Hi Gordo,
Madopar is not a dopamine agonist,it’s similar to sinamet they are both levadopa drugs used to replace the dopamine that is not being produced by your brain.You can get all the information in the drug treatments for parkinsons book or downloads from the internet .Hope this helps Anne
Thank you, appreciate your response, it’s all a bit new to me I’m afraid, so many differing opinions and I must admit that I am probably denying myself treatment by overthinking the potential side effects
Hi. My hubby was your age when diagnosed. His right hand is the “wonky” one. Didn’t want meds for 3 years then started on ROPINEROLE. In our experience a nightmare. Some people are fine on this tho. But…please please please…if you have any feelings of a compulsive nature…do speak to someone about it. My hubby experienced hyper sexuality & didn’t tell anyone. Nearly wrecked our marriage. Wouldn’t want anyone to go through what we have this last 6 weeks. Please be aware.
Hi Simonsse
Glad you are still enjoying the job! Keeps your mind off your diagnosis. I am assuming you are on Ropinerole XL slow release version but are you on one from a plain white box or a recognised manufacturer such as Glaxo Smith Kline? The coating on the more expensive one is better and releases more slowly than the cheaper one. I take my 8mg in the morning and can keep going all day but it was a very different story when the pharmacist decided to try and save money by switching to the plain box version. Worth experimenting and fighting for the ne that suits you best. Good luck, Fizzy
Fizzy, found someone else that knows the difference between the genuine Ropinerole and the cheaper brands, I too cannot tolerate the cheaper brands at all. I was started on Ropinerole XL slow-release 8 years ago and still on it now alongside Sinimet, I think it stinks that we are used as guinea pigs with the cheaper brands
sheffy
These are the stories that are holding me back but I feel as if I need some help, increasingly suffering stiffness, pain and lately, severe lethargy which is beginning to affect my ability to do my job
Hi Gordo,
When you read the side effects, there’s no doubt that it is scary. But as a physio said to me, why are you struggling when there is something that will help you to live your life NOW. Meds won’t help everything but they may ease your day to day living. Take it slow and make tge choices you need to. The stress of deciding is probably making your symptoms worse.
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Hi Gordo, have you consulted with your Parkinsons nurse to tell how you feel, and she should contact your Neurologist to sort things out and get you on track. I’m not saying I am totally pain free or rid completely of my tremors. I struggle most days with one thing or another but manage to cope. We are all different in the way Parkinsons treats us individually, no two people are alike, so pester your PD nurse until you get something done or phone the helpline and speak to one of their PD nurses
Stay focused - sheffy
I subscribe to live now valuing each breath that we’re given!
Hi @gordo,
I hope all is well.
I see you’ve received a lot of helpful advice from some of our members who have actual experience with using Ropinirole, which I’m sure is very useful to you. In addition to Sheffy’s advice to speak to your Parkinson’s nurse which I definitely agree with, you may also find the ‘Dopamine agonist’ section on our website useful as there are details on the risks as well as the benefits of taking these drugs. You can find more info here - https://www.parkinsons.org.uk/information-and-support/dopamine-agonists.
If you’d like to speak to a Parkinson’s nurse sooner rather than later, we can arrange this via our helpline service with one of highly trained advisers. If you give us a call on 0808 800 0303, we can arrange for a Parkinson’s nurse to call you back within 24 hours.
I hope you find this info helpful and please let me know if there’s anything else that I can help you with.
Many thanks,
Reah
Many thanks for all of the great advice and feedback that I have received on here, all greatly appreciated. I have had a good chat with my Parkinson nurse and have decided to get underway with ropinirole, she is building me up to 3mg over the next month. Just decided that I needed to try something as I have gone from regularly walking three miles to struggling to stand up for five minutes. I will report back in due course
That’s good Gordo,I hope you do well on them,I have been on them for eight years now. I have been very lucky on this medication but make sure that you have the XL slow release tablets and that you are monitored.
Good luck, also try and get the genuine Ropinirole by GlaxoSmithKline Beecham Companies