Can Other Drugs Affect My Parkinson’s Medication
Some prescription or over-the counter drugs can react badly with Parkinsons medication. Here we look at what to avoid and what to check with a health professional.
If you have Parkinsons then its likely youll have symptoms that dont just affect movement. These are known as non-motor symptoms, and include things like anxiety, pain and constipation.
Treatments for these symptoms are normally the same types of drugs than anyone might use or be prescribed. For example, you may be prescribed a drug called Movicol for constipation.
But some medication can interfere with how Parkinsons drugs work. This means that a particular drug can become weaker or stronger.
Below we list some examples of what we mean.
Parkinson’s Pain Can Be Linked To Depression
If exercise and/or adjusting your medications do not help with the pain, ask yourself and your healthcare provider if you might be depressed. Pain in Parkinson’s disease is linked to depression, and treating the depression may help to diminish any persistent pains. Depression affects about 40% of people with Parkinson’s. In some cases, psychotherapy may alleviate pain from Parkinson’s.
If you don’t have depression or if the pains persist after treating your symptoms of depression, then you may want to consider seeing a pain specialist before taking over-the-counter remedies. Pain control specialists have a whole array of pain control treatments and techniques, ranging from special medications to special surgical procedures, that are known to be effective.
What Are The Symptoms
The four main symptoms of Parkinson’s are:
- Tremor, which means shaking or trembling. Tremor may affect your hands, arms, or legs.
- Problems with balance or walking.
Tremor may be the first symptom you notice. It’s one of the most common signs of the disease, although not everyone has it.
More importantly, not everyone with a tremor has Parkinson’s disease.
Tremor often starts in just one arm or leg or on only one side of the body. It may be worse when you are awake but not moving the affected arm or leg. It may get better when you move the limb or you are asleep.
In time, Parkinson’s affects muscles all through your body, so it can lead to problems like trouble swallowing or constipation.
In the later stages of the disease, a person with Parkinson’s may have a fixed or blank expression, trouble speaking, and other problems. Some people also lose mental skills .
People usually start to have symptoms between the ages of 50 and 60. But sometimes symptoms start earlier.
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Taking Medicine With Food
Early in the disease, it might be helpful to take pills with food to help with nausea, which may be caused by some of the medicines for Parkinson’s disease.
Later in the disease, taking the medicines at least 1 hour before meals may help them work best.
Some medicines for Parkinson’s disease don’t work as well if you take them at the same time you eat food with protein in it, such as meat or cheese. The protein can block the medicine and keep it from working as well as it should.
How Should I Use This Medication
The recommended adult dose of amantadine varies according to the condition being treated.
For treatment of Parkinson’s disease, the recommended adult dose is 100 mg once daily to start. After 1 to 2 weeks, your doctor may recommend increasing the dose to 100 mg twice daily. The maximum daily dose is 400 mg in divided doses.
To treat symptoms similar to Parkinson’s disease that are caused by medications, the recommended dose is the same as the dose used to treat Parkinson’s disease. When used for this purpose, the maximum daily dose is 300 mg daily in divided doses.
For treatment and prevention of influenza A infections, the recommended dose for adults and children 10 years of age and older, weighing more than 40 kg, is 200 mg daily .
For children weighing less than 40 kg or those who are under 10 years old, the dosage is based on body weight. The recommended dose of amantadine is 5 mg per kilogram of body weight. The maximum dose for children 10 years and over is 200 mg daily. Children under 10 years of age should not be given more than 140 mg daily.
The appropriate dose is taken 2 or 3 times a day, as determined by your doctor.
Many things can affect the dose of medication that a person needs, such as body weight, other medical conditions, and other medications. If your doctor has recommended a dose different from the ones listed here, do not change the way that you are taking the medication without consulting your doctor.
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How Is It Treated
At this time, there is no cure for Parkinson’s disease. But there are several types of medicines that can control the symptoms and make the disease easier to live with.
You may not even need treatment if your symptoms are mild. Your doctor may wait to prescribe medicines until your symptoms start to get in the way of your daily life. Your doctor will adjust your medicines as your symptoms get worse. You may need to take several medicines to get the best results.
Levodopa is the best drug for controlling symptoms of Parkinson’s. But it can cause problems if you use it for a long time or at a high dose. So doctors sometimes use other medicines to treat people in the early stages of the disease.
The decision to start taking medicine, and which medicine to take, will be different for each person. Your doctor will be able to help you make these choices.
In some cases, a treatment called deep brain stimulation may also be used. For this treatment, a surgeon places wires in your brain. The wires carry tiny electrical signals to the parts of the brain that control movement. These little signals can help those parts of the brain work better.
There are many things you can do at home that can help you stay as independent and healthy as possible. Eat healthy foods. Get the rest you need. Make wise use of your energy. Get some exercise every day. Physical therapy and occupational therapy can also help.
How Is This Drug Best Taken
Use this drug as ordered by your doctor. Read all information given to you. Follow all instructions closely.
All products:
- Take with or without food. Take with food if it causes an upset stomach.
- Drink lots of noncaffeine liquids unless told to drink less liquid by your doctor.
Liquid:
- Measure liquid doses carefully. Use the measuring device that comes with this drug. If there is none, ask the pharmacist for a device to measure this drug.
Extended-release tablets:
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In Case Of Accidents Or If You Need To Go To Hospital
- Keep a record of all the medications you take both for Parkinsons and other conditions. Carry it with you in your purse or wallet in case of emergency. Make sure you take this record with you if you go into hospital. If your medication is complicated you could make a chart to track what you take each day.
- Wear a medical alert bracelet or necklace if you want a medical team to know immediately what medications you take in case of an emergency.
