Can you.take to much Carbidopa l-dppa

[nicp1234]

And what is the most can take

[park_bear]

It varies person to person but IIRC someone here was up to ~1800 mg/day. At 600 mg/day Sinemet I had some nausea

[rhyspeace12 in reply to park_bear]

My husband hallucinates when he takes too much. That means when he takes more than 8 tabs a day of Carbidopa/levodopa 25-100 for more than a day or two. His wears off too soon now. He has been on it for about 7 years.

[FMundo in reply to rhyspeace12]

One wonders if one were to take a "more steady supply of carbodopa-levadopa (rather than upping the dosage by taking the same pill more frequently.... that that strategy might be more effective in avoiding the problem of "taking to much" of the drug on a daily basis. In my case I moved from carbo/levo 25-100 3 times a day to four times a day. When faced with increasing off time I considered moving to 5 times but instead moved to Rytary (extended release carbo-levo) and solved the off time increase problem and overall feel much less like I'm on a medication roller coaster.

[SailawayD in reply to FMundo]

I’m curious about your dosage of Rytary. I was diagnosed with PD last fall. I take two 23.75- 95 mg capsules of Rytary 4 times a day and it has worked wonders. Don’t know if this is too much.

[FMundo in reply to SailawayD]

My initial dosage (from time of diagnosis) was C/L 25-100 mg 3 times per day. At third year I increased it to 4 times per day. As I approach 5 yrs I was facing increased tremors and more off-time limping so I was considering 5 per day, or adding Azilect. Instead I chose Rytary which I was told was an equivalent dose to C/L is 48.75 mg/ 195 mg which I take a 6 a.m. 11 a.m. 4 p.m. and 9 p.m. I'll let you extrapolate. Tremors are gone 95% of the time, foot dragging significantly improved, depression gone, tiredness gone. Autonomic functions 100%. Diminished voice volume continuing. I get a neurological exam every 4 weeks (I'm in a clinical trial for Nilotinib) and I'm beginning to see an improvement (my judgement) in terms of diminishment of PD symptoms.

[SufferingSocks in reply to FMundo]

Could you please tell me how long you've been taking medication for PD? My hubby had to go from 65mg. levodopa to 125 mg. in a fortnight as he'd actually had PD symptoms for a lot of years but was only diagnosed recently. Is Rytary a different PD drug - I haven't heard of it before. My hubby is past doing any exercise but I want him to have good symptom relief. Suffering Socks

[FMundo in reply to SufferingSocks]

Basically I took 100 mg 3 times a day = 300 mg. Then 4 times a day = 400 mg for the past year and a half. Now I take Rytary (as mentioned) which is simply an "extended release" form of levodopa. What that means is that the drug is in a form that disolves and is absorbed in your digestive system more slowly and evenly. So, in my case, the rollercoaster of being ON and OFF (when symptoms become more acute) was reduced / eliminated. I know people who are taking 20-30 100 mg of levodopa pills a day. . . and I just didn't want to go that direction. I also considered taking Azilect as an "addition" to the levodopa but decided against that.

The fact is, as Parkinsons advances, your system needs more dopamine replacement. Levodopa doesn't "stop working", your system becomes more flooded with toxic alpha synuclein and more dopamine producing neurons are dead. That combines with the fact that your ability to smoothly absorb the drug is disturbed as your autonomic system becomes less responsive.

Rytary is a new "delivery mechanism" for levodopa. Its considerably more expensive. It was not in the formulary for my insurance company so I had to make a special request, which they were cooperative in supporting. Many of the "new developments" in drug therapy the past two years involve innovations in "delivery" of levodopa in new ways, bypassing the standard pill delivery . . . inhalants and the pump which delivers the drug directly to small intestine (bypassing the issue of delayed gastric emptying of the stomach which occurs in more advanced Parkinsons.

