I’m thinking of asking my neuro to switch me to rytary from generic C/L. Looking for input on those who have switched.
Rytary info?: I’m thinking of asking my... - Cure Parkinson's
Rytary info?
I have been on Rytary for about 7 years now. It took a while to find the right dosage. However, once that was taken care of, I’ve been able to go about 4 1/2 hours between doses. I highly recommend it.
I do not use but my sense is that it’s expensive
Dramatically reduced my OFF times. Wish I had done it sooner. Kinda irritated that I had to see a new MDS to make the switch. But I am lucky that I have good health insurance. $25/month is nothing for better functional time.
I have found a good combination of taking rytary along with the traditional C/L medication. I take rytary twice a day, morning and afternoon, and then fill in if I need more l-dopa with a half or a quarter pill of the C/L medication. As others have mentioned it seems to take the Rytary a while to kick in, but then it lasts for a few hours. Best wishes
The only downside to rytary that I know of is the expense. You might also consider the extended release version of C/L. For the difference between this and IR see here:
I started about three months ago. I find that Rytary moderately lengthens my "on" periods. It also smooths out my reaction to dopamine therapy generally; that is, my truly bad periods are less frequent, but so are my truly good periods. It's a tradeoff that I easily accept, particularly when coupled with moderately longer on periods..
Switched 10 years ago from Rytary to traditional C/L dopa, few years later switched to C/L-Dopa Extended Release25/100. I take it bid to tid . Same dose over past 6 years. I take it with Entacapone which decreases breakdown of dopamine. No problem with the switch.
I use the money to buy supplements concentrating mainly on the mitochondria damage/repair, believe it is one of the major problems with Parkinsons
I switched. If your insurance pays for it, it might be worth a try. I do feel like I’m constantly rearranging and switching and not finding the proper dose. It does fail me at times, but I do like it because there’s none of the nausea that I had with CL (both kinds). I don’t have to eat anything with it. I can take one straight out of bed really. I also take regular CL when needed between or if I need to exercise hard. For me, I don’t think it lasts way much longer than CL. But that may be me because levodopa doesn’t seem to go well all the time for me anyway. But I do like it very much like I said for the convenience of not getting nauseated. I think I had just one day when I first started it when I felt sick. Good luck. If you try it, I hope it works well for you.
My husband never took any form of C/L other than Rytary. Each dose would last for 4-5 hours. He is not tremor dominant, so for him the extended release would build up in his system sometimes and cause him a bit of overdose…so he had to take it early in the day and stop in the evening to avoid stacking. He’s very sensitive now to dopamine so now he takes Macuna.
Rytary is expensive. The Assistance Fund (TAF) assists with the cost. If you are approved, they will pay for Rytary until your insurances deductible is met. TAFCARES.ORG. 855-421-4608. The Amneal Patient Assistance Program is another avenue. Amneal is the company that makes Rytary. 1-877-764-9021.