On Thu 25 Jun, Brian Collins wrote:
> On 22 June you wrote:
> >
> > Now on to my question on Siniment.. My mom is taking 200/50 3 x a day.
> > They are suppose to be time released. She wakes up feeling great high
> > function and can do most things. As soon as she takes her medication it
> > puts her in a low function mode. Some days she cannot do much and feels
> > Locked in her body for this short time. This has just started and it is
> > scary for her and for me. I was wondering does this sound right that after
> > the medication is taken you get worse? Does this seem like Alot of
> > medication for her.
> > She is only 5" 2' tall and 115 lbs. So not a large person. We are in the
> > process of doing a daily diary.. My Aunt is visiting from MN and is able to
> > write down for mom how she feels. I had offered for her to come live in our
> > house but she is not yet ready to do this. and I respect her for wanting to
> > stay on her own. Thanks for this list and the Care givers list
> >
> >
> > God bless,
> > Wendy Samper CG Mom/Ellie 64/7
> > Macon, Georgia
> >
> >
> >
> Hello Wendy. Did you get a reply to your question above? If not, ;et me know
> and I will try to help. (I was on a short vacation when you posted your query)
>
> Regards,
> --
> Brian Collins <[log in to unmask]>
>
>
>
Hello Wendy, One of the most significant pieces of information on your first
letter is the 64/7 meaning 64 years old, diagnosed 7 years ago. 7yrs or
thereabouts can be a fairly critical time- it is where the 'anything goes'
prescription shows its shortcomings.
Getting the right rate of flow of levodopa is what it is all about. For
instance, At about the 7-year point I found that I could not tolerate the rate
of flow of the CR type of tablet - For me, the duration of the CR tablet was
4 hours, so with 200mg that equals 50 mg per hour. (The rate that I really
needed was 37 mg per hour)
The next thing to worry about is the strange reaction to what could be an
overdose. The 'classic' PWP would suffer dyskinesias for the duration of the
tablet - Your mother did not. I don't know why this happened, but one
possibility occurs to me: I have noticed quite a large group of PWPs who,
when given an overdose of sinemet or similar show no dyskinesia but instead
become very withdrawn, and seem to want just to go to sleep. If anyone can
add to this observation I would be interested in hearing from them.
Wendy: whether Ellie is in this group or not, I am pretty sure that she would
be better off with less levodopa. Now there is nothing you can do to slow
down the the output of the CR tablet, so her only option is to give it up and
go back to the standard tabs (I did, and it is not so bad). I Won't go into
more detail here because you can read about it in my posting called 'Living
with levodopa'. This can be found on Jerry Finch's web site on the following
URL ( I am assuming that you have a browse capability).
http:/www.newcountry.nu/pd/mag.htm
Regards,
--
Brian Collins <[log in to unmask]>
