"My husband is 67 years of age, and was diagnosed with PD last December. Since then he has been on Requip XL, gradually increasing to his current dose of 16mg. He has felt better in himself, but his arm tremors have worsened considerably over the past year.

He saw the neurologist yesterday for his six-monthly check-up, and asked if there was anything that could be done for his arm tremors, i.e. would an increase in the Requip dose help. The neurologist said that the current thinking is not to increase Requip, but rather to add something to it, and suggested he might add Madopar to the mix.

The neurologist understood our concerns about levodopa causing dyskenesia in the longish-term, and we were hoping to stave off going on it for a while yet. Also, the neurologist said there was no guarantee that it would help the arm tremors.

We both feel that once on levodopa, there is no way back, if you see what I mean, and are understandably reluctant to start on it, although my husband is pretty desperate to get his arm tremors under control.

I'd appreciate any thoughts/experiences anyone can give please."

Hi Budgie,
The good thing about madopar over sinemet is that it can be quartered easily for more accurate dosing. He could perhaps commence on a relatively low dose of say 25mg if using the 100mg tablet?
I too worried about starting levodopa because of dyskinesia but left it far too long in retrospect to commence and my quality of life was less than it could have been.
Yes I got dyskinesic in a relatively short time, some take a long time to develop it but for me the relief from rigidity and slowness was worth it.
Sorry, can't help with tremor relief advice. Perhaps someone else can?
Cheers.

Hi made it up,

Many thanks for taking the time to reply. Your advice is very useful and has been much appreciated.

Hope you keep as well as possible. Very best wishes.