Grapefruit Juice Day 55 - Currently at 8oz (237ml) Per Day

[TheLordsWeapon]

Hello all,

Latest Update after 55 days of GJ Testing:

(Sinemet)

Currently - 175mg four times a day (every four hours), down from 250mg. Getting 3hrs "ON" time 1hr "OFF" time. I tried to get the dose down to 150mg four times daily but at that amount, I'm only getting about 2.0 hours "ON" time and roughly 1.5 hours "OFF" time, it's just to fkin annoying waiting for the next dose, I will be stopping c/l reduction at 175mg four times daily.

(Requip)

Currently - weened off over last 14 days, went from a 2mg extended-release tab once a day to 1mg non-extended release tab for 7 days, then stopped all requip four days ago. Just wondering how much of my "ON" time was lost by stopping requip completely. I may start up requip again to see if I can get that "ON" time back up.

----------------------------------------------

Anyway, I informed my doc with the above info and he plainly said "Reduce med intake until you feel too uncomfortable from PD symptoms and/or it starts to interfere too much with your normal daily activities.

I'll report back if I make any changes to meds or dosage, for now, I'm staying where I am with dosing.

God Speed!

[johntPM]

To get a feel for the part played by Requip (ropinirole), you can use the concept of levodopa equivalent dose. Roughly speaking 1mg of ropinirole is worth 20mg of C/L immediate release.

Why are you so keen to reduce the dose size, and not to improve your quality of life?

[TheLordsWeapon in reply to johntPM]

Hello John,

Thanks for your reply, in a nutshell, the doctor told me that dyskinesia is an uncontrolled, involuntary movement that can occur with high dose long-term levodopa use, and at 250mg four times a day that was considered a high dose, especially after being diagnosed only three years ago.

And I'm trying to better my quality of life by reducing levodopa to calm down the dyskinesia symptoms. It's becoming scary to drive when my feet jerk and spasm sporadically while driving.

John, can you post any documentation supporting your "1mg of ropinirole = 20mg of C/L" statement? I'm very interested.

God Speed!

[ruff1 in reply to TheLordsWeapon]

Perhaps I’m wrong but I don’t think Ropinerole contains levadopa it just works in the brain to activate the receptors that produce dopamine.

[johntPM in reply to ruff1]

You're right ropinirole does not contain levodopa, but in some sense it has a similar effect to levodopa.

Regarding references to the literature about levodopa equivalent doses see my app

parkinsonsmeasurement.org/t...

At the end of this you will find the references.

This app will allow you to see how your levodopa equivalent level varies during the day. My understanding of levodopa induced dyskinesia is that it is caused by the variations of levodopa equivalent levels rather than the dose per se.

[nychengm]

Hi, how are you doing and hoping all is well!

Just wondering if GfJ's working for you and using it still to reduce C/L reduction?

In addition, please kindly indicate the quantity and when to take it please!

May I thank you in advance as a carer & my wife (diagnosed with PD 3 yrs. ago) will be grateful as well!

God Bless!