Joopoele,

"If I have a copious meal before I take medication it will sometimes take more than 2 hours before the pills take effect. Sometimes it feels like I haven’t taken anything at all."

"If I eat a small snack, rich of carbohydrates, right after taking my pills I get the fastest response.

I get a better result if I take my pills with enough water."

Recently I had started eating a breakfast in the morning just before taking my first dose not realizing what I was doing, and I ended up feeling so sick to my stomach I thought I was going to pass out. To add insult to injury, the medication was taking longer to kick in! This is as you indicated the absorbtion issue with the Sinemet. (Carbo/Levo) So now, after I learned the hard way, I now take the medication on an empty stomach and with plenty of water with no ill effects. This gets progressively difficult through out the day as I consume meals, but I did find that the carbohydrates do help the absorbtion better. I think it's because the higher protein meals tend to stay in the gut a lot longer than the carbs, which burn up quickly.

If I can maintain the empty stomach prior to pill taking, it would be a wonderful thing, but I'm thin enough as it is at 132 lbs (60 kg); down from 147 lbs (67 kg) a few years ago and my doctor wants me to keep eating to bring my weight up. With my increased dose schedule, this has proved to be more difficult.

John