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My question concerns Mirapex and how long would you expect it to be
before some effect was seen.

My sister is 50, diagnosed 1+ year ago, decided her PD symptoms were
interfering enough in her life to need some help. She has been on
Eldepryl twice a day for 14 months, tried Amantadine for three months
but it gave her heart palpitations so it was dc'ed, and now wanted to
try an agonist for the following symptoms:

1. her #1 complaint is fatigue...'tired all the time', 'sleeping 10+
hours a day and could sleep longer'...'my mood does not feel depressed,
I just feel weak and tired all the time.

2. 'I can't write anymore, I don't write small, I write so slow, my
right hand doesn't work, actually my whole right side, even down the
side of my right leg is affected'. I need to be able to write!!!!

3. I do everything very slowly, (my daughter says I even chew slow), I
can't get anything done anymore. I sleep fine but I do have to wake up
to turn over. When laying in bed I feel internal tremors. My sister says
I don't swing my arms normally when I walk, I keep both arms stiffly by
my side and I clunk my right foot when I walk.

She has Kaiser Perm an HMO, they do not have a movement disorder
specialist, long story but we went outside of Kaiser to get her
evaluated and diagnosed. Dr Linda Sigmond has been seeing her and said
she'd recommend the new agonist when her symptoms became bothersome.
So we figured the the Kaiser Neurologist Dr Lipps could write the
prescription for Mirapex...we told him 'low...slow...and the minimum
effective dose...he agreed...she started on 1/2 tab of .25 mg three
times a day= .125mg+ .125mg+ .125mg =.375mg per day for one week....then
.25mg (whole tab) three times a day for .75mg/day...then two .25mg tabs
three times a day for 1.5mg/day and see him again in one month. He
agreed that she should stop increasing the dosage once her symptoms were
affected and improved.

The deal is, she is up to .75mg/day, she has been on Mirapex for two
weeks, and she feels absolutely no effect of the Mirapex AT ALL. Does
this sound right?

Thanks for any feedback,
Gail, the sister
email [log in to unmask]
Fairfax, Virginia