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Amantadine Withdrawal 26 Aug 99 Judith, your recent posting should be a serious warning to users of amantadine (Symmetrel) that if they ever want to quit, they must taper off slowly and carefully. It bothers me that this might be news to them, because it's been in the good old PDR, all along. Amantadine is one of several neurological drugs whose abrupt withdrawal may on rare occasion cause a life-threatening syndrome _similar_ to Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome (NMS). The pedantic definition of NMS is reserved (by hair-splitters) for a condition caused by use of a neuroleptic (antipsychotic) drug, so the PDR articles always carefully avoid calling it that, but the effects are strikingly similar, including: extremely high fever, mental or consciousness deficit, muscle disintegration (indicated by plentiful myoglobin from dead muscle cells) and very swift onset. This Abrupt Withdrawal Syndrome (for lack of a better name) has been reported for other common PD drugs, for example tolcapone (Tasmar) and, guess what? our familiar levodopa/carbidopa (Sinemet)! Moral: Run, don't walk, to your PDR and READ IT! Cheers, Joe -- J. R. Bruman (818) 789-3694 3527 Cody Road Sherman Oaks, CA 91403-5013