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> Debbbie White asked if anyone had a beneficial effect from Artane for a long
period of time, and if they had a bad reaction.

Debbie White:  I have been taking generic Artane since 1986 for Parkinson
tremors. It has reduced my tremors, but as the Parkinson symptoms got worse I
have had to increase the dosage.  I now take 2 - 2mg pills 4 times a day, and
will take 1 pill in between as needed.  I don't think it is possible to
competely eliminate the tremors, but one can reduce them so you can write and
the tremors are not noticed by other people.

You read somewhere that Artane was not long lasting.  Artane takes about a
half an hour to take effect on me.  It only controls tremors for me for about
2-3 hours.  Also as the Parkinson symptoms get worse over the years it
requires more Artane to control the tremors.  This causes the Artane side
effects to be more noticeable.

The Artane side effects can be very bad for some people.  These include
intoxication, light sensitivity, dry mouth, confusion, and others.  Older
people have more problems with Artane.  I have the tremor dominant type A of
PD which tends to be milder than the type B PD which has no tremors but more
stiffness and balance problems.

I have noticed that occasionally I have a 2nd tremor that is much faster and
stronger than the normal PD slow pill rolling tremor.  I believe this is
caused by stiffness in the arm which responds to Sinemet and Mirapex.  I
recently started using 0.75mg of Mirapex 3 times a day which does a good job
of  extending my on time between doses.

The above is based on my experience, and I have a mild case of PD. Everyone is
different on their response to medication, and your mother should work closely
with her Neuro  trying different combinations.   Good luck.

John Stuart
68/13
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