Good thinking Lindy, yes I have. As far as I can gather from my records, I was using 50mg tablets of Sinamet up to 1st May this year, then switched to Stavelo. I think that ties in roughly to the increase in dyskinesia.
I had tried Stavelo before, but did not like the lack of control over the amount of entacapone I was getting. If I rememer correctly, entacapone has a reputation for increasing dyskinesia
I fly to Scotland for a week, at the end of next week, so I won't be able to keep posting.

Ron

Dyskinesia is my biggest problem. When my meds kick in, I'm dyskinetic ALL THE TIME. Doesn't matter if I cut the pill in half or not. It just wears off sooner.

Strictly from my own experience this morning. No research on it in so far as I can tell. Which is odd since the French neuro Charcot was big on it and also named PD.

Anyway, I seemed to banish a moderate case of dk this morning with a very simple image involving a thermostat ("Turn it down, Luke." ) and it seems to have done the trick. I'm going to work on this one some more. If anyone else wants to try it let me know and I'll post the text I used. You can simply read it into your computer and voila!

Ron,
As any form of entacapone will increase the available amount of l-dopa to the brain it may be the culprit. I think it is interesting though that some people do less well on stalevo only, and some do less well on entacapone + ldopa, EVEN at the same dose........... so it may be your culprit..... I declined to go on stalevo because I wouldn't be able to control my intake the way I want to.

Good luck finding a balance....... and enjoy your holiday.

Lindy

Rick,

I'll give it a go if you don't mind posting it.

Self Hypnosis 101
First of all, ditch all preconceptions. It is not what you've seen on television. It is simply you using a script to help your mind to focus. No one else is involved and there are no tricks.

You can do this one of two ways- either with a recorder or with your computer. I prefer the latter because it is easy to edit and can be used to generate "modules" that can be combined in moments to deal with something that just came up. The downside is that you have to learn the software. I use a free program called "Audacity" but I think there is one that comes with Windows, too.

A voice recorder is much simpler but only if you rehearse a little and correct mistakes as you go.

Safety- Use it in the safety of your home and you have nothing to worry about. Do I have to say it? DON'T DO THIS AND DRIVE! Sheesh...

If you forget to tell yourself to wake up, you will anyway. it just might be the next morning.

There are three modules- the induction, the suggestion, and the awakening.

The induction is when the guy in the bad movie says "Look into my eyez!" You will do it a bit different. It is not so much what you say but how you say it. You should try for a soothing monotone. Imagine that you are trying to calm your dog during a thunderstorm. Now record the following-

"Let yourself relax as you slip into hypnosis. Listening to my voice. Ignoring all other sounds. Breathing slowly. Easily. Your body growing heavier as you relax more and more.

Be aware of the weight of your body as you relax more and more. Breathing slowly. Easily. Growing heavier and more and more relaxed. Ignoring all other sounds but my voice. Calmer and calmer.

Now, as I count, feel yourself sinking gently down into hypnosis. More and more relaxed. Heavier and heavier.

Five.

Four.

Three.

Two.

One.

Zero.

Sleep.

Relaxing more and more. Your body growing heavier. Your mind growing calmer.

Five.

Four.

Three.

Two.

One.

Zero.

Sleep."

When you are counting, allow about one normal breath for each number. Remember that you are calming your pet. That part above should be about two to two and a half minutes but don't stress about it.

Now, record it again. And if needed, a third time. You want about five minutes of this. When finished, you have your induction.

I'm not sure what limits are on length of post so will adjourn to the next post.

Continue to record the following-

"Your dyskinesias result from the sensitivity you have to your medications. You are able to influence that sensitivity and your dyskinesias. I am going to give you an image to use as a tool to do this anytime you wish. It will not be necessary that you enter hypnosis to usethis image, only that you close your eyes and take two slow breaths to begin. This approach will get more and more effective each time you use it, allowing you great control over your sensitivity and the dyskinesia.

