Medical holiday

[grower]

I'm currently taking l/c 200/50 three times daily. According to others I now have my arm swing back and slightly improved gait but I feel no "off" times. I still have bradykenesia (I'm not tremor dominant). Currently thinking about stopping the meds for a few days to see how the "real" me is, are there any dangers in doing that cold turkey? I had to titrate up to this lever very carefully to avoid feeling sick so assume I'll have to do that again if I stop.

[jeffreyn]

Reading between the lines, you seem to be saying that you don't really notice any improvements from the l/c 200/50 tablet that you take three times a day (i.e. only other people have noticed any improvements). If this is correct, I would imagine that you will probably not notice any worsening if you stop.

As for possible dangers from stopping cold turkey, I'm not aware of any, but others may have more information. I've never been curious enough to try it myself.

Now that you are used to the l/c 200/50 tablet, I would think that you may not need to titrate up when you resume medication.

[JohnPepper]

Hi Grower. I assume you have the arm swing back temporarily? Or is it a permanent improvement? To the best of my knowledge the medication only lasts for a few hours.

My doctor took me off the levodopa medication cold turkey and put me onto selegiline. So I would assume that it was OK. It was not replaced with another levodopa medication,

Have you thought of trying fast walking? It is better than medication because it lasts a lot longer. I have been off medication since 2002 and have been doing the fast walking ever since 1994. I am now 84 and doing well. You might find that selegiline or azilect might also help with the fast walking as I am sure it did with me.

[grower in reply to JohnPepper]

Thanks John, I do use Selegeline and fast walk several times a week. I'll ask my wife if the arm swing stops later, I don't really notice.

[JohnPepper in reply to grower]

When you say "several times a week" do you mean sometimes every day? I would warn against that because our muscles need time to recover from high level exercise and if they cannot recover they eat themselves up.

If you are not walking as FAST AS YOU POSSIBLY CAN you will not be producing the GDNF, which is why you are doing the walking.

[jeffreyn in reply to JohnPepper]

BDNF too!

parkinsonsnewstoday.com/201...

[JohnPepper in reply to jeffreyn]

Thanks Jeffreyn. GDNF is more specific for Pd as it repairs the actual cells damaged by Pd in the specific area of the brain affected by Pd.

[grower in reply to JohnPepper]

Several times a week

[johntPM]

You can get a pretty good idea of the "real" you without changing your drug regimen. Levodopa/carbidopa has such a short half-life (about 90 minutes) that the "real" you is almost what you find at the end of each cycle, just before you take the next dose.

Regarding arm swing, does one side work?

John

[grower in reply to johntPM]

Yes, just left side didn't swing. Only 90 minutes? Thanks, clearly it doesn't help me that much then

[JohnPepper in reply to grower]

Hi grower. If you stand still and see how far you can swing your arms backwards and forwards, you will see that you have no problem with either of your arms. Why?

The answer is the key to finding out how to overcome all your Pd movement problems.

When we walk, we don't think about what our arms and legs are doing; they just move on their own. But Pd affects that 'unconscious' or 'subconscious' movement.

We are ALL ABLE TO USE OUR CONSCIOUS BRAIN TO CONTROL OUR MOVEMENTS! You just found that out when you consciously swung your arms properly!

So start practicing walking properly, by consciously thinking about each leg and arm movement. I did it by thinking of my leg movements for at least two months until I had it more or less right and then I concentrated on my posture for a month and finally on my arms. I have been walking in this way for over 20 years.

[karolmilk]

This is what I found regarding abruptly stopping:

Do not stop taking levodopa and carbidopa without talking to your doctor. If you suddenly stop taking levodopa and carbidopa, you could develop a serious syndrome that causes fever, rigid muscles, unusual body movements, and confusion. Your doctor will probably decrease your dose gradually.Jun 15, 2018

I have always reduced medications slowly so the body can adjust and no side effects occur.

[karolmilk]

Also, regarding other PD med's: mdedge.com/neurologyreviews...