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on Thu 17 April lyn coles wrote: Date: Thu, 17 APR 1997 09:40:29 -0400 From: lyn coles <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Re: New drug? To: Multiple recipients of list PARKINSN <[log in to unmask]> Your current meds sound like a better answer for now and is what many new PWP start on. Sinemet side affects can be addressed if you need the med. down the road. However, why take it now when milder meds will help just as well? Stress will certainly "turn up the volume" of a tremor! Best wishes. Lyn Coles,RN Indianapolis,IN Hello Lyn, I have to take issue with you when you refer=A0to 'Sinemet side=20 effects' and 'milder meds', because I think you have got it back-to-front. Take Sinemet first (or levodopa to cover the general case.)- levodopa has NO side effects!!! I know that sounds crazy, but I believe it to be true. Taken correctly, the levodopa simply replaces the dopamine missing=20 from the brain. I don't believe that that causes side effects in any way. The symptoms which you call 'side effect' are presumably dyskinesias, and anyone who has experienced them will agree that they are not to be taken=20 lightly. But they are caused simply by an overdose of levodopa, not a side -effect. The real problem is that as we sink deeper into the cluches of PD, and the number of functional dopemine-producing cells gets smaller and=20 smaller, the need for precision in the quantity of levodopa required=20 becomes ever greater, and given the crude lumps of chemical that we take to try to offset these problems, it is=A0hardly surprising that we miss=20 sometimes and suffer dyskinesias. But they are not side-effects. If you want to talk side effects, just take a look at the list of goodies=20 which you refer to as 'milder meds' if you want a fright. Selegiline (Eldepryl) - Make sure you take all your tablets before mid-day,=20 or the wild nightmares will spoil your sleep. Could it be the Amphetamine which is produced as it is broken down in the brain? Bromocriptine (Parlodel) - OK for some people, but when I was prescribed it at a mere 15mg per day, over a 3-month period, I began to develop severe=20 paranoia which put my marriage under a severe strain until fortunately I realised something was wrong and took myself off the tablets. Within 2 weeks I was better, and I am appalled at the things that I said and did during that time. I know of far too many people who have suffered similar effects to ever consider it as an option for myself. And of course, the amount of=20 equivalent dopamine corresponding to 15mg of Bromocriptine is tiny. Pergolide (Permax, Celance) I have been taking this for some time, and at the modest doses that I take=20 ( 2mg/day ), it seems to be OK so far. I know some people who suffered quite badly from PerMax, however, yet found Bromocriptine OK. There is no way to=20 tell beforehand how any one person will react. Similar stories can be found for most of the so-called 'milder meds', and I haven't even mentioned the other effects - hallucinations - confusion: These are not drugs to be taken lightly. And now:- The sting in the tail. All that suffering with only partially effective 'milder meds', in the belief that you get more out of your levodopa in later years is, in my opinion a total waste! (and a lot of=20 neurologists agree with me.) If you want to know more, email me and ask=20 for Charts A and B. Regards, --=20 Brian Collins <[log in to unmask]>