, I was back to normal. (4) It has been my observation that Young-Onset PD responses well to Permax. Normal and Late Onset PD respond well to Parlodel. (5) Permax is slightly soluatble in water. It can be added to Liquid Sinemet in some cases. I am able to add 4 mg of Permax per liter of Liquid Sinemet. How much Permax? I think 3 mg per day is the target, but what ever level is best for the patient should be acceptable. I know one person taking 6 mg per day and no Sinemet. I also know one person taking 13 mg of Permax. It was suggested to a friend that they may try to go off Sinemet by raising their level of Permax to 20 mg per day. If dyskinesia is experienced when increasing Permax, reduce Sinemet. Regards, Alan Bonander