What do you know about the drugs we take.
Write down your answer; be honest; no copying.
Lets start with Sinemet and Madopar
Ok no response so me again:
Until yesterday I knew very little to be honest I knew the sinemet i have take is yellow and oval and has levodopa and carbidopa which helps the pill be absorbed. I knew it was made by Merck and I knew it was absorbed in the duodenum. My sinmet is called sinemet plus I believed there was a sinemet that was just levodopa
I know a bit about how to take it but keep that seperate for now
Madopar; I have never taken dont know colour shape etc. Know its levodopa with some benzy thing that works like carbadopa in sinemet. know its in a dispersible form for quick relief if wearing off. I know pwp who take it and are ok, I also know pwp who are not so good with dyskinesia etc.
I've just woke up
My honest opinion as the user of
I don't know nothing chemical wise about the two as i'm not a chemist < honesty.
But I have taken both.
Sinemet starting dose ok.
Sinemet generic brand cheap rubbish.
Madopar generic brand cheap rubbish wouldnt accept it.
Roche Madopar Wonderful.blue/grey pill, made and packed with loving care.
Thanks Sea Angler
Personal experience of pd drugs is very relevant to other pwps and medics who administer them.
Neuros depend on our feedback to make choices about our treatment and we can all gain from our reported experiences with drugs.
Hi
At the start of my treatment there was communication tween Gp & PD nurse on the course of drugs and dose, i am i suppose at around the optimum dose at present for Madopar on it's own for me, the generic didn't work out for me, i had read that there are difference in tolerances of effect tween brand and generic and that seemed too be the case with generic Sinemet for Myself, i was taking a higher dose but it was less effective than a lower dose in branded sinemet.
I haven't heard much in the way from the Neuro himself though, i am overdue a review with him, unless he's looked at it and is happy with what's occurred.
Nice fish.
Many thanks Sea Angler.
The point of this thread was to highlight my own personal lack of knowledge of pd drugs and to find out if I was in the majority or minority. I find I have some assumed knowledge of the drugs I take and very little of the ones I dont.
I was then intending to research each pd drug in turn and write up a guide to our drugs, hopefully in plain English, with a view to inviting comment from interested members.
I will continue with the latter as I feel I need an easy to read reference to all drugs with advice from other pwp as to their good and bad experiences and also to put me right if I make a mistake
I hope this will prove useful to all.
I tend to use drugs.com as a basis for my information on pd drugs but Im sure there are others just as good if not better.
I find drugs.com a good site to use but it is a u.s.a site and some drugs are not approved by the FDA.
It does have an easy to use interactions checker and also drug manufacturer leaflets and advice for the patient and professional.
I would suggest that any information that comes from this thread you use for discussion with your medical team ie neuro, pd nurse, gp etc. It is not the intention to replace existing professional advice rather to reiterate what the manufacturer states on their info leaflets and raise any concerns we may have.
The drug names are the UK versions
So here goes.
LEVODOPA BASED DRUGS
Sinemet: also known as Sinemet Plus, Sinemet CR and Half Sinemet and available in a range of doses
Manufacturer Merck, Sharp and Dohme (any other manufacturer is a generic brand)
Active ingredients: Levodopa/carbadopa
You may wish to discuss the following with your medical care provider:
Sinemet should be given in a low initial dose and slowly increased until the patient fells the benefit of the drug.
Prescribed a generic version instead of original.
Dykinesia
Before I go further I await comments
hi
im on sinemet plus
seem to get variety of makes ..depends on what pharmacy can get
makes are.. Merck, Sharp and Dohme. (yellow and round)and foriegn version that has msd on them and primecrowne ltd on them( yellow and oval)
thought would ask at next appt if it matters if diff makes . not sure if it makes difference to symptoms as seem to vary every day anyway
About to start down the Sinemet road ... will report back as initially 2 weeks ultra low dosage to prepare my body for what follows.
Merck 62.5 (50 + 12.5)
two weeks, then ramp up to 125s (100 + 25)
Day 1 today
One week in, and no reaction (or obvious benefit) of taking the ultra low dose 62.5 Sinemet.
"Proper" (which are 10/100 not 25/100 as I'd thought) dose due to start next Wednesday.