when to take meds?

[6780]

when is carbidopa/levadopa supposed to be taken 3x a day.

also the no food 1 hr before pill and 2 hrs no food after pill. is this the only way?

what works best?

[Joynb]

The good thing matters for some people, not others.

Some people spread the pills to cover waking hours. Others have symptoms overnight and need a pill before bed.

[6780]

thanks, how about no food near pill intake?

i might could use 4th pill but dystonia side effect scares me. i appreciate it. c

[Enidah in reply to 6780]

Did you perhaps mean dyskinesia, not dystonia, which sinemet actually is quite helpful to eliminate. I think most of us have to find out what works for us as far as when we take it and how much each time. Also this applies to the relationship with food and sinemet. When I was first diagnosed it didn't matter whether I ate or not in relation to my meds. As time goes on it matters more.

[october61 in reply to Enidah]

I agree with you about food. I can’t eat anything without it affecting me and the medication, I am afraid to eat but, a guy has to eat sometimes

[Enidah]

I think the common wisdom on food and the pills is to take meds half an hour before eating or 2 hours after eating.

[october61 in reply to Enidah]

Thank you for sharing.

[lempa_nik]

Enidah is right: you reversed the food-pill time frame. After two hours, the stomach empties of a typical digested meal, so if you drop in a pill at that time, the food and pill won't interfere with each other. On the other hand, a pill, because it's miniscule, will be digested and emptied out by the tummy in half an hour, and at that point, food can go in.

[MylovedhasPd in reply to lempa_nik]

Your words carry a great message so simply - I wish the MD had said this to us. It was years before a PD nurse mentioned something about the lower intestine - very confusing!

[lempa_nik in reply to MylovedhasPd]

My pleasure. If I can understand how something works, then I can remember it much better.

[october61 in reply to MylovedhasPd]

PD Nurses are the best!

[MylovedhasPd in reply to october61]

So good to hear, October61!

[Jmorri567]

Bearing in mind that I feed for 15 hours continuous feed via PEG , I have to take 3 x 180 Madopar and 8mg Ropinex what does anyone suggest

[Communicator]

I have a breathing problem 15 -30 minutes after I take my first dose of Rytary (C/L). Doc id eat 15 minutes after I take the pills, Seems to help. I also take it 15 minutes ater lunchand dinner, with mixed results.

[GymBag]

Its advise that you should try, but like everything in PD , it does not suit everyone. No one size fits all here, period. Personally after 17 years of diagnosed PD, I find that I need to have something in my stomach before I take any medication. I take a blue LD/CD right before bed and can get to sleep and do not wake for 4 hrs and I can move around enough during sleep to maintain good enough blood circulation that I can get out of bed. I was advised that milk and milk fats (cheese etc) are a type of protein that does not compete with the adsorption medication in the upper bowels and does not interfere with the meds. getting through the brain membrane. Now the positive effect on cholesterol and many other health benefits such as calcium are being recognized resulting in strong recommendations to replace margarine with butter. I also find that consuming large quantities of coke-cola, coffee, and donuts and apple cider to be helpful and like I said its advise, that will not suit everyone.

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