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On Sat 22 Mar, J.R. Bruman wrote: > Sinemet And Fatigue (more) 21 Mar 97: > Thanks for your advice, Brian, but you overlook two things I > mentioned: > (1) The intense pain is in the 'upper' thoracic region, i.e., > center of back just below shoulder blades, and not the lumbar > region, which one might expect to be affected by lifting,, posture, > or shovel work. It appears during mental activity as well, even > when leaning back in a comfortable chair. > (2) The pain disappears promptly on lying supine (so it is clearly > of muscular origin) but just as promptly after taking a Sinemet, > even without lying dosn. In fact I can just continue working. > > As you know, dopamine occurs widely in the body, and not all the > levodopa of Sinemet reaches the brain, since the carbidopa isn't > 100% effective in preventing its conversion to dopamine. I wonder > if there might be some connection in PD, between DA produced in the > SN and DA produced outside the brain, elsewhere in the body. > Cheers, > Joe > > > > > J. R. Bruman (818) 789-3694 > 3527 Cody Road > Sherman Oaks CA 91403 > > Hello Joe, You are right; your symptoms are not consistent with back pain due to bending over too much. As you describe it above, my second guess would be that it is more likely to be pain induced by a trapped nerve than real muscular strain. If the muscles really were strained, I would have thought that a dull ache would be about as good as you could achieve by lying down. I know about trapped nerves, because I suffer from it myself. In my case, the pressure occurs due to some collapsed pads between the upper vertebrae in my neck, but the pain is in my upper arm. Pain induced by this means really is switchable. The collapsed pads are caused in my case by the constant pressure caused by the loss of muscle tone due to Parkinsons. It is either that, or the extreme stress caused by dyskinesias due to excess sinemet. It has been brought under control by taking one of the anti-inflammatory drugs used for treating arthritis called Naprosyn (in the UK). The Sinemet comes into the act because of its beneficial effect in relieving any muscular spasm which may be occurring, giving 'Instant Cure' for the pain. Now all it needs is for someone who knows more than I do to advise if pain in the area indicated by Joe can be caused, like my shoulder/ arm pain, by a trapped nerve. A physiotherapist perhaps?, or better yet a chiropractor? Regards -- Brian Collins <[log in to unmask]>