Villiers,

I am so happy for you that you are feeling better. When we were first dx'd, we began using a nicotine patch, first 7mg, then ultimately had to go up to 14mg...we tried, later, to use the 21mg but it was just too much. How in the world do you tolerate 31mg? Do you get one big shot of nicotine first thing in the morning, or is it titrated out over the day? Is it a patch, or do you eat it, chew/suck it, inhale it, drink it, what? Do you get nauseaus (sp)...how do you handle that?

The patches we used were a 24-hour patch, and just for those curious, we would put the patch on first thing in the morning, prepare to feel sick at first, then it would take effect, and last through the day....had to take it off a few hours before bed or we could not get to sleep. If you had a meeting or something you really needed to be functioning for, it was almost like magic in how it would turn things on.

As time wore on, though, for us, it became less effective and seemed to make the offs more harsh and harder, so we had to quit. It was like mucuna in a few ways, one being, it would turn you on pretty much consistently, and, sorry to be crude here, it would help with constipation every time (this was before coconut oil which also helps immensely in that dept.).

We used the patch for the first 2+ years post-dx, along with the infernal mirapex (Lord how I wish we could get off of that!), before having to go on sinemet. I wonder what would happen if we went back to the patch? How did you introduce taking nicotine into your daily regime, and how much have you been able to reduce your sinemet since starting the nicotine?

Thank you so much for being brave and sharing your experience. Don't pay any attention to the nay-sayers. If something is working for you, go with it, just don't forget to let all of us know!