I've come across a paper [1], albeit nearly 10 years old, which covers some of the same ground as my minute-to minute levodopa plasma level graphing tool (see earlier posts in this thread). Mikkko et al. report empirical results of plasma levels during the course of the day for people taking 4 or 5 doses of Stalevo (levodopa, carbidopa, entacapone). Both methods show a saw-tooth pattern, related to the wax and wane of each dose.

For instance, compare their graph, Fig 2, top right, with the graph produced by the tool. (Please note that they use a different scaling factor for the y-axis). The data for this is 4 doses of 100mg Stalevo taken 3.5 hours apart.

Stalevo4doses.png

Why is this important? Being able to visualize what is going on is a step towards controlling what is going on.

Reference:

[1] Mikko Kuoppamäki, Kirsi Korpela, Reijo Marttila, Valtteri Kaasinen, Päivi Hartikainen, et
al.. Comparison of pharmacokinetic profile of levodopa throughout the day between levodopa/carbidopa/entacapone and levodopa/carbidopa when administered four or five times daily. European Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, Springer Verlag, 2009, 65 (5), pp.443-455. <10.1007/s00228-
009-0622-y>. <hal-00534945>
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00534945/document

John