Sinemet. Must we?

[Beckey]

Do we all have to take sinemet? Is Rytary an alternative? Has anyone moved off sinemet and onto Rytary? In my last appointment, my neuro prescribed amantidine along with sinemet. As my sinemet wears off, I'd been getting a painful dystonia in my right foot. It is so bad I can't drive or walk. So far I see no effects, good or bad, from the amantidine. But sinemet -- ugh!

[BUZZ1397]

You must be having a serious pain from your right foot situation. Not like you to post a question when you now the answer. Frustration venting right? Who has the better right that you do Beckey with so many diagnoses. Know that I am holding out hope your foot feels better soon and you can post here that it is better.

[Beckey in reply to BUZZ1397]

And I will! Thanks, "Buzz."

[Bailey_Texas]

Sorry to tell you but Rytary is the same thing as sinemet. Same drug different container. But Rytary does work better for some people. For me i loved Rytary it worked great i was in heaven for severa months. So try it it may work for you. Sinemet worls for me. Good luck.

[Beckey in reply to Bailey_Texas]

Bailey, having taken both of them, you're an authority on the subject!

[lempa_nik]

Beckey,

I cannot comment on those PD drugs-- I only took a low doses of Sinemet plus Azilect for one year before escaping. From the research I have seen, the

*really smart move* is to replace Sinemet as much as possible, cautiously and gradually, with Mucuna. It will likely be desirable to supplement the Mucuna with a natural replacement for carbidopa or benserazide, such as EGCG plus vitaminC plus (if you're not a vegetarian) salmon oil (please see the relevant post of Silvestrov on replacing Carbidopa.) This may save you a lot of unnecessary misery down the road.

[cshamb in reply to lempa_nik]

Where do I find Silvestrov post on replacing with mucuna

[lempa_nik in reply to cshamb]

Silvestrov on using EGCG to replace Carbidopa (scroll down to 7th post from the top):

healthunlocked.com/parkinso...

Silvestrov follows up with a caution about EGCG:

healthunlocked.com/parkinso....

[Beckey in reply to lempa_nik]

Thank you.

Much appreciated!

[Beckey in reply to lempa_nik]

btw what is EGCG?

[BUZZ1397 in reply to Beckey]

Green tea extract. Get the decaffeinated one, for example Teavigo.

[lempa_nik in reply to Beckey]

Buzz is right. F.Y.I., EGCG is an abbreviation for Epigallocatechin Gallate. On my NOW brand bottle, EGCG is described as a "free radical scavenger." You know how wicked them commies is -- gotta mop 'em up!

[missybee in reply to lempa_nik]

My husband is on sinemet which has worked for him but has increased dosage lately ...also takes azilect and ropinerole...he is getting more frequent down times lately...does MP help as a concurrent help for down times...I will be asking neuro doc but I think he will probably discourage MP...I am think MP in between doses of sinemet.

[lempa_nik in reply to missybee]

Neuros are very unlikely to recommend MP because they are only trained in the standard PD drugs. I cannot advise you on that approach since I gave up Sinemet completely when switching over to MP. I recommend you do a search for Mucuna on this site via search box at upper right and read the testimony of folks such as Fava-1 (a.k.a. Aunt Bean), Healthseeker, and Harleybob08 to strengthen your mucuna (or fava bean) know-how. Here is a recent post from Fava-1:

healthunlocked.com/parkinso....

[HeartSong in reply to missybee]

Missybee, I think it's important how we phrase our questions about alternative measures to our neuros. When I asked my neuro about taking MP, I said, "I know you can't prescribe it for me, but do you have any objections to my experimenting with it?" He said, "No, I have no objections to you experimenting with it." (This is just a guess, but I'm thinking that our doctors may have to be careful about suggesting that we try alternative measures because of pressure the AMA may be putting on them to emphasize the drugs.)

[Serenity_finaly-1]

YES , unless you happen to know that you have Parkinson's before you will always be treated with sinemet.

[attyj]

Beckey

Take a look at this seminar posted earliler:

healthunlocked.com/parkinso...

[park_bear]

The default version of Sinemet is immediate release. If that is what you are taking, get the CR - controlled release - version instead. It gives a nice even release of C/L instead of boom and bust.

[missybee in reply to park_bear]

CR or ER...much better than immediate release.

[p-p-]

All I personally know is there is a new drug coming on to the market. Sorry, but I don't have the information yet. So far for me Rytary has worked wonders for me. But who knows ? One drug can work wonders for some people and do the opposite for others. There are just some days I feel like throwing every drug I have been on in 4 years to the wind. Also, I have encountered another idea. I believe our diet has a whole lot to do with our condition.You probably have already encountered the " Gut Theory " and the " GENE Theory". So, what I am doing is going VEGAN. A lot of our foods have pesticides, ant-biotics etc. in them. So, what is there to loose ? Besides, I joined PETA to help stop animal abuse. At present,that is what I am doing. So, for your sake, do your own homework and research. You will probably answer your own question ! Well, take a positive attitude and get on with it. Take care, and good luck! Sincerely, Pam