I had to move up to Stalevo, and for some its a blessing, and for others it is a curse, and for me its both, but its the only thing that works

I have to take 200 mg doses, otherwise it is a joke..All I get is dyskinesia and dystonia if I take any less

My experience and my belief is that after a few years on Sinemet, when we begin to have off periods, something happens in the body where we cant live with or without Sinemet, and Ive noticed that small changes in my med regimen makes big differences

A few weeks ago I had an off period in the middle of the day, so instead of taking another Stalevo, I took a generic Sinemet 25/100, thinking it would fill in the gap, and I got a cramp in my calf that drove me half insane

The past two weeks Ive been taking a dose of mucuna powder when I go out fishing to get a dopamine boost so that I can go out and do what I have to do, and during the past couple of days, I havent taken any, and Ive been getting periods of dyskinesia during the afternoon, where as I was only getting dyskinetic when my meds were wearing off at night for the day..I take a valium to take the edge off of my off time at night..I refuse to take four doses of Stalevo per day..Cant afford it anyway..I hit the doughnut hole last month

Also, as Paula and Everett mentioned, food makes a difference for some of us..For me, protein works the opposite..My meds kick in quicker if I eat something with protein in it..I have also found however, that if I eat pasta, and hour before, or a half an hour after meds, sometimes they dont kick in at all

I take 3 x 200 mg Stalevos per day, and if I dont take the three hours apart, I have off periods inbetween..I end up with 10 -11 hours of on time per day

Dont know if this helps much, because finding balance is like trying to crack a code