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On Thu 17 Oct, Camilla Flintermann wrote: > clock--no improvement. Today I went armed with info from this list re: > CARBIDOPA, and when I suggested that 300mg x day was too much, he agreed, said > "that's what I might have said myself" (but of course he DIDn't say it first) > and agreed to move P. off the CRs and try 25/250mg Sinemet instead. He > suggested starting with 4 x day, but said we could go to 5 or 6 if needed, > and still be at 1/2 the carbidopa P. gets now. To my question about toxicity, > a point Alan Bonander made on the list, he shrugged, and said there's no > evidence of that, it's just that you don't*need*more than 70-100mg carbidopa. > This leads me to ask if anyone has evidence to cite about toxicity? Or is it Hello Camilla, I am delighted that you seem to be getting through to your neuro. The plan to cut down on the Carbidopa is, I believe, a good one. I am not happy with the proposed method of implementing the plan, however, for the following reason: the CR tablets that Peter has been taking are designed to release their contents over a 4 hour period. That means 200mg of levadopa over 4 hours, or 50mg/hour. The ordinary Sinemet tablet is designed to deliver its cargo more or less immediately, after which the rate of delivery to the brain falls steadily until at 2 hours it is about finished. So if peter takes a 25/250 sinemet at say every 4 hours, he will find that for the first two hours he will be wildly over dosed at 100mg/hour, and then be getting virtually nothing over the next 2 hours. He will end up bouncing between the floor and the ceiling! I suggest that a better bet would be to take 1 10/100 Sinemet every 2 hours, for as long as you like. This could get a little tricky during the night, but you may be able to sleep throufh the 4 hours anyway, and just miss a tablet This way, your daily intake of levodopa will be unchanged, and your Carbidopa will be reduced from 300 mg to 120 mg (Or even 100mg if you miss one or two tabs during the night. I wish you the best of luck, Regards -- Brian Collins <[log in to unmask]