Hi Audrey,
I have had PD now for approximately 3 yrs. The last 18 months I have been on medication. For me personally these drugs have given me my life back. Before taking the medication I could not walk very well, I had a dreadful tremor which was more of a nuisance than anything else, I had restricted arm swing and "freezing" Now I walk everywhere I have taken up swimming recently I managed to do 22 lengths of our local swimming baths. I still have the tremor but it is less visible, no "freezing"or reduced arm swing. Above all the medication works for me but I have to say there is one drawback for me I always loved chocolate but now I am a chocoholic!

Hi Audrey,

There is a bewlidering array of medication out there, that comes in all shapes and sizes including tablets,patches and pen injectors.

The key things to be borne in mind as far as I can tell, are that they almost all have side effects and they almost all have a limted effective time span - i.e. the PD will get used to the medication and it may become less effective in time, especially as the sympyoms progress.

Try to keep to the minimum doseage that gives enough relief to make life liveable, and talk to you neuro on a regular basis. I am not a Doctor but after nearly 10 years of taking all kinds of medication this has been my experience.

Don't be afraid of treating the illness with medication, just be careful as to how much of what is consumed, and do your research !

regards,

007

I would just like to second what 007 wrote, to try for an acceptable level of relief from symptoms without suffering needlessly or trying for complete eradication of symptoms.

Absolutely agree!!

Thank you all so much! I think we were put off by the fact that so much is made of the negative aspects of treatment that the positive aspects are a bit lost. My husband takes more exercise since his diagnosis - and we were very interested to hear how much this can help - and persuaded me to start Pilates with him so we have both benefitted! Pilates can be tailored to individual needs which he found particularly useful. It's good to be able to have the views of people with Parkinsons'a and their partners.

Hi Audrey
I have great deal of sympathy for your dilemma. I was put on Requip Starter Pack (DA) at initial diagnosis when I was too shocked to put up any resitance or ask the right questions. I insisted on coming off against doctor's advice as they made me feel drowsy and a bit sick and I have a general antipathy toward taking drugs anyway. I decided recently to go back on after presssure from my wife and sdvice of Parkinson nurse. I was also starting to have difficulties at work. I'm on 4mg a day set to rise to 6mg next week. The sickness has gone although I do still get drowsy in the evenings. My general mobility may have improved slightly and I think my depression and anxiety likewise. It's hard to tell at this early stage. My advice to your husband would be to hold off as long as you comfortably csn but be aware they do take some time to work when you eventually go on. Initial side effects seem to wear off though. At least they have with me. I wish you both all the best.
Hallam

Start when you need to and not before. Azilect/selegiline are the first options, the Dopamine Agonists second and eventually dopamine. Just google and look at any relevant studies. But, you will have to start at some point as it progresses. Wendy

Hi Audrey,

I was diagnosed just over two years ago and put on 12 mg of Requip immediately, then changed to RequipXL 14 mg quickly increased to 16 mg and now I'm back to 14 mg, but they have given me 300 mg of Madopar daily as well.

Other than ,feeling lightheaded occasionally, I have been lucky in that the only real side effect has been a problem with sleeping.

For the last week I have moved my time for taking the tablets from morning to evening, slowly, and I am now sleeping better with no apparent difference in anything else during the day - time will tell?


Chatting to the specialist and Parkinson's nurse does help I think?

I am having physio, which helps, but I must admit my problems with walking and balance are getting worse, but I will fight an increase in meds for as long as possible.

Regards,

Mike

I

Hi Mike
azilect might extend the effectiveness of your madopar without taking more l-dopa. Just a thought you might want to ask your neuro about next time.
hope you dont mind me suggesting this but I find MaoB inhibitors have a beneficial effect on l-dopa longevity.
T