I also had significant shaking that I had never experienced before at about day 15 so have quit to reassess for now.

Hello

so here is my update about Nicotine patch therapy since more than 4 years :

sept 2013-june 2014 :
i was at 21 mg, then 28 mg then 32mg
and very important , from October 2013 until June 2014 , i started juicing very very heavily every day (about 8 glasses a day ) especially green juices , coffee enemas about 2/3 times a day( coffee enemas makes your liver producing A LOT of Glutathione, search for GERSON therapy) , trying to avoid gluten but not so good at it :
this was the most extraordinary year i had ! and i am sure Juicing and Nicotine were a big part in this , as after 2 months of juicing , i did not need my sine met (750 mg/day) once every 10 days ,and after 4 months of juicing , i needed sine met only every other day , so 3/4 days per week , i was unmedicated for 36 hours and feeling great, i could walk, do anything ,did not need meds at night ....i was really experimenting recovery !! (it was hard believing it, when for 9 years , you have been told and retold that PD is uncurable and degenerative )
so for about 5/6 months the days without meds were fab , but the days when Levadopa was mandatory , my dyskinesias were more and more stiff , and very painful....but i was moving better and better , my walking was excellent especially

End of June 2014 : Catastrophic !! i don't know what happened but everything went out of control ,my body could not handle the Sinemet anymore, for 2 weeks , i had extreme dystonias and dyskinesias, the meds would last for 2 hours , or 1 hour or 5 hours...i felt lost , depressed, was in terrible pain ...so i lost courage, discipline...and stopped Juicing , enemas...

Sept 2014: I was told to stop Nicotine for 1 month , and restart from scratch , 1,75mg / day ...and then slowly increase every 3 months

June 2015 : I am now back at 14mg/day of Nicotine, i am taking 600 mg of Sinemet CL ,i very rarely drink juices...when the Sinemet is working, it has never worked that good ever before, no shaking at all/excellent walk/ excellent strength in the hands...my dyskinesias/dystonias are still very painful, (but this is due to Sinemet ,not Nicotine ),i had a Dat Scan last week, and compared to the One i had in 2011 just before starting , some numbers shows a small loss of dopamine neurons on some part of the brain,and the 2 others numbers show a GAIN of dopamine cells in an other brain's part !!....
Also now , when i wake up , i am in excellent shape , i can do whatever i want and only need to take my meds around 11.30 /noon (but i think the 10mg of melatonine do play some parts in those Sleep benefits )
One month ago, i experienced a no-meds day again...
I don't regret at All doing the Nicotine, i wished i had started it earlier...
the Dystonias/Dyskis induced by the meds are the big problem since 1 year

Villiers

How hard was the withdrawal when you had to quit the nicotine, especially at the high dose you were taking?

the withdrawal was a bit scary ...i had a few experiments where i felt my legs will not support me anymore , that i could not walk anymore (never felt like this before )...
but i had been Nicotine patching since 4 years so there was still some of it in my system...
Nicoderm patch trials are done by the Michael J fox Organisation , they should give some of their conclusions next year, i believe

Hi there:
Can i ask which brand of Nicotine patch you are using?

Regards

Any brand will do.

I have PD and would greatly appreciate hearing how it has gone for you with the nicotine patch in France. Also: how do I go about initiating the treatment process with the hospital in France? Is there a website for them?