At 04:46 AM 1/30/97 -0500, you wrote: >On Thu 30 Jan, will johnston wrote: >> I find that the type of exercise makes a tremendous difference. Walking and >> a little jogging does not seem to use up the dopamine. Yard type work which >> involves gross or substantial movement of the arms & torso make little >> difference. >> >> Exercise involving fine motor skills uses me up [and the Ldopa/dopamine] in >> a hurry. If I have to handle papers, screw in a screw with an ordinary >> screw driver, count paper money, etc, I am "off" rather quickly. >> >> Will >> And here's to long "ons" and short "offs" >> >> WILL JOHNSTON 4049 OAKLAND SCHOOL ROAD >> SALISBURY, MD 21804-2716 >> 410-543-0110 >> Pres A.P.D.A. DelMarVa Chapter >> >> >Hello Marty and Will. Will: I find your experience difficult to explain >based on the report which I quoted in my previous post. This says that if >you allow up to 1 hour after taking a tablet before you start exercise, >your blood levodopa levels will be unaffected by the exercise. > XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX FROM WILL: The type of medication makes a difference. I am on plain Sinemet 25/100's, Entacapone which merely extends the life of Ldopa in the torso [works like an assistant to the carbidopa [or the bensaride sp? in Madopar]] and Eldepryl. The controlled release Sinemet takes an hour to work...I get effect of plain Sinemet in 5-7 minutes or less on an empty stomach. >The other point which you raise about jobs which require fine motor skills >using your dopamine very quickly, is equally hard to understand. As I >understand it, dopamine can be imagined as a small lever, which switches >powerful devices (our muscles). The dopamine merely instructs the >muscles to expand or contract, and is not used at a greater rate when >we are thinking hard, nor when we are exercising violently. > XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX FROM WILL: I visualize the dopamine more as an electrical glue - wire cleaner. Signals come from the brain to a junction box [sort of like a mixer for those into audio hardware or a mixing faucet for those more into plumbing]. Nerves relay messages from the junction box to the various muscles. The problem is the connections in the junction box are "iffy," and the signals may not get through -- sort of like the problems in household aluminum wiring which becomes oxidized and only part of the electricity gets through or like the volume control [variable resistor - rheostat] on a radio which after a few years lets only part of the music through and there is static which corresponds to dyskinesia. Dopamine forms a conductive bridge to pass the signals from the brain to the muscles - sort of like spitting on the terminals of flashlight batteries to make the currrent flow better. Following the wiring-battery analogy, oxidized aluminum wiring surfaces do not transmit electricity well [create resistance] and heat will be generated when the wires transmit electricity. The heat may speed oxidization causing more resistance which causes more heat which causes more etc. [Aluminum wiring is now banned in most applications because the heat can result in fires.] On flashlight batteries, heat may dry up the spit and the light goes out. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX > I would suggest that what your experience shows, Will, is that you can >do the jobs such as sweeping the yard in a condition where you are at a >relatively low level of medication - that is, more Off than On. - a state >in which you could not possibly cope with delicate jobs. In fact, >delicate jobs demand a greater degree of control from our medication >than coarse physical work, and it is much more difficult to achieve the >correct tablet dose to allow you to do the fine work for a prolonged >period of time. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx WILL SAYS: True to a point. After working with paper I am not able to do much of anything for a while. I use the phrase, "I used myself up." XXXXXXXXXXXXX > What I am trying to do here is find explanations for your experience >which are consistent with the findings in Paper A, which strikes me as a >well-thought-out piece of work which should be respected. As far as the >original question about the duration of a tablet goes, i suggest that if >you check, you may find that you were getting a part of the penalty >due to starting your exercise too soon after taking the tablet. > xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx WILL SAYS There was a physical therapy article about 3 years ago which pointed out that the life of Ldopa/dopamine shortened with exercise. I don't remember the citation, but I remember thinking, "That's worth an article? Anybody like me already knows that." Then I found that it was a "new" finding. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx >On a purely practical note, I strongly suggest that the most effective >way of coping with shorter duration of tablets while exercising ( i.e. >the experts got it wrong, and it wouln't be the first time) is to bring >forward the time for the next tablet, and not to take an increased dose, >as that would probably exacerbate (good word, that) any tremor which you >may have. > XXXXXXXXXXXXX WILL SAYS: An extra half a Sinemet tablet as a booster helps. In presentations I have made to physical therapists I emphasize that exercise when "off" is an exercise in frustration. I would be interested in your views > > >Regards, >-- >Brian Collins <[log in to unmask]> > > And here's to long "ons" and short "offs" WILL JOHNSTON 4049 OAKLAND SCHOOL ROAD SALISBURY, MD 21804-2716 410-543-0110 Pres A.P.D.A. DelMarVa Chapter