Hi, my poor Mum is really suffering with the Madapar tablets she is taking and the doctors and nurses are not being very helpful. Does anyone suffer these symptoms with these tablets:
loss of movement in the legs, unable to stand and suffering from pins and needles/cramp
Loss of appetite, everything tastes horrible, even a sip of water makes her feel sick
Extremely low blood pressure, to the point she feels faint most of the time.
I really don’t know what to do to help, in the last 4 weeks, we’ve had emergency doctor out, phoned an ambulance with an overnight stay and a long wait for the doctor yesterday.
I had the same apart from the pins and needles. My doctor said she wasn’t an expert on PD and I should contact the neurologist. Four weeks of trying to do that and loads of googling later I discovered domperidone and managed to persuade my doctor to prescribe it. It really helped the sickness, although I still don’t have much appetite and I’ve lost 5 kilos. There’s always a silver lining! I also reduced my blood pressure medication - kept an eye on it with my blood pressure monitor - and that has helped the dizziness. I’ve been taking it for two months now and the tremor is a bit better, but my gait hasn’t improved much. The other problem is I wake up about 4.30 am and can’t get back to sleep. I sometimes wonder if the medication is worse than the disease. I see the neurologist again at the end of February. Give your mum a big hug!
I’m really sorry to hear that your mum is having a hard time with her Madopar tablets, the side effects that she’s experiencing sound awful. Unfortunately, side effects from taking Levodopa drugs is quite common among people with Parkinson’s which is why we cover this extensively on our website which you can find here - https://www.parkinsons.org.uk/information-and-support/levodopa
It’s a huge shame that you haven’t had much help from your mum’s GP or PD nurse; I’m sure this has made things worse for your mum, however, we have a confidential helpline with a team of excellent advisers that can offer you and your mum the right support. They have extensive knowledge on all Parkinson’s related medication and can arrange for a Parkinson’s nurse to give your mum a call within 24 hours to discuss her situation in more detail.
Please give us a call on 0808 800 0303 from Monday-Friday: 9am-7pm, Saturday: 10am-2pm, or you can email [email protected].
I hope you find this info helpful and i’m sure you’ll receive more useful advise from the forum community soon.
