I just started using nicotine patch too/ 3.5mg/day. yes, I would also like to compare notes with others who are using it/

Girija

Girija, could you please share with us your experience on how the DBS is going as well as how you feel the nicotine patch works for you?

I have been trying a nicotine patch for 2 weeks and did good until yesterday when strong tremors occurred which continue today. I did start out with 7mg/day which may not be optimal. Wondering if I need to cut back to 3.5mg. I am on a Daniel fast/diet (no dairy, meat, bread,gluten, eggs) but had eggs the last three mornings as well as bread. I don't take any prescription meds and was diagnosed in 2010. Main issue is tremor.

Could it be that all of the substances increase the dopamine level as to rev up the system thereby creating a positive effect on PD symptoms?
The 5 hour blast, the nicotine patch (with little or no sleep) Adderall which is a amphetamine and very addictive also dangerous. Would it be possible that symptoms are directly related to use of the substances? As for stopping progression that would be great but I am skeptical of therapy that has such addiction potential and possibly longer term detrimental effects. Just my thoughts after successful (2 mos) DBS surgery. Hey, 2 months is not a long time and we will see if the stimulator can adjust to progression symptoms should I have any.

Hello Dan,

Your sharing will be great. to be honest we are our own. I have consulted 5 neurologist when I was diagnosed of having a PD 3 years ago. and all just gave me some prescription and told me nothing more can be done.

I can not accept this. So I am willing to try as many things as available which logically fits my thinking and medical knowledge.

This group sharing can be a great support for all of us,

And by the way I am a trained surgeon. That allows me to study many things and apply in my daily life.

I invite everyone to share and lets make commitment to make our life work for us.

Dan : Nicotine patch should give some improvement after few months.

In my opinion if you are not on any prescription, you should start at least RASAGELINE available in 0.5./ 1mg.

This is the only medicine known to possibly reduce progression of PD.

Rasagiline (Azilect, AGN 1135) is an irreversible inhibitor of monoamine oxidase[1] used as a monotherapy in early Parkinson's disease or as an adjunct therapy in more advanced cases.[2] It is selective for MAO type B over type A by a factor of fourteen

Some posts in this thread mention sharing results. This is a good idea. However, making use of this data will be difficult while:
- the factors mentioned vary from person to person;
- the measurements are subjective;
- the data is not in one place.

You may want to register with PDMeasure:
http://www.parkinsonsmeasurement.org/PDMeasure/

This is some software that I wrote which collects PD data both fixed (age at diagnosis, etc.) and varying, an online version of the side to side tap test. The data is entered anonymously, but is open to anyone to extract and analyse.

If you do the tap test every day under similar conditions, you will quickly get data which you can analyse.

(For most people there is a "learning effect" where to begin with your tap test results improve. Given this, the first 10 results for each person should be treated with caution.)

John

hi lurkingforcure,
It will be a year since my DBS in Nov. I am still trying to get DBS program fine tuned and meds adjusted accordingly. I developed sharp pain in my left lower back and a "pulling" pain in my left arm after DBS and this pain gets worse with increasing voltage to the right brain. one reason for this may be that the electrode is slightly off from STN (target site). My right side is doing great. I am hoping to get DBS programing to work for me, if not I might have to go for "revision" surgery to get the probe placed in the right spot.

Lately, I have been reading or hearing about nicotine patch quite a bit. I was very encouraged by a researcher's talk (lab expts, not human trials) on nicotine effects on brain and decided to give it a try. Nicotine has a great potential as a drug for PD, but I doubt if it will ever goes into clinical trials here. I suppose after 10 years of PD and lack of any new drug in the horizon, I am back to doing experiments.

Girija

I don't know if this is related to the Nicotine Patch 3.5mg that I have only been on 9 days but interested if anyone else has had a similar experience. I just had a nightmare that was so vivid and exhausting that must be after tossing around in bed caused pulled muscles. Upon waking my PD was manifested in so many ways and emotionally it took an hour to shake the emotional impact.

Remove the patch before sleep.
Apply new one in morning.