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Sheila - You wrote: >Hi all, my mom has been put back on pergolyde (sp?) with sinemet and >artane. The first few weeks she was just taking a small amount and was to >build up to the full dosage. My question is this, she seemed to be much >better (with energy and more stamina) with a lower dosage of the >medication as opposed to the higher dosage she's on now. She's fatigued >and lethargic and she seems to have more head movement and periods of >nervousness. Could she be over medicated? I'm sorry I don't know what >dosage of the meds she's on. Thanks for responding. > The short answer to your question is "yes, she's overmedicated." The head movement is usually a dead giveaway. If she was doing better at the lower dosage, then she might want to try dropping back to that level. The other option is to try reducing the Sinemet just a bit. Pergolide is a dopamine agonist, which is expected to allow reduction of the Sinemet and perhaps get rid of some of the Sinemet side-effects. You can consult your neuro about this, or you can try a slight reduction on your own if you're comfortable doing that. There are differing philosophies among PWP and doctors about how much experimenting a patient can do on his/her own. We're fortunate in having a neuro who believes the patient is the best judge of how a medication affects him, and gives us the green light to experiment. We're quite happy doing that, while others might prefer not to. You should do what you're comfortable with. But I think you should start with the assumption that your mom is over-medicated and work to reduce either the Pergolide or the Sinemet. In addition, you know for a fact that she can feel better than she does now, and should work toward getting her back to that state, or better. Good luck. Margie Swindler [log in to unmask]