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Ken - In a message dated 97-03-24 00:34:12 EST, you write: >. The parts that are affected the most are my >right arm and left foot. When it's at it's worst my arm bends up behind my >back and feels like it's going to break. If I attempt to walk around the >block for a bit of exercise my left foot twists up so that I am walking on >the very edge of my foot. What you describe is dystonia. It's most likely a reaction to the Sinemet at peak dose. My husband had the same problem until his pallidal stimulation surgery, which greatly reduced the dystonia, although it didn't eliminate it. We've found that more people are troubled by dyskinesia (involuntary movement) than dystonia, so even many PWP don't know much about it. By the way, one doctor told me that technically, he thought dystonia would be considered a subclassification of dyskinesia - not that we care about the classification when the dystonia hits! You might start observing just how the timing of the dystonia correlates with the medication you've taken. One way to reduce the dystonia is to reduce the amount of medication, or to take the same amount but in half doses, twice as often. That keeps the Sinemet from packing such a wallop when it hits your system. Dick found that trying to control his tremor and other symptoms while keeping the dystonia to a more tolerable level was a true juggling act. It eventually got so he had no good "on" times. He was either "off" or "on with dystonia." I don't mean for this to discourage you, but just to let you know we understand what you're dealing with. As I mentioned, the ultimate solution for Dick was surgery. Hope this helps. Best wishes, Margie Swindler, cg for Dick (52/15) [log in to unmask]