Correction..rytary half life...

[beehive23]

the half life of rytary is 2 hrs but with the er component it takes 8-9 hrs to leave your system..so if you dose with rytary more often then every 8-9 hrs in a 24 hour period....you will be od'ing. Hang tough..

[beehive23]

I take mine at 5a 1p and 9p this allows for the rytary i take to be gone from my system before i take another dose irregardless of mg/dose, dosing before the last dose has left your system will result in stacking or kindling which leads to od. i know its kind of counterintuitive but if you vary from the 3x every 24 hrs dosing schedule you risk either off times increasing (taking it more than 8 -9 hrs apart) or od'ing by taking it more often than 8-9 hrs apart..this gives rytary what is called a narrow therapeutic range based not on how many mg you take but the frequency in which you take it. this is up to you to figure out...do not rely on your dr. they dont have time to memorize this stuff for every new med on the market...a neuro-pharmocologist will know this but most of us do not have access to such specialized care. i hope this is clear... hang tough

[slimweiss in reply to beehive23]

Ok. But right around 3 hours in he's feeling off and has to hold on until that 4th hour. Do we just gut it out? I'm afraid he'll be a mess. I would love it if he only took it 3 times. How do you manage to get through the night? His neurologist said to take 1/2 of a Sinimet in the middle of the night to be able to get back to sleep.

[beehive23 in reply to slimweiss]

i space my doses so far at every 8rs so 5a 1p 9p so every 8 hrs 24 hrs a day...ive seen the dosing the manufacturer sets and sometimes they do allow for every 6hrs but for a starting dose at every 3hrs.

[johntPM]

You write "the half life of rytary is 2 hrs but with the er component it takes 8-9 hrs to leave your system..so if you dose with rytary more often then every 8-9 hrs in a 24 hour period....you will be od'ing".

Each Rytary capsule contains four types of beads: an immediate release bead; two slow release types of beads; tartaric acid, a functional excipient.

I think you are conflating the frequency of taking Rytary with ODing. Certainly, everything else being equal, taking a drug more frequently will increase the daily dose, which may or may not, be ODing. Certainly, taking a dose when some of the previous dose is still in the system will lead to higher concentrations, but normally steady state will be reached.

Even though it doesn't support Rytary, you may find my app useful:

parkinsonsmeasurement.org/t...

You enter drug times and doses. And the app draws a graph of levodopa equivalent dose concentrations during the day.

By playing around with the components you can construct a regimen with many of the same properties as Rytary.

[beehive23 in reply to johntPM]

all good points but i try to simplify my response concerning pharmacokinetics...so that the most people reading it get the most information in a way that makes sense instead of citing the pk's from the physicians desk reference (drug bible for dr in usa or pdr for short) as this is lots of "lawyer flowery language"hhahahahh...thanks for your reply! hang tough.

[beehive23 in reply to johntPM]

i use the manufacturers guidelines and their dosing tool. i get the manufacturer from the pdr.

[beehive23 in reply to johntPM]

my information is born out by my by my personal experience with my dosing reaction which i track on paper but i start with pk's only and pdr then my experience with aa particular med. hang tough!

[beehive23 in reply to johntPM]

according to tthe pdr and the manufacturer my dr started me on too much there is no disputing that.

[beehive23 in reply to johntPM]

for example why state the tartaric acid which is the preservative in this med...its irrelevant...or the excipient which is flowery talk for inert substance. cheers!

[beehive23]

the excipient in this case is the enteric coating that as i said is inert in regard to the pks.

[kaypeeoh]

I don't have 'off' periods that cause things like stiffness or dizziness. But I get double vision 5-6 hours after a dose of rytary.

[beehive23 in reply to kaypeeoh]

thank you! ive been having that as well....hang tough!

[hmm777]

This is incorrect in several ways, and it will confuse people.

1. I take Rytary (it's called Sinemet CR here) every 5 hours, as prescribed by my MDS, who happens to be the director of a major Parkinson's research center and has over 200 patients with PD. Other PwPs that I know take Rytary on a similar schedule. Nobody is "overdosing" from this schedule or having any negative experience at all. Is it possible to take too much, too frequently? Of course; but you are making a blanket statement about dosage frequency (no more than once every 8-9 hours) that is simply incorrect.

2. Controlled-release carbidopa/levodopa is not a "new med on the market" that competent MDS's or even regular neurologists are unfamiliar with. Even my GP is very familiar with it since he has a lot of older patients and therefore a fair number with PD. Sure, there are new drugs out there, and everyone should look into any drug they are prescribed by a doctor, especially new ones, but you are making an alarmist statement about a tried-and-true, workhorse drug that has been around for ages.

3. Why on earth would you tell people with a serious disease "do not rely on your doctor"? I can't think of a more irresponsible thing to say. Of course you should not rely exclusively on your doctor, but of all the available authorities your doctor should be among those you rely on most when it comes to treating your disease -- unless you don't trust him or her, in which case you should get a new doctor.

I try really hard not to be critical on this forum, but for Pete's sake, this one got my goat.

[beehive23 in reply to hmm777]

i think your correct you should not not rely exclusively on your dr. and you are right i did make a blanket statement thank yu for pointing that out! i will take more care in the future,....i apologize for that.

[LeharLover62]

Hubby always had trouble with Rytary stacking. He’s always needed lower doses anyway so he would ‘front load’. Taking 3 tablets first thing in the morning, then 1 to 2 tablets in the late afternoon if he needed it. Rytary is definitely tricky to get right but it’s nice to have that longer on period.

I also think if he was constipated, it moved even more slowly though his system and could cause even more problems.

He’s super sensitive to dopamine and most meds at this point and can’t handle even one tablet.

[beehive23 in reply to LeharLover62]

good to know thank you.