My husband Kevin was diagnosed in 2000 at 52. He had DBS in February of this year. To make a long story short - he is now on 1/2 the meds he took before DBS. His neuro recently eliminated Requip (HOORAY!!) and put him on the patch - so far it's been great! No ill effects - we rotate the patch site daily. It's just one less pill at every dose and does not have the awful side effects of Requip. Nearly all the parkies we know are being taken off Requip due to side effects. I realize Neupro is still a dopamine agonist but it seems less detrimental for some reason.

I was surprised when it was prescribed because I thought it was for the "newly diagnosed".

Gayle

I really like my Neupro patch. I don't have a problem with the site staying pink more than a couple hours after I take the patch off. Before I started the Neupro patch, my Stalevo would wear off around 10:00 or 11:00 in the morning and I would have trouble walking again. Now it is not wearing off at all except overnight. It is great to not have to take meds so often. I just put the patch on in the morning and then take Stalevo at meal times. Even though the Stalevo does wear off overnight, the stiffness at night is not as bad as before. I have the 4 mg patch.

Chicory

Hello! I finally found my way into the forum - now what about tomorrow?

Anyway, I was diagnosed with PD at age 36 or so and just turned 60 - wow! Will do background later as I started on the patch Sunday and would rather share my experiences with that now. Was shaky, very weak, and sleepy on Sunday. Finally broke down and took tiny ( 1/4) bit of Sinemet and felt a little better. Took tiny bit more later in day. So tired, could hardly hold up my head. Monday, much better, still tired, took Sinemet all day. Tuesday, felt great, took Sinemet all day, almost as much as before patch. Bought $130 worth of groceries and carried up from garage.
Wed. called doc as I decided to double my patch to see if a bigger dose would let me give up Sinemet. Doc said OK. Today, Thursday, I put on two patches and after one hour of feeling great, no symptoms, tremor is back. So I took 1//2 Siinemt. But because I thought 2 patches would work, I ate cottage cheese for breakfast which blocked the Sinemet and now I am stuck until that wears off! Guess I'll wait another day or so and try 3 or 4 patches ( my prescription was for one so I only have the 2 mg size)

Just to add, my neuro is not a PD specialist and encourages me to switch to one, but I like him! Did see a hot shot doc once and that is another story! Will keep you posted as we iron out this patch thing!

Hi, again. I am new and keep getting lost! Somewhere I recanted my first week on the patch but I'm not surse it got to you. I am 60 yrs old and have hadPD since age 38. I have been able to lead a normal life, raise a child, have a job and all until about a year ago when everything seems to have hit me. So on Sunday I tried my first patch. I thought I would be fine with the 2mg but other than feeling lousy and really sleepy on Sunday, I haven't noticed much change. On Monday, I felt better but by then I had needed to add Sinemet since the patch did little or nothing for the tremor. Other than that, I felt a little better. On Tuesday I went by myself to the grocery store and bought $130 worth of groceries and carried them up from the garage.
Wednesday I felt good but by then I had decided that one patch (2mg) wasn't going to be enough. I was surprised at this because my pattern of pill taking had developed into me taking little bites of Sinemet about and hour apart. I had finally fallen into a 1/2 of a Sinemet 25/100y every hour or a needed.
So I thought the patch would be perfect for me since what I was doing was attempting to keep a constant amount of medicine in my bloodstream.

On Wednesday I called the doc and he said I could put 2 patches on at once, giving me a 4mg patch. I wore that today ,Thursday ,and still have had to take Sinemet about every 2 hours. So I will go from here. One of you said that he felt a little better every day so I will look forward to that. I also hope I find my way around this forum and apologize if this lands in the wrong place!

Dear Smom,

Glad to have you here! I reckon that you have a lot to share with us after having PD for 20 odd years.

My experience is that the patch in general prolongs the effectiveness of sinemet but you will also have to strike a balance between the two medications, which sometimes is not an easy task. At one time, the patch alone, when fix at the right place, can work well to eliminate all the symptoms, but at other, it needs a boost from sinemet.

LING

Smom-
A 2 mg patch will not replace Sinemet. It is not as strong of a medication. The patch only works by itself for people in the early stages of Parkinsons. Also, it says on the directions with the patch that you won't see results on the first day. It could take up to a week. The patch should help your Sinemet to not wear off as fast, so you can take less Sinemet. I take Stalevo, which is similar to Sinemet. Now that I wear the patch, I take my Stalevo 3x a day instead of 4x. Also, you should increase your use of the patch graduallly. I used the 2 mg patch for a week before going to the 4 mg patch.

Chicory

Thanks for the encouragement Ling. I am seeing now that I have to look for that balance. I was so hoping that the patch would take over my need for Sinemet and I could eat again without the protein blocking the Sinemet.

Yes, I have had PD since about age 38. I am married and have one child, a boy, who kept us busy with everything imaginable. Luckily I was able to participate until about a year ago. I still do things but my timing is carefully controlled. My husband and I are very worried about our son as he might be exhibiting early signs of PD. My father passed away just a few days before Christmas of PD. And my mother is in a nursing home with neuropathy and also is diagnosed with PD although I'm not convinced she has PD.

I will continue to try to find my way around this site - - so please bare with me if I land in the wrong spot!

I forgot, our son is now 35 yrs old! He has his own business and is a metal designer, doing everythiing from handrails, (Hand forged), spiral staircases, anything, so it would be pretty hard to have PD and do that kind of work!

Just didn't want you to think I had a 10yr old! (I am 60)

I started the patch about two weeks ago; I found pretty quickly that I could not tolerate a patch larger than the 2 mg size. Itched like h***! Now am using multiple 2 mg patches, and they seem to work. Hard to tell though, too much else going on (see my full moan-and-groan story under the weekly update).

I know what you mean, K, it is confusing trying out all the combinations of patch, and meds. I just finished my first week and just as I think I might have figured something out, it throws me for a loop! Right now I am on the third day of using 2, 2mg. patches and taking Sinemet about 1/2 as often. One of the panel members reminded me that the patch was originally aimed at newly diagnosed and it wasn't until late in the studies that they approved the patch for older cases - I guess that would include 25 years!

But the patch does seem to smoothe things out, like not just slowing or stopping the tremor ( which it doesn't really do that much, need Sinemet) But once the tremor has stopped, the patch seems to make me feel a little better all over. I have gotten to the point where I have aches and pains throughout my body and the patch seems to help that. Also helps with my writing, and speaking and thinking. Since it doesn't do much for tremor, I migiht drop down to one patch and see if that will be enough. I'll keep going with two for awhile yet. Gotta go watch Tiger!