Apomorphine - Parkinson's drug
Apomorphine is one of the main drugs used to treat Parkinson's symptoms. It is available in a
generic form or under the brand name APO-go®.
Apomorphine is given by injection or infusion. It's a
subcutaneous dopamine agonist –
subcutaneous means under the skin.
Apomorphine is the strongest known dopamine agonist. It is
usually prescribed to give additional or alternative benefit for
people who have had Parkinson's for some
time.
This could include those who are finding that their drugs are
less effective, and who are experiencing 'wearing off' or sudden
and unpredictable 'on/off' fluctuations.
Fluctuating Parkinson's symptoms
The terms 'on/off' or 'motor fluctuations' refer to when people
may find they can no longer rely on the smooth and even symptom
control that their drugs once gave them.
Read more in our Motor fluctuations in
Parkinson's information sheet.
The people who seem to benefit most from apomorphine are those
who have severe 'off' periods but who are reasonably well when
'on'.
Apomorphine does not help everyone. But it is now often tried
with people who have 'off' periods of half an hour or more and who
have not improved after changes to their ordinary medication. You
may need to have injections of apomorphine between doses of your
usual tablets, or you may need apomorphine more often.
How apomorphine is taken
It can be given in
different ways:
- By a ready-loaded disposable pen (APO-go® PEN) to give
intermittent injections
- As an infusion via a syringe driver using a pre-filled syringe
(APO-go® PFS)
- As ampoules that are used with a continuous infusion pump
(APO-go®)
Ideally, apomorphine will be started under the guidance of a
Parkinson's specialist. Once you are settled on this treatment, and
you and/or your carers have been trained in how to use it,
apomorphine can be continued at home.
It acts very quickly and reliably so that people who need to be
active at specific times can continue with their normal
activities.
Apomorphine can cause short-term nausea and sickness, so an
anti-sickness drug called domperidone (Motilium®) will also be
given for at least 2 weeks when it is started.
Apomorphine syringe driver
A syringe driver is a small, battery-driven pump that gives a
continuous dose of medication through a fine needle under the skin
in the lower abdomen.
The dose can be adjusted and the pump itself is carried in your
pocket or in a small pouch.
For people who need more than 10 injections of the APO-go® PEN a
day, changing over to a syringe driver can greatly improve quality
of life.
More information
Read our free publications:
See the
Apomorphine (APO-go) Medicine Guide for independent,
up-to-date information about this medicine.
More drug treatments for Parkinson's
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Parkinson's main page
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