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To: Barbara Blake Krebs and Robert Howard, You each write about >>throat/mouth/jaw/neck pain......>> > My wife,76/10+, has had this symptom for about 4 years, and it is probably the mosy >distressing of all of her problems. The literature is silent about such >pain, and it is not supposed to be a part of PD, which is a motor, not a >sensory disorder. BUT this pain does respond to Sinemet and is most likely >to occur in the mid-evening. She takes liquid Tylenol, bur frankly, we >don't know whether that really helps or is just something to do. She does >seem to get some help from Klonopin, a muscle relaxant related to Valium. >This also makes her slepy, so it is a good Rx to take at night. We'd like >to hear more about your experience. > I found the following abstract in Medline, it may provide some clue to the neck/jaw, etc... pain: Author - Robertson LT; Hammerstad JP Address Department of Biological Structure and Function, School of Dentistry, Oregon Health Sciences University, Portland 97201, USA. Source J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry, 60: 1, 1996 Jan, 41-50 <Abstract OBJECTIVES--To test the hypotheses that Parkinson's disease can differentially produce deficits in voluntary and rhythmic jaw movements, which involve different neuronal circuits, and that levodopa treatment improves specific components of the motor deficit. METHODS--Patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease and control subjects were tested on a series of jaw motor tasks that included simple voluntary movement, isometric clenching, and natural and paced rhythmic movements. Jaw movements were measured by changes in electromagnetic fields and EMG activity. Patients with Parkinson's disease with fluctuations in motor responses to levodopa were tested while off and on. RESULTS--During the off state, patients with Parkinson's disease were significantly worse than the control subjects on most tasks. The deficits included a decrease in amplitude and velocity during jaw opening and closing, aberrant patterns and low amplitude of EMG activity during clenching, and low vertical amplitude and prolonged durations of occlusion during rhythmic movements. No decrements were found in the amplitude of voluntary lateral jaw movements or the frequency of rhythmic movements. During the on state, improvements occurred in the patterns and level of EMG activity during clenching and in the vertical amplitude and duration of occlusion during rhythmic movements, although a significant decrement occurred in the lateral excursion of the jaw. CONCLUSIONS--Parkinson's disease affects the central programming of functionally related muscles involved in voluntary and rhythmic jaw movements and levodopa replacement influences only certain aspects of jaw movement, most likely those requiring sensory feedback. Language of Publication>English >Unique Identifier</> 96151176<<Levodopa Regards, Margaret Tuchman