Quote:
Originally Posted by ashleyk
Is anyone taking sinemet ER or CR (is there a difference?) during the day instead of regular sinemet or stalevo? How much good time do you get with er/cr compared to regular sinemet? It is my understanding that regular sinemet has a half life of 1 hr, stalevo 2 hrs and the er's 4 hrs? (if you don't eat).
My wife takes one or two 100/25 er during the night and 4 stalevo 75mg, 4 stalevo 100mg during the day. That's about 900mg of l-dopa a day. Her neuro does not want her to exceed more than 800mg/day and to take only one er at bedtime. My wife has a lot of off time swings and tends to have bad, disturbing hallucinations into the evening. Stalevo is probably a contributor to the psychosis. Does it make sense to replace the stalevo with sinemet ER? Or, what is the down side to ER/CR?
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hi, you might want to pose your question here:
http://forum.parkinson.org/index.php...sk-the-doctor/
really can't offer any advice since i've never taken stalevo. Extended Release(ER)=CR
Downside to ER is it can be unpredictable and not kick in when expected or not at all, i believe it can take 1-2hrs to get to blood concentrations high enough to be effective.
you mention food, if you read the ER drug insert it recommends taking it with food, might take longer to kick in but lasts longer. i haven't really tested this.
I do ok on CR but have not hallucinations.