Does Sinemet/ Stavelo/ Neupro lead to muscle contraction/ cramp
 

Recently, I found that the muscle of my legs tend to contract or bend inward making my gait very odd. As this only happens after my second or third dosages of medication, i wonder if it is one of the side effects of my current prescription.

Best

Ling

Hi Ling,

You maybe taking too much and this is causing some dystonia. Talk to your neurologist about adjusting your dosage.

Good luck,

John

Thanks
 

Thanks John, I am just wondering whether the situation is caused by overdosing or underdosing as I have tried on different dosages. Will discuss with my neurologist.

Best

LING

Yes LING,,,
 

There is a very fine balance between dyskynesis and akinesis. When i told my neuro about parkie pain, that was one of my symptoms, a constant pulling on the achilles tendon, that only went away for a few hours during the day, i guess when i had the med balance just right. Just fiddle with your meds. That's about the only advice that this ol' boy can come up with. Maybe somebody else will come up with something a little more scientific.cs

agree
 

cs, Thanks for your input. I find it a very difficult balance to strike for the right dosage. The worst is that the disease is progressive but it is not on a predictable pace. We are dealing with an evil of certain "uncertainty".

Hope will get a dynamic balance!

Thanks

Ling

Ling,

Try taking your medication at the same time every day. I have found by sticking to a strict schedule, I'm in pretty good shape most of the time There are those days of course that are better than others, but overall the consistent timing has proven to be very crucial in maintaining a good balance of "on" vs. 'off".

Take care,

John

Dear John,

Thanks for your advice and I have been trying my best to stick to regular schedule but I must admit the intake was upset by my work schedule. Sometimes, either the drug or my body failed me - I refer to the slow kick in of sinemet. To be candor, I usually do not take any medication during the weekend...:p

All the best

LING

I understand how work can upset your schedule, but why not take your medication on the weekend? This maybe causing your problems because you're going off the continuous, steady supply of L-dopa in your system. I stick to my schedule as close as possible even on weekends, and I find that this is extremely successful for me.

John

time critical
 

being even 15 minutes late with my meds used throw me for a loop. Being timely with your meds is critical for most.

Now that i have a DBS, I forget to take them.


Charlie

I'm like that now, Charlie. If I'm just a few minutes late, I start to stiffen up terribly in the arms and legs then it spreads acrossed my chest so it becomes difficult to breath.

John

I know my problem
 

but I was always temped not to take medication during the weekend as I usually able to walk normally, even in crowded mall, as compared to the awful gait after taking 2nd to 3rd dosage of stavelo. In fact, that's the reason I started the thread.

LING

You should still take your medication on the weekends regardless of feeling okay. Remember it's that constant supply of dopamine that keeps the gears turning so you can move properly. The dose you take on Friday is really filling the coffers for Saturday. What you take on Saturday helps top of the tank for Sunday, etc. By stopping your mediation, you're creating gaps, and causing your body to go off cycle.

If as you say that you feel some dystonia when you're on the medication, you should talk to your doctor about adjusting your prescription and your schedule.

John

understand
 

John, Thanks for your advice and will discuss in details with my neurologist in my next visit.

LING

I find the first doses in the morning seem to be the most important--probably because the mornings are the most difficult part of the day for me. I do one at 7:30 and the next at 10:30. I let the timing of the later doses depend on how that day has been, but I usually take my third dose around 4:00 PM. Then I take my last dose at 9:00 PM to keep me from stiffening up too much during the night. I also have tremors and myoclonus during my sleep that the last dose helps.

I try to pay attention to what my body is telling me. I have several leading indicators that tell me it's time to increase the dopamine in my system. For a while I was skipping the afternoon dose if I felt OK, but my doctor told me that was a bad idea--too much time between doses, he said--and that I should take it anyway. So now I do.

I started bupropion in early November. It's a dopamine reuptake inhibitor. This seemed to help even out the ups and downs caused by dosage intervals.

I stick to the same schedule every day, be it work day or weekend. (Well, maybe I do get a bit off schedule on weekends, but I try to be consistent.) I agree with the others that you should take your meds on schedule every day.

buzzz
 

I just applied my first "Neupro" patch, 2/mg. After reading all the comments on here and being diagnosed for 9 years [ now on Zonegran......anybody heard of that?.. and senimet .. I am down to ...2 -25/100.. seniments a day and I bite them in half!
So ...better living thru chemistry I guess.. I am a Neurological pincusion!
Back to you all. Buzzz.:winky:

zonegran
 

Buzzz, never heard of zonegran...could you tell me more about this. And you are really well off with such low dosage of sinemet after 9 years of diagnosis.

Best

LING