[SufferingSocks in reply to FMundo]

Thank you very much for that information and sorry I'm a bit late replying. I do appreciate your advice. Suffering Socks

[SailawayD in reply to SufferingSocks]

Rytary is relatively new, that is probably why you haven’t heard of it. I have been taking it for approximately 6 months having been diagnosed about 9 months ago. It is a combination of Carbadopa / Lev. It is a time released capsule. I take 2 24 - 95 4 times a day. I’m curious to find out if this has bee approved outside the US.

[JohnPepper]

One of the worst (in my opinion) side effects of taking too much levodopa is DYSKINESIA, which is unwanted uncontrollable movements. Why would you want that? Levodopa does absolutely NOTHING to slow down the progression of Pd. So WHY TAKE IT?

[grower in reply to JohnPepper]

I think generally the idea is that levadopa deals with some or all of the symptoms that are most debilitating for PD people. Rather like while aspirin may not help with what is causing the headache it relieves it enough for you to figure how to act on what does. Surely if L/d allows someone to walk easier you'd be happy with that?

[JohnPepper in reply to grower]

When you say, "Deals with", what do you mean? Temporary alleviation of symptoms is a cop out. We should all try to reduce the severity of the symptoms, not hide them for a while.

[grower in reply to JohnPepper]

How about working on both

[Wesley13 in reply to JohnPepper]

What is the option I have to confess I have just upped my dose of sinemet because of wearing off I have now started with mild dyskinesia I am fit as I cycle 140 miles per week

[Erniediaz1018 in reply to Wesley13]

The option is B1. I'm not taking B1 regularly yet but have experimented with it and have had positive results. I also take some herbs that deal with the symptoms.

[JohnPepper in reply to Wesley13]

As sinemet does ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to slow down the progression of Pd, taking more of it only increases the side effects. Why try to hide symptoms, even temporarily? Why not deal with the problem? Start doing meaningful exercise. Have a look at my PROFILE and my website, reverseparkinsons.net and contact me. I will try to help you at NO COST.

[Wesley13 in reply to JohnPepper]

Name something that does meaningful exercises I cycle 140 miles a week and I have two Irish setters I walk daily that's meaningful exercise

[JohnPepper in reply to Wesley13]

Hi Wesley. Cycling is good, if it is done at your maximum effort and is sustained. I would prefer to give all the extensive information directly to you because it is too much to put into this forum. Look at my website for my email address, reverseparkinsons.net.

[Bridielena in reply to JohnPepper]

Because I want a life NOW.....Dyskenesia is overcome with Symmetrel.

[SufferingSocks in reply to Bridielena]

I agree with you Bridielena - not everybody is able to do exercise and we need to have some help for our symptoms NOW! Suffering Socks

[ConnieD in reply to Bridielena]

Is Symmetrel different from Amantadine ?

[Ariaoliphil in reply to JohnPepper]

I agree with you, John. I was prescribed the usual 125mg of Madopar 3 or 4 times a day regardless of my modest weight. I suffered badly of nausea, dizziness and fainting for almost 3 years. I was recently developing the uncomfortable dyskinesias. After much reading and experimenting I have now reduced my intake of Madopar by over 50%. I also take one tablet of Mucuna Pruriens 3 times a day. I have increased my exercise régime. It might not suit every PD sufferer but I feel so much better now than 5 years ago when I was diagnosed with PD and started to poison myself with the orthodox treatment.

Annie

[Despe in reply to Ariaoliphil]

Annie, may I ask the brand name of your Mucuna Pruriens and its strength? Thank you.

[JohnPepper in reply to Ariaoliphil]

Well done Annie! Keep it up.

[Donzim]

absolutely.

[Gobbsofjoy]

Here’s my two cents: There is no known upper limit of levodopa. Each case depends on the individual side effects. In my case at 1200 mg per day equivalent levodopa I started having “acting out” dreams where I would thrash about with my arms and legs. For some hallucinations take place. I received a DBS in March and have lowered my levodopa to 800mg per day and the acting out dreams are gone. I’m still in the programming stage with my DBS and I think for me it has been a plus.