Sinemet Dosage

[jcavana]

My mom has been on sinemet since 2017 - 4 pills a day 4 (4 hours apart). She definitely needs more but when we giver her an extra half pill with her full pill she has crazy side efffects - sweating, rambling and not making sense, and involuntary movements. Has this happened to you? If so what else did your neurologist try?

[jeffreyn]

If the pills are double scored, you could try an extra quarter pill, rather than an extra half pill.

[Juliegrace]

Have you tried moving the dose closer together, maybe 3 hours apart rather than increasing the size of the dose?

[LTT0019 in reply to Juliegrace]

Or 3 1/2 hours apart

[park_bear]

Why do you say she definitely needs more?

What is the duration of her "on" time versus her "off" time?

Involuntary movements, known as dyskinesias, are an indication of overdosage.

[Meg024]

Your poor mom. Rather give her mucuna pruriens Zandopa powder 7,5 grams to replace a sinemet. It isn't so nice to swallow but the benefits are wide ranging: shorter time to take effect, longer duration of ON period and less side effects (dyskinesia).

[EEG1]

Try 2 Amantadine (100 mg) with doses 1 and 3 of the Sinemet.

[Art_lover45]

God forbid I should interfere but...... a year or so ago I was accidentally overdosed with sinemet and I was truly spaced out. We got on top of it and I was offered the opportunity to sue the chemist involved but chose to go to another chemist instead and voila same thing again. I am now very careful with checking when I collect my prescription that they are the right dose. I too was diagnosed in 2018 and given the lowest dose sinemet plus 3 times a day - 25mg/100mg .carbidopa/levodopa - I am 77. Among the medical fraternity here I am a success story. Shortly after his death I was lucky enough to come across the website of a wonderful Italian neurologist who had made the connection between Parkinsons disease and Vit. B1. I am not telling you what to do just visit the website of Dr. Antonio Costantini and make up your own mind. I weigh 55 kgs and take 500mgs of B1 twice a day. I no longer have the screaming habdabs in the night (known as night terrors), I am no longer constipated, I don't have swallowing issues. I don't need a walking stick and I sleep well. I am firmly of the opinion that your mother is being overdosed unintentially. I take three doses of sinemet at 8 am 2 pm and 8 pm. Not on and empty stomach they make you nauseus. She must have a biscuit with a glass of water.

Come back if you need any more info. Good luck. Speak to her gp, get him on side.

[LAJ12345]

Try recording her symptoms every hour for a day noting the time of the doses. Sometimes the overdose symptoms and the running low symptoms are similar so it’s confusing.

We found at about 1 hour after taking it my husband had rigidity, increased anxiety, then at about 3 1/2 hours when it was running low he became shaky and couldn’t move. By decreasing the dose and adding another half at night with a total of 3 1/2 doses a day he has come right. He had been put on 5 slow release madopar up from 3 instant release ones and it was overdosing that was the problem. He takes a NOW dopa mucuna with each full dose as it has a peak at a slightly later time and that seems to make each dose last a bit longer .