I totally agree with you Gus. I have taken sinemet for 20 years. I also didn't start meds for 10 years, I just put up with symptoms but this was partly due to incorrect diagnosis in the early days. In hindsight it would have been helpful to have my sinemet a few years earlier, but certainly not at the onset of symptoms or while they were manageable.
Initially, I intended to delay my treatment till October after my daughter's wedding. However, I continue to walk slowly with a slight stoop sometimes and although my tremor is on the left side, my hand writing is getting worse. I'm right handed and when I do water colour painting, somehow I occasionally find it difficult to hold the brush steadily. Any tips?
I have taken my first dose of Sinemet this morning. Now the waiting game starts!
Thanks Gus and Sally for your reassurances.
tip just let the meds do there job your be ok! when i was at your stage for some reason i started to use my left hand a bit,taking the pressure of my right. i would wait half an hour for meds to kick in then start your painting sinemet normally last for about 4hr s
Will do anything Gus to improve my symptoms.
Hi Purdy
I hope this is not too obvious but I find that simply supporting my right (PD ) hand with my left which in turn is braced against something in some way is enough to enable me to e.g.manage the mouse, apply lipstick, sprinkle sugar. Its the a)holding up/steady of the arm and b) fine movement/ coordination at the same time which seem to be too much.so if you delegate a) to the good arm, in my case at least, the fine movement is still possible with the PD hand. There is what they call the teacup and saucer test where you cannot hold the teacup and saucer up and still at the same time. I have very little tremor at all but I do have to use two hands to hold a glass or mug..
also purdy if your going to do something demanding i take half a 62.5mg just to give me that extra boost
Hi Eileenpatricia
Are you normally right or left handed? My problem is, I'm right handed and although I have the tremor on my left hand and leg, my right hand seems to be occasionally affected eg unsteady applying make up on, holding paint brush in art classes and hand writing getting smaller. However, since starting on Sinemet last week my painting was slightly improved but not my writing. Btw, I can still hold a glass/mug with one hand and hope it continues for sometime.
I guess it's just a matter of giving the medication a bit more time to work.
Hi Gus
I'm on my 2nd week of Sinemet 62.5 x 3, having started on 62.5 x 2 the week before. Apart from slight improvement in holding a paint brush, I seem to experience more heavy/numb sensation on my left foot and ankle and hand tremor is also more pronounced than before starting the drug. I take the drugs at 08:00, 14:00 and 20:00 and 30 minutes before food, without nausea or vomiting so far. Next Saturday, I should be increasing it to Sinemet Plus 25/100 x 3. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I was told Sinemet is difficult to titrate.
I have my 1st meeting with the neurology nurse on the 12th instant. She seems to be more well informed on PD than my GP who admitted he's not an expert. Previous contacts were leaving messages on the phone and she returns the call within 2 working days if not busy. When I finally decided to start on medication, it took 2 weeks to get it sorted out!
Any information on stem cell treatment?
Hi all,
I was DX in June 2013 and started meds straight away no one can predict when and how your pd will progress including your neurons or pd specialist and yes it generally has a slow progression but for some pwp it can developed aggressively. Mine has, and my Parkinson care team has asked me to consider being their expert patient consultant so they feel my knowledge of pd is very good otherwise they would not have asked me. I have accepted.
I would suggest you live for the hear and now start at the lowest possible dose and take your time to build up slowly as and when you feel your meds are less effective than they once were. We are the ones who know how we feel we are the experts in regards to our bodies, even my pd nurse says that.
good luck and best wishes bb.
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mine was really aggressive its demanding tell you that & also hard to get your head round when so young all the best bb
thanx gus your a pal xx