Hello. I am searching for answers, so I come to these forums and message boards looking for ways to help my mother. She is 74 and has had pd for 22 years. My dad and I are her main caretakers and for the last year have been struggling with the "right meds"
I'm hoping to get some info on Azilect, ocds and personality changes.

Hello - welcome to the forum,

Have you found the PD forum yet?
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/forumdisplay.php?f=34

we also have a forum for caregivers-
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/forumdisplay.php?f=56

and many other topics and great members on the whole forum.

Hi Smik85 and welcome.

I was diagnosed having Parkinson's 12 years ago. I have been on Sinemet and Mriapex for most of that time, starting with low doses and gradually increasing to maximum. Until about 9 mo. ago that pretty much kept the Parkinson's symptoms under control. My Dr. had me try some new drugs as the old ones became less effective.
The latest drug I tried was Azilect (in place of Sinemet). He cautioned me about dietary restrictions and informed me it was an mao inhibitor. I started taking the drug, observing the dietary restictions, but also decided to monitor my blood pressure. My blood pressure shot up from about 130/70 to 180/80. I immediately stopped taking the drug and informed my Dr., who also told me to stop the drug.

In my opinion, the dietary restrictions for Azilect are so severe that they are impossible to keep. You might be able to keep it at home, but not at resturants or other non-controlled places. For example, soy products (on the restricted list) are in almost everything and are all but impossible to avoid. I may have inadvertently ingested soy products causing my high blood pressure.

If you decide to use this drug, I suggest you be very cautious and monitor your BP daily.

Salvator

smik85 and salvator and welcome to NeuroTalk.

my dad has pd and we will be doing some med changes in the near future. also find a new neuro.

salvator...i'm in the dfw area ( so is julie ) could you pm me with any recomendations of dr's? my dad has just moved close to me. his neuro will be a far to drive. plus the fact that he has had him on the same med and same levels for about 3 years, even though dad has greatly gone down hill.

If anyone has suggestions for doctors in Ohio, please let me know.

smik