On Wed 22 Jul, p. l. maddux wrote:
> Hi Brian,
> I'm with you. I understand your view and I will not let things get too
> bad before I try some medicaion. My doctor did suggest that I start with
> an agonist first. Do you think that is not the right approach?
> If I start on Requip and don't get much (or any) relief would it not be
> a good idea to then start the levadopa and be able to take a lesser
> amount because of taking the agonist also? I think that is the direction
> my doc is leaning.
> I have been following your post's for several months now and have
> visited your website. Sounds like you have some very good theorys on
> using sinemet.
>
> Lanier Maddux 62/2
>
>
Hello Lanier, You ask my view about starting with a dopamine agonist rather
than Sinemet. Well basically, I think it is un-necessary. It is a tactic
used by the 'keep away from levodopa at any cost' brigade - a philosophy
which I find lacking, to put if mildly.
Another aspect that appears to go un-noticed by the anti-levodopa gang
is the need to give yourself some margin. Most of the people who write to
this list seem to me to be urged by their neurologists to pile the Agonist
on until you run into excess dosage symptoms, then back off. Now where is
the sense in that? Don't they realise that 6 months on, your brain is going
to shed a few more Dopamine producing cells, and you look around and what
choices do you have? You are already shot through with MiraPergoCab (A new
Dopamine agonist that I just invented. It saves you hours of fruitless
testing by generating all of the potential side effects in one exciting
excursion.
.
I think that my own experience serves as the best advertisement for my
philosophy: When Pergolide (the first of the real agonists )became available
in about 1992, I was more than ready for it. I definitely did not give myself
a maximum dose of Pergolide. I took (almost) the smallest dose possible
(2 x 250 micro gm) and adjusted my levodopa to give me the nearest thing to
normal life (Remember 'normal life.? '). Since that time, I have kept pace
with my deterioration and enjoyed six years of almost normal living, which I
have achieved by leaving the levodopa at exactly the same level all that time,
and gradually increasing the Pergolide flow. Done this way, it seems that
the claims of these agonists are true, otherewise as I wind on some more
Pergolide I would expect to encounter increased diskinesias, but it doesn't
happen. The problem is that I am now at 4 milli grams per day of Pergolide
Which is close to the maximum level So where do I go from here? I 'll let
you know when I get there. Regards,
--
Brian Collins <[log in to unmask]>
