On Thu 03 Jun, Nico Tack wrote:
> Brian
>
> I am a new member of the parkinsnfamily. My name is Annie and I live in
> South Africa. I was diagnosed 6 years ago and have been on sinemet ever
> since.
> >From the beginning I was very suspious about the intake of sinemet.
> My neurologist changed my medication very often; it seemed to me that he was
> more interested in the result of the medication than in me as patient.
> He is gone now and I am on my own.
> Since 5 weeks I am on the Dutch list as well. So I had the insight in a lot
> of medicationpatrons from other Parkinsoniuns.
> I was on 7x sinemet 100 mg and 1/2 x sinemet CR 200 mg plus 6 Permax 0,05
> mg. I changed that to 5x sinemet 100mg and 1/2 x sinemet CR 200 mg plus 4
> Permax o,25 mg.
> My off-periodes after intake are a little longer now, sometimes 1 1/2 hour.
> The curious thing is that I , when I get up in the morning, usually 4.30 I
> manage to be good around for three hours without any medicine. That is the
> time I am really my old self. The intake of the medicine helps me a lot by
> being quicker and younger, but those off-times are very anoying.
> I was in a bad state when I was diagnosed 6 years ago. It felt to me that my
> back was broken at three places, my neck, my midback en my lowerback.
> I feel much better now, but I am also using alternative medicine by example
> aromatherapy, massage, herbs and meditation for relaxation.The dentist also
> removed all my metal fillings replacing it for plastic ones. That is now two
> years ago , and my health is really improving.
> My question to you is: how can I reduce my intake of sinemet without any
> harm. Is it perhaps better to mix with homeopathic medicine?
>
> Annie
>
>
>
Hello Annie, I think you would benefit from some background information
about Sinemet. To save a lot of repetition, I have posted a booklet called
'Living with Levodopa'. If you are able to browse the internet, you will
find my booklet on Simon Coles' web site at the following URL
http://james.parkinsons.org.uk
Look for my name and you will find the booklet
Regarding the information in your e-mail, I think your levodopa intake is
not excessive, but the way that you are distributing it through the day is.
The off time between tablets is entirely under your control - you just take
your next dose of levodopa earlier - in your case, one and a half hours
earlier, and the same for all the other doses. Of course, we can't just keep
swallowing more and more tablets, but you do need to close up the doses.
The obvious answer is to take smaller, more frequent doses.
So: in summary- 1/ adjust your time between doses so that as one dose runs
our, the next dose blends in. You will find that the spacing is about
2 hours.
2/ Adjust the size of each dose to give you the ideal result. I would
guess that would be about 70 to 80 mg per 2 hour period , which may mean that
you have to break tablets to get the right result. If you do find yourself
cutting tablets, you will know that you are doing it right!!
3/ If you have got it right, I would expect that you are taking a little
more levodopa than before. Don't worry.- it is more important to achieve a
smooth continuous rate of flow into your brain. Don't be afraid of levodopa-
it is still the best thing for pwps. If you do manage to follow my suggestions,
you could spend the next 5 years slowly ramping up on Permax - I see you
are are on a small dose - After 5 years, I am on 5 mg of Permax per day, and
counting... Good luck , and let me know how you get on.
Regards,
--
Brian Collins <[log in to unmask]>
