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On Tue 18 Feb, Donovan White wrote: > Tonight I posted a note asking about my mother's response to Sinemet. In > looking at some responses to other notes, I want to add this to the > equation: She takes the Sinemet 3x/day about 20 minutes before meals and is > aware of the benefits of keeping protein intake down. Thanks, Debbie > White > > [log in to unmask] Hello Debbie, Oh well, you can't win them all. So your mother takes 3 Sinemet 25/100 at the correct time to avoid problems with food, and reports little or no improvement . Logically, you now need to find out what amount of Sinemet it takes to produce a reaction. I have indicated in several postings how I would go about that - here's a short summary : First reduce the time between tablets in steps, but do not go below 2 hours. Be on the lookout for an overlap of two tablets, which can produce a big spike where one tablet takes over from the other. Back off a little, until you have got rid of the spike, and proceed to the next step, which is: Increase the amount of Sinemet in as small steps as possible. I would try to add a little as 25 mg per dose if possible. If you find that you have reached 200 mg per dose, and still no effect, then I would strongly suspect that your mother does not have Parkinson's. Obviously you must then go back to a neurologist. Sinemet (which is a Brand name for the tablet, whose active ingredient is a drug called Levodopa is unique in that the levodopa is a pre-cursor of Dopamine. (that means all it needs is one final reaction and it becomes Dopamine. Thus Sinemet replaces the missing dopamine with more dopamine - the reaL thing. None of the other drugs can do that. Some of them try to influence the production of Dopamine indirectly, and some try to mimic the action of Dopamine, but only levodopa is unique. I hope things become clearer soon, and will try to help if you need it. Regards, -- Brian Collins <[log in to unmask]>