hi all,

i have another question about levodopa, if anyone is interested in responding.

in my limited interaction with folks on sinemet, i have started to get the impression one symptom in particular might be especially alleviated by it, and that is rigidity.

or does it do a number on bradykinesia, too?

if you experienced both bradykinesia and rigidity before you started sinemet, which interfered with your ability to carry on with your life more?

hope you all don't mind all my questions.

thanks,
boann

boann...ask ALL the questions you are looking for answer to

I looked for a reference that contained all three words. So, far this is all I could find. It does answer the question. I don't agree with the tremor part though...my personal feeling since mine gets worse all the time.

Neurosurgical Medical Clinic, San Diego, CA

http://www.sd-neurosurgeon.com/diseases/pd.html

Excerpt:

The introduction of L-dopa in the 1960's brought a marked reduction in stereotactic surgery for PD. L-dopa alleviates bradykinesia, rigidity and tremor, allowing patients to improve in activities of daily living. Its combination with carbidopa (as Sinemet) reduces severe side effects and revolutionized the medical treatment of PD. Unfortunately, after many years use, higher doses of Sinemet are required. Many patients develop jerking and writhing movements (dyskinesias) and rapid, unpredictable fluctuations in symptoms (on-off phenomenon) as well as other side effects. The short amount of time Sinemet lasts after oral dosage, and interference with its absorption from the stomach by food protein further complicated its use.

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Thank you for the reassurance - because i have lots of questions!

thank you for the blurb on levodopa and for your experience, too - actually, somewhere along the line i read or heard that levodopa does nothing for tremor, and your experience supports that. i was hoping to hear from others, as well, but i'm not sure that is going to happen.

thanks,
boann

I have been quite distracted and have thought of answering many threads as I read but haven't, which seems to be a permanent characteristic now.

Anyway, Sinemet helps both bradykinesia and rigidity. I do not have a regular tremor, but do recall my neurologist saying way back at diagnosis that tremor is harder to control. Bradykinesia and rigidity are very linked together for me and dystonia is the worst of both. Sinemet is the only relief. The agonists used to work alone, so they are useful for some for awhile without sinemet. I took eldepryl and mirapex before taking sinemet.

Paula

one of the other postings relates to this--though definitive answers are not available, someone is looking at this question....

relationship between clinical improvement and in vivo synaptic dopamine (DA) release

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Neurology. 2006 Nov 14;67(9):1612-7. Related Articles, Links


Clinical correlates of levodopa-induced dopamine release in Parkinson disease: a PET study.

Pavese N, Evans AH, Tai YF, Hotton G, Brooks DJ, Lees AJ, Piccini P.

MRC Clinical Sciences Centre and Division of Neurosciences, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College, Hammersmith Hospital, Du Cane Road, London W12 ONN, UK.
CONCLUSION: In advanced Parkinson disease, the improvement of rigidity and bradykinesia and the presence of dyskinesias after a single dose of oral levodopa are governed by the level of dopamine generated at striatal D2 receptors. In contrast, relief of parkinsonian tremor and axial symptoms is not related to striatal synaptic dopamine levels and presumably occurs via extrastriatal mechanisms.

I didn't see MikeTTF response before I posted mine.....but we said the same thing I think. Hard to separate the two[bradykinesia and rigidity} in terms of how you feel.

Paula

I know this is an old post but I agree with Stitcher. It doesn't usually touch my tremors.

Hi,

For me it's difficult to separate Bradykinesia from rigidity. (I've always had some trouble determining just what is being referred to with "rigidity" anyway)

Bradykinesia IS Parkinson's for me - it's not just a symptom ... and yes, Sinemet is VERY effective in alleviating it.

As bad as the Dyskinesia / Dystonia from the Sinemet can be (and with me it's horrible) Bradykinesia is worse. I'm very near worthless and non-functional without my Sinemet.

Hope this helped ...

MikeTTF