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Brian, will you say a little more about neuros who still believe in=20 delaying levodopa? Maybe help me understand the pros/cons of =20 conservative/progressive approaches. I'd sure be a lot happier at this=20 stage if I could get some more mobility in my left hand, and if this=20 clearly associated backache (which responds minimally to physiotherapy)=20 could be lessened. But I too feel cautious about commencing other=20 medication (taking Eldepryl 10 mgs per day now).=20 Beth Leslie On Sat, 7 Dec 1996, Brian Collins wrote: > On Thu 05 Dec, [log in to unmask] wrote: > > I had an assessment done recently due to the problems I was having with > > Artane. My cognitive funcitions were severely impaired. I was sent to= a new > > neurologist who recommend that I go on Parsidol ( Parsitan in Cdn Gener= ic > > name is Ethopropazine HCL. It is only available in Canada. Not becaus= e it > > is illegal but the pharmesuiticals in this country can't make a profit = off > > it. > >=20 > > It works well without some of the Artane side effects I take a 50mg in= the > > morning and it lasts for about 2 hours. It does an excellent job of > > controlling the tremor but at the end of 2 hours you are not in very go= od > > shape. I then take 1/2 a pill and that lasts for about an hour. If th= ey had > > a CR version it would be helpful. Has anyone else had any experience w= ith > > this drug? > >=20 > > David Rohrbaugh > > [log in to unmask] > >=20 > >=20 > Hello David. I have had to dig quite deeply to find a reference to Parsid= ol. > It turns out to be another of the group of drugs known as Anticholinergic= s. > These drugs were popular in the days before levodopa was invented. It was= =20 > found (literally by accident) that by inhibiting the amount of acetylchol= ine > in the brain, this=A0seemed to make way for the production of a little mo= re=20 > Dopamine. You will detect that I am not exactly enthusiastic about these= =20 > drugs, and you would be right, but I am only reflecting the view of the > experts. The more modern books refer briefly to the group, but does not= =20 > recommend them. In short: They have a high 'Side-effects ratio.' (By whic= h > I mean the ratio of unwanted side effects compared to the effectiveness i= n=20 > controlling PD symptoms. > I realise that there may be people out there who hav been put on to the= =20 > anticholinergic drugs for a variety of reasons: You may suffer an allergi= c > reaction to levodopa: You may be in the early days of your PD, and are=20 > being trwated by one of the rapidly disappearing group who seem to think= =20 > that it is a good idea to delay the introduction of levodopa for as long = as > possible (it isn't): Or you may be being treated by an MD. >=20 > whose last update > on PD was in 1955. You may think that your treatment with which ever of= =20 > these drugs you are taking has been satisfactory, so why change to > something which is unknown to you? All I can say in answer is that Artane > (of which I do have experience) and the rest may be coping at present, bu= t > PD never stands still, and it may be a very different story in a year or > two. Meanwhile you are running a higher than necessary risk of side- effe= cts, > which to me is the decisive factor. >=20 > You may well by now be feeling rather trampled-on, and are sitting mutter= ing=20 > 'But I only asked about Parsidol' in which case I will get out of your ha= ir. > Be assured however, that I am trying to recommend what I really believe i= s > the best course of action for you. > I suggest that you try some of these points on your neurologist, and se= e=20 > what he has to say > Regards, > --=20 > Brian Collins <[log in to unmask]> >=20