Laurie - I agree with Brian that Dorothy should try regular Sinemet in very
small doses. I suggest 1/4 tablet of the 25/100 to start. My husband's
neurologist is not only head of Neurology at KU Medical Center, but also head
of Pharmacology, and the partial doses are something a number of his patients
are using. If you think about it, it only makes sense. Many of the patients
with more advanced PD take 1/2 tablet every 1 and 1/2 hours or every 2 hours
to maintain a more even flow of medication.
Dorothy might also be interested in knowing that when Sinemet CR first
came out, many or most of the people in our support group were put on it,
either for one dose in the morning in addition to their regular Sinemet, or
more frequently during the day. After a few weeks, it became a topic of
concern in our support group, and we eventually took a poll of how many
people had tried it and couldn't take it. More than half of the people in
the group (including my husband) reported various side effects that they
couldn't tolerate, and had switched back to using regular Sinemet. It has
been long enough ago now that I don't remember all of the side effects
described.
One other thing to be considered about the Sinemet is that the Levodopa
by itself will cause severe nausea. The Carbidopa component in the Sinemet
will counteract that (I'm not sure if I'm right about the reason, but I think
it allows the L-dopa to cross the blood-brain barrier and get to where it
needs to be instead of ending up affecting the digestive tract, etc.)
Someone else in the group can tell more about this - I know I've read about
it here before. Dorothy may just need Sinemet with a higher Carbidopa to
Levodopa ratio.
As for adverse interactions between Eldepryl and Sinemet, I haven't
heard of any. Maybe someone else has.
Good luck to Dorothy. Margie
