Short of Breath, discussion

[Hikoi]

healthunlocked.com/cure-par....

This is the link to a discussion on HU some years ago. In my experience it is never talked about but effects many PwP. I came across questions in a couple of threads which I cant find now so i am posting here.

[park_bear]

Discussion of breathing difficulties arising from Rytary here: healthunlocked.com/cure-par...

[Hikoi in reply to park_bear]

Az Park Bear you wrote

“Dystonia – muscle tightness – is a common symptom of Parkinson's. It can also be a symptom of levodopa overmedication. The only study I could find of this phenomenon was done in 1999 and received very little notice from the medical community:”

I beg to differ on your interpretation of this Korean study. I could not find anywhere where it was called over medication. Rather it was described as a side effect of long term medication in about 1/3 of PD patients . I think over medication is different from side effects.

Interestingly it was related to pre treatment symptoms “ Initial parkinsonian symptoms were thought to be the most important contributing factor of LID.”

Levadopa induced dystonia mostly occurred as a wearing off symptom ie it was a sign that more levadopa was needed or due.

I have found it an ongoing challenge to find the sweet spot, the amount that is not onverdose nor under dose as I think it varies from day to day. I think this illustrates how difficult it is to work out dosages. (This study is now 1/4 century old. I will try and find something more recent on this topic.)

[park_bear in reply to Hikoi]

Some of the patients experienced peak dose levodopa induced dystonia. Since they did not experience dystonia at off peak levels, it is accurate to describe those patients as having dystonia due to excess medication.

[Hikoi in reply to park_bear]

But only excess at peak dose otherwise they would have continuous dystonia wouldnt they? As levadopa has a half life of 1 1/2 hours I believe so getting a dose that is effective but doesnt result in dystonia can be a challenge.

[park_bear in reply to Hikoi]

I do not understand your first sentence.

As someone who is personally affected by levodopa induced peak dose dystonia ("LIPDD"), I agree with the rest. In my case I time my medication so that I'm well below LIPDD levels when I exercise.

[lempa_nik]

Hi, Hikoi,

I always assumed that shortness of breath is a very well-known symptom of our collective neuromuscular disease. This is at least closely related to why the PD voice often tends to become softer and harder to hear as time goes on. And that is the reason for voice therapy programs such as LSVT LOUD Vocal Therapy. You maybe interested in a simple plastic device which is called "the Breather," where you can practice inhaling and exhaling against a resistance, and which is alleged to increase your breathing capacity. I bought one at the suggestion of my speech therapist, but have not used it enough to testify to its effectiveness. It can be bought online at , e.g. , Amazon, but is not cheap--as I recall, it cost me about $50. Lastly, you can find many videos on Youtube on the topic of shortness of breath and PD, such as the ones here:

youtube/results?search_quer...