Now, imagine that you are standing facing a wall at arm's length in front of you. On that wall and at eye level is an old fashioned, round thermostat. Picture your hand reaching out and turning the control counter-clockwise to reduce your dyskinesias.

<repeat that last paragraph a total of three times>

This approach will get more and more effective each time you use it, allowing you great control over your sensitivity and the dyskinesia."

Finally, record this to awken-

"Now, you may awaken by silently counting from one to ten, becoming more alert with each count and fully awake at th count of ten."

Will give this a try. Thank you so much!

In general, the more intelligent and imaginative you are the more readily hypnotizeable you are. Add in the well known placebo response and we have a potential major tool here. Keep in mind that you haven't heard of it from your doc not because science has found it lacking but, rather, that the studies have not been done.

Symptom relief is an obvious avenue, but it could be more as well. An example- my wife has fought depression all her life. Twenty years or so ago, as she struggled with Churchill's "black dog", I hypnotized her and simply instructed her to rebalance her brain chemistry and banish the depression. It worked. Also, the thing that led me into the subject were terrible monthly cramping that she had endured for years. Using an image similar to the one used here, the cramping was eliminated with a single session!

The power of suggestion is just that - suggestion. We don't necessarily have to know the details. This wonderous melon-sized lump of jelly holds miracles we cannot imagine. Who is to say that the proper approach will not increase levels of GDNF where needed or reduce inflammation? This part of us is an idiot savant and is capable of great things but only if asked.

In trying this, it is best done by day and while sitting quietly. Falling asleep is counter productive. Turn offthe phone. Put out the cat. etc.

While you may be surprised, don't expect results right away. Go through it ten times before making any judgements. Don't do it more than once a day and take every fourth day off. You are persuading, not coercing.

An added advantage- record one without the middle part.You can get profoundly relaxed without suggesting anything. It soothes those weary muscles quite well.

I hope that some of you will get interested in this. It has been neglected for a century and it is a great patient empowerment tool.

I figure once I pass 60 I willbe entitled to smoke, drink, and chase women. I figure that I will be shuffling after my wife demanding to know where she hid my pipe and wine.


1. Biochem Pharmacol. 2009 Oct 1;78(7):677-85. Epub 2009 May 9.

Multiple roles for nicotine in Parkinson's disease.

Quik M, Huang LZ, Parameswaran N, Bordia T, Campos C, Perez XA.

The Parkinson's Institute, Sunnyvale, CA 94085, United States.
mquik@parkinsonsinstitute.org

There exists a remarkable diversity of neurotransmitter compounds in the
striatum, a pivotal brain region in the pathology of Parkinson's disease, a
movement disorder characterized by rigidity, tremor and bradykinesia. The
striatal dopaminergic system, which is particularly vulnerable to
neurodegeneration in this disorder, appears to be the major contributor to these
motor problems. However, numerous other neurotransmitter systems in the striatum
most likely also play a significant role, including the nicotinic cholinergic
system. Indeed, there is an extensive anatomical overlap between dopaminergic and
cholinergic neurons, and acetylcholine is well known to modulate striatal
dopamine release both in vitro and in vivo. Nicotine, a drug that stimulates
nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs), influences several functions relevant
to Parkinson's disease. Extensive studies in parkinsonian animals show that
nicotine protects against nigrostriatal damage, findings that may explain the
well-established decline in Parkinson's disease incidence with tobacco use. In
addition, recent work shows that nicotine reduces l-dopa-induced abnormal
involuntary movements, a debilitating complication of l-dopa therapy for
Parkinson's disease. These combined observations suggest that nAChR stimulation
may represent a useful treatment strategy for Parkinson's disease for
neuroprotection and symptomatic treatment. Importantly, only selective nAChR
subtypes are present in the striatum including the alpha4beta2*, alpha6beta2* and
alpha7 nAChR populations. Treatment with nAChR ligands directed to these subtypes
may thus yield optimal therapeutic benefit for Parkinson's disease, with a
minimum of adverse side effects.

PMCID: PMC2815339 [Available on 2010/10/1]
PMID: 19433069 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]