Hello all. I have been tuning in to everyone's experiences since I joined in March 2018. At that time my husband was diagnosed with PD and as I am the more able one with computers I have been reading listening to your experiences and researching your valuable advice. We have had quite the roller coaster ride trying to separate chronic arthritis symptoms from PD rigidity symptoms along with the accompanying list of classic PD symptoms like insomnia, constipation and so on.
Finally after much trial and error with diet, drugs and B1, my husband seems to be in a better place. He is on 2x 100/50 Madopar tabs 3 times a day, a lowish dose of Palexia for his lower back pain and is currently taking 200mg of B1 hcl.
We seem to have most PD symptoms under control except for insomnia which has been a problem for him for decades. We started 500mg B1 at the end of July 2018 which was too high. With Dr C's advice we halved it. Then, we tried going up with worsening symptoms particularly tremor. Now after much coordinating of drugs and vitamins as of the last 6 weeks, my husband takes 200mg B1 per day with noticeable positive results. These include stronger voice, little to no throat clearing, more animated facial expressions, more energy, able to turn over in bed more easily, more social, more stamina - can mow the front and back and edge all in one go, and the list goes on. He will stay on this dose now to see what happens over the coming months.
I decided to add our experience as my husband's dose is a lot lower than the 4g initially suggested. My husband is 73 diagnosed 9 months ago but has had PD symptoms for the past 4 years at least. We live in Brisbane, Australia.