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Ivan... I had that "slow-motion" dyskenesia (it's called "athosis," or something like that) prior to my 10/94 unilateral pallidotomy in the middle of the evening for an hour or two. I also got it whenever I went to a movie for at LEAST the first 1/2 of the show. After the pallidotomy, I was no longer troubled by that weaving motion, however, it returned 'bout four or five months ago at about the same time in the evening as I'd previously had it. I'd also go thru a bout of the face-neck-shoulder flushing and sweating at about 10-ish almost every nite - to the point where I was drenched. I stiffened *some* tho nothing like before the pallidotomy. THAT was S T I F F !!!!! I've reached a conclusion about these two symptoms similar to yours - end of dose or peak-of-dose. And I've stumbled on a way to rid myself or actually prevent the problem... AND it's simple! A few weeks ago while sitting and reading on the sofa early in the evening, I drank a 1/2 glass of orange juice - putting the glass which still contained about 2 or 3 inches of juice in it - on the table next to the sofa.... Later in the evening, as the discomfort and distress of the symptoms began, for some reason I grabbed that glass of OJ and drank it on down. Ivan, that was almost an unconscious act on my part. I just had to do SOMETHING to break my concentration which was riveted on the uncomfortable flush and the profuse sweating (the weaving movement was merely annoying - the other symptoms were very BAD!) By the time I'd finished drinking the orange juice - a matter of moments 'cause there wasn't all that much of it left in the glass - the flush and sweating as WELL as the movement had just about stopped! For the next several nites, I was ready with a glass of juice - orange, apple, or whatever I happened to have in the house - and the minute I felt the symptoms start, I drank the waiting beverage and :::::poof:::::: ADIOS symptoms! THEN I began to anticipate the "symptom attacks," and started drinking a glass of juice about 1/2 an hour BEFORE I usually started flushing and whatever. Ya know what? There WAS no flushing, sweating and weaving at all if I drank something sweet in the late-middle-evening! (about 9 to 9:30ish worked for me) Not being a fool (NO COMMENTS, KEN!) <grin>, the NEXT thing I tried was to was to eat some ice cream in the mid-evening, and hey - THAT worked too!!! Ain't kidding on this one, m'friend - I think there's SOME kinda connection between sugar and Sinemet...! As a matter of fact, ya might recall an long thread we had here a while back discussing how many of us found that Sinemet appeared to work better and faster when we took it with a sweet beverage. That stuck in my mind and since then I always take Sinemet with juice or 2 or 3 teaspoons of sugar in an ice tea. Works much better that way for me. Soooo, Ivan... ya might just drink a glass of OJ or have a bowl of ice cream 1/2 an hour or so BEFORE ya usually get those nasty symptoms, and see if that helps rid ya of 'em. Love to you... Barb Mallut [log in to unmask] ---------- From: Parkinson's Information Exchange on behalf of Ivan M Suzman Sent: Saturday, February 07, 1998 7:31 PM To: Multiple recipients of list PARKINSN Subject: Re: Restless/ 3 types of dyskinesia ^^^^^^WARM GREETINGS FROM^^^^^^^^^^ Ivan Suzman 48/10 [log in to unmask] Portland, Maine land of lighthouses deg. F *********************************************************** On Sat, 7 Feb 1998 23:53:38 +0100 Ida & Andre Kamphuis <[log in to unmask]> writes: >At 18:40 6-2-98 -0600, you wrote: Dear Ida, I found your observations on diphasic dyskinesia VERY interesting. You wrote about the muscle tension associated with peak dose dyskinesia, but its absence in the second form of dyskinesia, associated with the latter part of a dose. I experience a kind of "rubberiness" at peak- or over- dose, where my neck is impelled to sway in soft, undulating, almost rhythmic oscillation. This "rhythm " feels externally controlled, almost as if I were a marionette. The more dystonic dyskinesia that you associate with peak-dose states, I have seen so many times, especially in what seem like over-medicated states, in other PWP's. I have seen a jerky, "flailing" of the arms, accompanied by great rigidity, in many PWP's, but I myself NEVER experience this peak-dose stiffness,nor any movements associated with weird, abnormal muscle positions. To these two forms of excess motion, I would add a third type, and I wonder, do you or Dennis or David ever note this in yourselves or others? It is a STRICTLY end-of-dose phenomenon. There is very rapid and forceful tremor of the arms. It can occur to me while sitting in a chair, while rising from a seated position, or while trying to walk. It is associated with back-of-the-neck sweating, and leaves me extremely immobilized, and precedes a deeper-than-usual off state, with very tense forearm muscles and great arm pain. It's as if I have depleted my reserves of dopamine, and maybe something else. I almost wonder if TWO chemicals are depleted, i.e., dopamine, which might in insufficient supply cause some sort of muscle tightness, or rigidity, and a chemical "x", which would allow smooth, rather than "cogwheeling" voluntary movement. Is "x" adrenaline?? This rapid end-of-dose arm shaking is so bad that for at least ten minutes, I can barely move my arms from the shoulders down, and meanwhile, I start pouring with perspiration. It's not really surprising that so many neurologists say to us PWP's that we seem to know more than they do. We experience symptoms of dose, overdose and end of dose that they rarely would see, unless they would be willing to spend hours watching us. Ivan Suzman