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hi rayna At 01:18 1998/12/31 -0500, you wrote, in part: >Guess this is my night to de-lurk... i love this term [thanks, bill!] and welcome to the list, rayna! >Long story short -- my husband (70 shortly/ I just turned 57) >was diagnosed one week ago today with PD. yikes, talk about a newbie! >He's had a resting tremor for almost a year, >which I strongly suspected was PD but until >it got worse, about a month ago, he made excuses >for it. Finally got him to a movement disorder >specialist and voila! Started him on low dose of >sinemet only because my husband insisted. aha i think i detect some denial here [did you know that denile is a river in egypt?] the diagnosis must be a shock to both of you i will send an article [psychosocial] separately to you in re coping with a diagnosis of pd i think its approach is one of the most helpful and encouraging i've seen >Doctor told him to make sure he didn't eat anything >with lecithin in it -- and now I hear Phil talk about >a low protein diet enabling the sinemet to work better. >Can you elucidate? in simple terms [or should i say goofy] the levodopa in sinemet is absorbed in the upper intestine into the bloodstream, whereby it gets transported [by commuter bus] to the brain and across the bloodbrain barrier to where it does its work the carbidopa in the sinemet keeps the levodopa from breaking down [and causing nausea] before reaching the brain the problem is that the commuter bus has a limited number of seats and protein is real pushy about grabbing them all viz: if i take sinemet 15 to 20 minutes before eating protein the protein gets left behind in a cloud of exhaust fumes and the levodopa reaches my brain no problemmo interestingly if i take sinemet with a sweet sugary beverage its effect seems to 'kick-in' faster [insulin and dopamine seem to use the same bus station] if i eat any protein shortly before taking sinemet the sinemet has no effect on me at all big problemmo if i eat a large amount of protein/fat [= bacon/cheeseburger!] any sinemet that i may take in the following 2-3 hour period is effectively ineffectual however, i take sinemet every 90 minutes or so because i need to - my pd symptoms 'show through' otherwise and that's because i am 10 years further down this road than your husband he probably won't notice this 'on/off' phenomenon and the connection to proteins and fats for many years i didn't for at least five years after starting sinemet his biggest problem right now is probably going to be dealing with nausea caused by the sinemet so in a newbie's case the advice is virtually opposite to what i've just described a newly sinemetized parkie needs to eat something with the sinemet to avoid nausea and it will take time to accomplish this during my first months on sinemet if i took a tablet on an empty stomach i would develop virtually instant ulcer-like pains which would dissipate as soon as i ate 'something, anything!' >or tell me where to find more info on this? the neuro website at harvard is an excellent resource: <http://neuro-chief-e.mgh.harvard.edu/parkinsonsweb/Main/pdmain.html#mainmenu> the pshychosocial article is there along with an algorithm on managing pd and some excerpts from the young parkinson's handbook and a caregiver's handbook >Thanks -- . You sound like a very special >group of people on this list! we are and now you are too! with much love from your and your husband's cyber sibling janet janet paterson - 51 now /41 dx /37 onset - almonte/ontario/canada [log in to unmask]