My husband has been taking Sinemet for 6 days now, 2 tablet 3 times a day, having only just been diagnosed. I suppose we were expecting his shaking left arm & hand to show an improvement but nothing has changed. Is this normal? We have yet to be told about how to contact Parkinson’s nurses in our local area so feel rather alone and not sure how to get appropriate information. Please can anyone help us? Thanks.
Hi mcenzie i too take sinemet 4 times a day with no improvement in my tremor but i also take propranolol which greatly improvement on my tremor, may be,enquire about propranolol from your consultant took me 3yrs to get improvement with meds everyone is different best of luck
Hi Mckenzie,
I understand the frustration you and your husband must be feeling but please don’t get disheartened. Six days isn’t that long and if your husband is newly diagnosed then his dopamine level has been low for a while and so it may take a little longer for the synthetic dopamine to level out his symptoms. I always use a month as a guideline for change to allow the body to adjust.
I think what I would say is Parkinsons is such an individual disease and as such it takes a while to find the right combinations and the right medications but believe me when I say there are a lot of avenues that can be explored.
My husband was diagnosed at 41 and he’s now 63 and he’s been on so many different combinations with tweaks still being made even now.
I accessed our PD Nurse via the local District Nurse team or you can call your neurologists secretary and ask them for you local contact or even you GP should be able to tell you who your PD nurse is for your area.
I too felt very alone in the beginning but know that you can come on here any time and ask all manner of questions and we will always help in any way we can.
You are definitely not alone
Very best wishes to you both
Beth
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Hi Calv 1960,
Thanks for replying! Can I ask how long were you on Sinemet for before you introduced Propanalol and did that take long before you noticed any improvement? I think I’m being too impatient and am desperate to help my husband with his tremors. Also he suffers with slow, slurred speech and wondered if propanalol might help with that symptom as well.
Thanks again for your support.
Dear Beth,
Thank you so much for your lovely post. It means a lot to me to know that there are kind people like you out there who have been through this and who are willing to help with advice. I am scared stiff about my husband’s future and just want to educate myself as much as possible in order to help him. Many thanks again x
Hi Mckenzie,
I get it, I was the same when my husband was diagnosed. Its been THE biggest learning curve ever and Im still learning!
The best advice I can give you is don’t be tempted to go all out on Google- I would use this forum for your information source because you are speaking with people who are going through it both from a carers point of view but also from people suffering with the illness.
My husband was early onset at 41 and to this day has never had a tremor - he has ridiculous dyskinesia now but that’s just the length of time he’s been on the sinemet.
We are always here and please remember to look after yourself too. As a carer myself I can tell you some days its a walk in the park whilst others will frustrate you to a point where you want to scream so make sure you have an outlet too, even if its just an hour with a friend for a cuppa and a chat.
Very best wishes
Beth x
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Hi mckenzie ive been on sinemet 2yrs ans propranolol 6 months i take 1x sinemet 4 times a day and 3 x propranolol 2 times a day to reduce tremor in my left hand but speak to your consultant to further discuss these medications best of luck