Namenda

[joyce543]

Has anyone used this medicine for PD. My mom who is 76 just started this today to help with her shuffling and balance. The docter said it is the last one she will be able to try. No other ones have worked.

[Hidden]

Memantine (Namenda)

Consult a doctor if you have a medical concern.

Treats dementia (memory loss and mental changes) that is a sign of Alzheimer's disease.

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

When it comes to Radiation I would be extremely careful. Please be under a doctor's supervision.

[grower]

RoyProp is right, Namenda is only prescribed for Alzheimers.

[JohnPepper]

Hi Joyce

I am not popular for saying this, because many people place a lot of trust in their medication and in their doctors. I have said many times, and in many places that doctors are trained to prescribe medication for Pd and that there is no cure for Pd and we can only live in hope one day that a cure will be found.

What they don't say is that "NO MEDICATION DOES ANYTHING TO SLOW DOWN OF STOP THE PROGRESSION OF PD".

That being the case it is not surprising that you have not had any good results from your medication. The medications are all designed to mask some of the symptoms of Pd, but which ones specifically I do not know.

There is only one thing that HAS BEEN PROVEN TO SLOW DOWN OR EVEN REVERSE SOME OF THE SYMPTOMS OF PD! That is FAST WALKING!

You may be someone who battles to walk, because you shuffle or are scared of falling. I have been able to show hundreds of patients how they are able to walk by concentrating on moving their legs and arms and not trying to will their legs to walk. There is a big difference between the two.

My email address is [e-mail]. Write to me and maybe I can really help you. I don't charge a cent for the advice I give fellow sufferers. I have had Pd symptoms since 1963 and was only diagnosed in 1992. Since 2002 I have not needed to take any Pd medication and I now live a normal life. I am NOT CURED! I am just able to overcome most of the movement problems.

Let me help you!

John Pepper

[Nehd in reply to JohnPepper]

john, what is your daily routine? My husband is doing well with the Zandopa, Ashwaganda, Bacopa and suppliments but sleep is still an issue and I agree walking could be the missing piece. He is taking PT which is also helping. We used to fast walk for years so this is a good thing to being again, no matter how slow you start off....just stay with it....so any pointers would be appreciated.

[JohnPepper in reply to Nehd]

Hi Joyce. My routine is very simple. As far as walking is concerned. I walk on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings, at around sunrise and am doing 6 kilometres at the moment each walk, I am busy building back up to 8 kilometres a walk. I injured my right hamstring over 8 months ago by doing too much. I am getting back there by increasing the distance by 1 kilometre every 2nd week.

I do lots of brain exercises including computer programming and serious Sudoku puzzles. I keep very active every day from roughly 5 am to 5 pm. I only watch world news once a day and cook the breakfast in the mornings.

I also am a Board Member in our retirement village and that keeps me pretty busy as well. I write a lot of emails and write responses to various blogs.

I listen to classical music all day on the radio and enjoy it very much.

I hope this answers your question.

Kind regards

John

[Donzim in reply to Nehd]

My husband uses time release melatonin to sleep. 3 3mg caps each night. Yes. 3 of them. Less than they and it would take a 2x4 between the eyes to get him down. We used this with our brain damaged young grandson who was on multiple meds for seizures that interfered w sleep. We discovered that a lot of children get this if they are on these neuro drugs.

[roger2912 in reply to JohnPepper]

jHON WHAT IS POWER WALKING I AM 78 YEARS AND HAVING PARKINSON FOR 20 YEARS I ALSO HAVE CAMPTOCORMIA THIS IS MY MAIN PROBLEM CAN YOU SUGGEST OR HELP ME IN ANY WAY

THAN

ROGER 12

[JohnPepper in reply to roger2912]

Hi Roger. Power walking simply is walking as fast as you are capable of. Whether it is 1 mile per hour or 5 does not make any difference, because if you are really going as fast as you can your pulse rate is going to go up and your brain thinks you are in danger and it produces a substance called GDNF and that repairs our damaged brain cells. If you walk every 2nd day, starting at only 10 minutes a time for the 1st 2 weeks you can increase the time by another 5 minutes every 2nd week until you reach 1 hour. Even the thought of being able to walk fast for one hour will do your confidence a lot of good, regardless of how much good it is doing for your body in general.

Give it a try and tell us all how you are doing in 3 months time.

Good luck

John

[Coblrman]

Has med worked before? If not, did she ever have an MRI to rule out other possibilities besides PD? NPH (Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus) comes to mind and is curable.

[alexandria12]

X

I take Namenda. I don't know if it. Works. I feel About the same. Been on it a couple of years

[sassygsp]

My husband was diagnosed with Parkinson's about six years ago. From the very beginning he has had executive function issues--problems with sequential problem solving. The neurologist prescribed the standard Sinemet/Carbidopa/Levodopa regimen three times daily and also put him on the Exelon patch. He does NOT have a tremor, but he has the Parkinson's walk/shuffle. He also has (to ME) an award-winning apathetic attitude about treating his illness. Last year I told the neurologist that I felt my husband needed perhaps something more? He prescribed Namenda. At first I thought I saw an improvement, but it was not really enough to register. John began having dizzy spells and fell several times, and he thought the Namenda was causing it, so neurologist took him OFF Namenda. He did seem to back-peddle cognitively for a brief time, but then it evened out. Now they've put him back on the new Namenda xr, which supposedly has fewer side effects. So far he is tolerating it but I cannot tell that it helps him in any way. In fact, I can't tell that ANY of his medication helps him in any way. He will forget the Sinemet anywhere from 3-10 times a week--we can't tell any difference. I ordered the Theracycle a few weeks ago and we are currently getting john strong enough to do the regimen he will need to do to actually receive any benefit. My husband is a retired English Lit professor, played tennis 3-4 days a week until 2 years ago (he said he couldn't move his feet any longer and whoever played with him lost in their doubles matches,) and is still a voracious reader. His biggest trial is that he has trouble doing the writing/editing he wants to do on the computer. His short term and long term memory are both better than mine. I am 58--he is 75.

My research tells me that while Namenda IS primarily an Alzheimer's drug, it is also prescribed to Parkinson's patients. I just wish I could tell that it did something for him. I guess I feel that if you can't TELL a medicine is helping you, maybe you don't really NEED it.