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hi ivan you wrote: >Hello Janet, here I am!... >Would taking some "cr" at bedtime, added to your 10/100, >extend your functioning time either during the night or early >in the morning? i have frequently used a half 25/100 cr tablet to help me 'coast' through a meal >Also , does the additional carbidopa in 25/100's >(yellow round pills) help you? I do better on 25/100's - more >time "on" and a better quality of functioning than with the 10/100's. i used to take a combination of 10/100 and 25/100 to get a total minimum of 75mg carbidopa per day - didn't notice any difference >>as a result of an analysis done with a view to >>maintaining thin but almost continuous levodopa coverage >By "thin" could you mean just barely "on".... i guess i could have been clearer... prior to the 90 minute regimen i was taking either a whole 10/100 or a whole 25/100 sinemet every two and a quarter hours = 135 minutes [the timing was determined by yet more observation and record keeping] the time frame was selected as maintaining me optimally somewhere between 'off' = akinesia/bradykinesia and 'on-too-much' = dyskinesia after a couple of years on the 135 minute regimen i started developing peak dose dyskinesia and rapid end-of-dose drop-off cutting the dose in half but increasing the dose frequency was a really effective way for me to smooth out those peaks and valleys >...I almost never have a dyskinesia problem now. >It tends to crop up only if my diet is too sugary, say what? is there such a thing? i thought all parkies were addicted to sweets? >or if the tolcapone/sinemet combination hits me too hard. >my sinemet is down from 1500 to 900 mg./24 hours. this is wonderful news! >>i found new medical consultants and established new prescriptions >That must have been hard to do-all those familiar Bermudan faces gone don't forget the lack of services there - no support groups, no neurologists, not that many 'bermudian faces' to miss >all these new Canadian faces to learn how to work with!! so far, i've dealt with a family physician, a neurologist and a pharmacist and all i can say is: i love this country! e.g. 1. the ontario heath insurance plan card provides virtually free medical care e.g. 2. the social services drug card provides prescriptions at 2.00 [cdn] each e.g. 3. i am [optimistically] awaiting approval for ontario family benefits disability insurance payments >One wonders if one is making the right choice when one >engages a new person, a new doctor, a new pharmacist. i suppose so but i relied on my sister's input based on her 20 year residency here >This wonderment, in me, can turn to uncertainty, and that >can turn to angst. OR, if patient enough, this same wonderment >can turn to encouragement. and that can turn into a genuinely >elevated mood, once I gain enough experience to bravely work >with the new people. exactly - you can switch perception 'lenses' and look at the problem either as a challenge or as a burden >I am thrilled that you are brave enough >to keep trying to be independent. i don't call it brave; i call it stubborn! however, i am lucky, in that when my meds 'kick in', most people, including myself, can forget that i have parkinson's >...I feel that if you are being troubled by those >sticky parkie feet, you may be under new stresses, >and you also may be slightly undermedicated. you and a few others have mentioned 'undermedication' and i do believe that that is what's been happening... i had another message from one of the apo generic - 'no' endo generic - 'yes' respondees who said that between 10 and 20% more of the apo generic was required to maintain the same level of mobility i've been trying that, and so far, so good! i am scheduled to start the endo generic on monday. >I use generic carbi-levo. It is less successful when I am >stressed, and also, it is light-sensitive, so be careful >not to leave it exposed to light. who is the manufacturer of the carbi-levo you are using? >... Dear sis, you just moved from Bermuda, >and surely the radical changes continue to present >challenges throughout your daily routine. N'est-ce pas? the stresses that i have been through and still are adjusting to are no big deal compared to the rollercoaster that has been my life for the past 8 years losses including friends, a marriage, a business, personal bankruptcy... i'm not whining for sympathy, but simply putting a little perspective on the current picture heck, right now i'm the least stressed/anxious than i've been for five years! >... I guess we all have to find WHAT WORKS for each of us. absolutely! also, i find that sharing the nitty gritty details helps me put my own situation into perspective >>my list of unreturned messages is getting long enough >>to give me nightmares >OY! Oy yoy yoy!! I hereby give you permission to delete >more messages, and respond to fewer. We all go through >periods where working on the computer has to be put aside >for a while, or where it recedes in importance. now that i feel like i have a 'handle' on what's been happening i no longer perceive the list of unreturned messages as a nightmare burden of un-met obligations; it has suddenly been transformed into simply a list of messages from friends funny how that happens, huh? >...be very careful of financial stress factors here it is to laugh, ivan! my financial stress factors in the past 2 years have been horrendous but now that i've cleared away a pile of that good old toxic shame being broke doesn't bother me at all! money isn't the root of all evil the love/lust for money/power can be the old truism 'you can't take it with you' has finally sunk into this little pea-brain of mine >...Tolcapone is a wonderful drug for me. It takes time. > After two months, I am finally getting the hang of it.... i am happy for you! >are the local tulips budding yet? you bet! i have a tree-filled view which was utterly ravaged by the ice-storm in january but now each new day brings a new set of leaves and a new song from the returning birds thanks, bro! much love to you and yours janet janet paterson 51/10 - sinemet/selegiline/prozac almonte/ontario/canada - [log in to unmask]