I was put on three sinemet plus a day on dx.just over two years ago. I had arm and leg tremor - in fact all one side and poor dexterity. I still have a slight tremor from time to time but nothing like the shaking I had and the dexterity is pretty well normal. So it helped me but the tremors do seem to be hard to treat from what I read of others' experience.

My predominant complaint is tremor and I've found that sinemet and zonegran help control it.

Tremorgrrrl

and was struck with PD at age 40, with a two year old. My life as i knew it fell apart, but after 14 years of picking up the pieces, it is better now, not better physically, but i have accepted that I yam what i yam (as Popeye would say). One learns that all the loss and suffering can be counterbalanced by acceptance. Acceptance comes from the realization that life is precious and dwelling on misfortune only makes it worse. So dad will learn to fight back, sooner or later. The sooner the better. However, i was told this by many of the wise PWP who inhabit this blogg. It took me many years to take their advice, and i am eternally grateful for their great wisdom. cs

I'm 73, now in my 11th year post-diagnosis. My PD is of the rigidity-bradykinetic type, and I have almost no problems with tremor. I have always been fairly active, but never a jock or highly competitive athlete. I am still quite active with the help of mostly ordinary carbidopa/levodopa (generic sinemet, both regular and extended release).
One additional strategy I have adopted which may be contributing to the apparently slow progression of my symptoms is the use of dextromethorphan at extremely low dosage (4-5mg) each night before bedtime. This well-known drug is the same one present in many over-the-counter cough syrups. You can search the posts on this forum for discussions of this drug, or naltrexone, a related drug which requires a prescription, as possible neuroprotectants
Because depression was a major struggle for me more than a decade prior to diagnosis, I have taken a number of different meds for that more than 20 years. Even with that help, and talk therapy, I was forced to take medical leave from my profession because of the depression for the year immediately prior to PD Dx. Ironically, after PD diagnosis and beginning sinemet therapy, I found that not only were the rigidity, "slows", and postural instabilitiy symptoms greatly alleviated, but my depression was very much improved. I continue to use Welbutrin and Cymbalta, two excellent antidepressant drugs with very good results.
I cannot emphasize strongly enough the importance for you, Dad, to not let depression sabotage your battle with this disease! Whatever else you choose to do, that must be objective number one in your treatment process.

I wish you the best in your battle.

Robert

i know i asked before but what DM brand do you use? tia

Although I have used different brands over the years, my current one is Children's Tiaminic Long Acting Cough.

As pressure by the FDA to eliminate OTC preparations of DM have waxed and waned, some brands have apparently been discontinued. The biggest problem with the drug is its misuse by some people for "robo-tripping", especially teens, attempting to get high by taking large doses. This requires taking hundreds of times more DM than I take with the low-dose approach in my putative neuro protection strategy.

DM-containing cough preparations for adults typically contain approximately 15 milligrams per teaspoon (5 milliliters) and the typical adult dose for cough control is 1 or 2 teaspoons (30-60 milligrams ) every 6-8 hours. I use the pediatric preparations which are half as concentrated, 7.5 milligrams per teaspoon, which makes measuring the nightly dose, approx. 1/2 teaspoon, or 3.5 to 4 milligrams, much easier.

Also, I avoid preparations that contain active ingredients other than dextromethorphan hydrobromide (HBr), such as guafinesin expectorant, antihistamines, or polystyril, which creates a delayed-release effect.

The use of monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOI')S, although probably not hazardous with DM at the low-dose level, may interfere with its possible neuroprotective effect.