Amantadine

[Ep0522]

My question is “Can adding amantadine to my Rytary to help with dyskinesia actually cause dystonia? Thanks for your thoughts.

[pdpatient]

Dystonia can occur at peak doses as well as under doses and goes by the name of dystonic dyskinesia. It means you can have both at the same time if you have too much Levodopa in your system.

Amantadine by itself is sometimes used as a first line drug of choice of patients with mild and early days of Parkinson's although it is used mostly for treating dyskinesia. But it may still be providing additional benefits and actually cause you to process your Rytary more efficiently. You can try reducing your Rytary dose or taking a lower dose of Amantadine which you can do with the tablet, not the capsule.

[Ep0522 in reply to pdpatient]

Do you cut the amantadine in half?

[pdpatient in reply to Ep0522]

Yes

[park_bear in reply to Ep0522]

I agree that it is possible and it is especially suspicious if the dystonia started up after you added the amantadine. Reduce dosage carefully especially if you've been taking it for a long time.

drugs.com/medical-answers/y...

"Amantadine should NOT be stopped abruptly if you have been taking it for more than four weeks. "

[Springbreak in reply to park_bear]

Amantandine gave me insomnia. Could sleep at night. Had to stop.

[Springbreak in reply to Springbreak]

Could not sleep

[Ep0522 in reply to pdpatient]

I already tried reducing my Rytary, and it doesn’t work very well.

[Nuthatcher in reply to Ep0522]

Do you take any other PD meds? I take Amantadine, Rytary, and Pramipraxole. I cut out one of the pramopraxole at the same time of day as I was having trouble with dyskinesia and it worked. I get Botox injections to help with dystonia in my left foot.

[Ep0522 in reply to Nuthatcher]

I take Rytary as well.

[MomoP in reply to Nuthatcher]

Can I ask how bad it hurts to get botox shots in your foot? I’m thinking it might help me but my pain tolerance is a lot lower than it used to be and I’m nervous

[Nuthatcher in reply to MomoP]

It just burns a little bit. Not even what I would call pain. The doc made it sound like it was going to hurt a lot, but it didn’t I have it done every 3 months.

[Ep0522]

Park Bear: only been on Amantadine about one or two weeks. The dystonia started two days after I added the amantadine. It is in capsules. I was told to take one at breakfast and one at lunch. I thought tomorrow I would try just taking the breakfast one. Any thoughts?

[park_bear in reply to Ep0522]

Having taken it for such a short time hopefully you will be okay doing that.

[ryzlot]

I have been taking amantadine for a year or so and I strongly suspect it is related to dystonia. Still on it though prescribes 2 x rr day I limit it to 1x. Taking it later in the day than am it causes insomnia.

[Ep0522 in reply to ryzlot]

Yes, ryzlo, I am totally convinced it caused mine.Does taking it one time help with your dyskinesia. Wondering if there’s a lower dose.

[Stag10]

hello I’m really sorry to tell you but I’m not sure as I’m new to this forum myself and learning about my disease as time goes by the best person to ask would be Daphne kind regards Dean

[Ep0522 in reply to Stag10]

Hey stag10. I still have a lot of questions and I’ve had Parkinson’s for 25 years.

[Stag10 in reply to Ep0522]

God bless you brother 🙏🏽

[Springbreak]

Amantandine gave me insomnia. Had to stop

[manoa]

Not a reply but a question

The neuro wants my wife to start amantadine for dyskinesia. She is on Sinemet IR and is dosing 150mg every 2 hours. Every dose is usually followed by 30 minutes or more of shortness of breath and trouble breathing.. Then about an hour of dyskenesia folowed by maybe 30 minutes of calm or quiet that slowly builds to her mouth Bopping (tremor?). She then takes another dose and repeat. They are going with the diagnosis of anxiety causing the shortness of breath, however it has to be more than just anxiety as it is very consistent for timing and can happen no matter what she is doing. She could be in the middle of a very enjoyable endevor and right on Q the onset of the shortness of breath. Any insight would be helpful. The dyskenesia is usually more prominent in the mornings and the shortness of breath more severe in the late afternoon and evening.

[park_bear in reply to manoa]

There's discussion part way down this post of breathing difficulties due to overmedication with Rytary, a different formulation of levodopa, but still relevant: healthunlocked.com/cure-par...

What happens if she tries to reduce her dosage?

[manoa in reply to park_bear]

I am familiar with that article. Read that here and researched the phenomena. Unfortunately I can't get any of her doctors to acknowledge the possibility. The chain of events described in that paper is very similar to her experience. It would be nice if they had some way of testing the dopemine in your system.

[park_bear in reply to manoa]

As a Parkinson's patient or spouse you could present 100 PWP with dopamine measurements in hand and it would not make the slightest difference. On the other hand, if you have credentials and a superficially persuasive but bad idea, you can get doctors to send their patients to your phase 3 trial until it gets halted for harming patients. healthunlocked.com/cure-par...

Doctors usually get it right, but when they get it wrong and we know it we cannot be a slave to their bad ideas.

What happens when she tries reducing her levodopa dosage?

[manoa in reply to park_bear]

I will try that. What is the best way to reduce the dose. A small amount each dose or?

[park_bear in reply to manoa]

Gradually in small increments. Either reduce the dose a little bit or lengthen the time between doses a little bit. Keep a diary of what you did and what the results have been. If the result is helpful, keep the new regimen the same for a couple of days before moving on to the next increment.