Hello Barbara, Mon, 25 May 1998 16:00, Barbara Duffin-Bates <[log in to unmask]>, wrote: >My husband (aged 57, PD 14 years) takes only sinement and >eldepryl. He takes 3 100/25 tablets each day, broken in half, >each dose taken 2 hours apart. A) Compared with other PWP for 14 years a relatively low dose. >He has always had a difficult time smoothing out his dosage >levels. He will peak about 1 hour after taking a dose, be "on" >for maybe 25 minutes, then be off again. B) Peaking after 1 hour is normal with CR, but 25 min "on" is short. A + B together suggest he might be UNDER-medicated, however.... >When he is off, he is very slow and stiff but at least he is >relatively safe. When "on", he is very diskenetic and often >falls, sometimes badly. He NEVER falls when he is off. C) ...........dyskinetic when "on" suggests he is OVER-medicated. D) falling can have several reasons: 1) caused by the dyskinetic movements he looses his balance 2) caused by side-effects of the Sinemet (e.g. dizzyness) or of the eldepryl, or the combination of these two. 3) caused by low bloodpressure and/or static hypotension (= a sudden going down of the bloodpressure after getting up from lying down or standing straight after bending over). >I was wondering if anyone else has noticed this phenomenon >of falling only when on. E) you didn't mention a tremor. No tremor can mean he might have Parkinsonism instead of classic PD. I know several PWP, who have Parkinsonism. They fell a lot when they were using medication(s). After they stopped taking the meds the falling stopped (after a few weeks). >I might also add, for those interested in amantadine, Iain did >try this some years ago. He said that he did feel better on it, >but it made him hallucinate. That was not much fun and we >took him off. Concluding: your husband is feeling better in the periods he takes no meds than in the periods that he does take his pills! Being stiff seems to be a better choice than frequently falling. My suggestion would be: 1) consider the possibility of Parkinsonism. 2) consult your neurologist and discuss a try-out-period of 3 months without meds (or first 3 months without one and than 3 without the other) 3) if that doesn't improve the falling or worsens his other symptoms, consider switching to other meds. IMPORTANT: Don't take my word for it! I'm just another PWP puzzeling along. Always consult your neurologist before making any changes in your meds!! Greetings, Hans. 44/dx5/eldepryl.