- If you stay in hospital make sure staff are aware of the medications you take and the importance of having them on time every time.
Parkinson’s Europe’s Parkinson’s Passport enables you to complete an information booklet about your medications and treatment and then carry it when you are out and about or travelling abroad.
How Should This Medicine Be Used
The combination of levodopa and carbidopa comes as a regular tablet, an orally disintegrating tablet, an extended-release tablet, and an extended-release capsule to take by mouth. The combination of levodopa and carbidopa also comes as a suspension to be given into your stomach through a PEG-J tube or sometimes through a naso-jejunal tube using a special infusion pump. The regular and orally disintegrating tablets are usually taken three or four times a day. The extended-release tablet is usually taken two to four times a day. The extended-release capsule is usually taken three to five times a day. The suspension is usually given as a morning dose and then as a continuous dose , with extra doses given no more than once every 2 hours as needed to control your symptoms. Take levodopa and carbidopa at around the same times every day. Follow the directions on your prescription label carefully, and ask your doctor or pharmacist to explain any part you do not understand. Take levodopa and carbidopa exactly as directed. Do not take more or less of it or take it more often than prescribed by your doctor.
Swallow the extended-release tablets whole do not chew or crush them.
To take the orally disintegrating tablet, remove the tablet from the bottle using dry hands and immediately place it in your mouth. The tablet will quickly dissolve and can be swallowed with saliva. No water is needed to swallow disintegrating tablets.
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Cough Medicine Fights Dyskinesias In Parkinson’s
- Date:
- Oregon Health & Science University
- Summary:
- A cough suppressant and a drug tested against schizophrenia curb dyskinesias, the involuntary movements that are disabling side effects of taking the Parkinson’s disease medication levodopa, scientists found. Dextromethorphan, used in such cold and flu medications as Robitussin and Sucrets, suppresses dyskinesias in rats. BMY-14802, a drug tested in people with schizophrenia, also suppresses dyskinesias in rats, and does so more effectively than dextromethorphan, suggesting BMY-14802 might block dyskinesias in people with Parkinson’s.
A cough suppressant and a drug tested as a schizophrenia therapy curb the involuntary movements that are disabling side effects of taking the Parkinson’s disease medication levodopa, Portland scientists have found.
Dextromethorphan, used in such cold and flu medications as Robitussin, Sucrets, Triaminic and Vicks, suppresses dyskinesias in rats, researchers at Oregon Health & Science University and the Portland Veterans Affairs Medical Center found. Dyskinesias are the spastic or repetitive motions that result from taking levodopa, or L-dopa, over long periods.
The study, titled “Differential effects of NMDA antagonists and sigma ligands on L-dopa-induced behavior in the hemiparkinson rat,” is being presented during a poster session today at Neuroscience 2007, the 37th annual Society for Neuroscience conference in San Diego.
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If You Forget To Take Your Medication
It is important to discuss with your doctor what you should do if you forget to take your medication. If this happens you may notice a worsening of your symptoms as the effects of the medicine wear off. Symptoms may either re-emerge or worsen before the next dose is due. Wearing off tends to happen more as Parkinsons progresses. It varies from person to person and there is no standard time frame for when it may occur, or what symptoms you might experience.
For further information see Wearing off.
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How Should I Take Rasagiline
Follow all directions on your prescription label and read all medication guides or instruction sheets. Your doctor may occasionally change your dose. Use the medicine exactly as directed.
If you take rasagiline alone, your dose may be different than if you take rasagiline with other Parkinson’s medications. Follow your doctor’s dosing instructions very carefully.
Rasagiline may be only part of a complete program of treatment that also includes a special diet. Follow the diet plan created for you by your doctor or nutrition counselor.
Get familiar with the list of foods you should avoid to help prevent certain side effects of rasagiline.
Store at room temperature away from moisture and heat.
Do not stop using rasagiline suddenly, or you could have unpleasant withdrawal symptoms. Ask your doctor how to safely stop using rasagiline.
I Had Deep Brain Stimulators Placed Two Years Ago I Now Need To Have Knee Replacement Surgery Will The Doctors Know How To Take Care Of Me
Many medical professionals and hospitals still may not be familiar with this treatment. There are a few things you and your doctors should be aware of. First, if you have had DBS surgery, you can only get a MRI of the brain, and it must be done with something called a head-receive coil. You cannot get a MRI of any other part of the body, because the DBS device can become heated and damage the brain tissue during MRI. Radiologists performing a brain MRI can learn of certain precautions from the FDA. Additionally, your stimulator’s voltage should be turned down to 0 before the MRI. Only a programmer experienced with MRI should supervise the procedure.
An electrocardiogram may be important if you happen to have cardiac problems before, during or after surgery. But the stimulators may interfere with the EKG. Bring your portable Medtronic Access Device or Access Review Device to turn off your stimulator in the hospital. Know how to turn your stimulators on and off before going to the hospital, or having any type of surgery. Similarly, if you need a brain wave test – an electroencephalogram – or will simply be monitored during an inpatient or outpatient procedure, know how to turn that device off.
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Importance Of Taking Medications On Time
CircleCare
Chronic diseases cause an immense burden on the patient, with the requirement of taking pills daily. Taking medications on time is central to the success of therapy, and family or social support can play a vital role in decreasing the stress related to treatment thus improving compliance and outcomes.
It is by no way a new problem physicians had known the issue of compliance, that is a failure to stick to the treatment, providing wrong information to physicians and consequently having poor health outcomes for at least 2000 years.
Keep a watchon the faults of the patients, which often make them lie about the taking of things prescribed. For though not taking disagreeable drinks, purgative or other, they sometimes die.-Hippocrates, Decorum
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Mood And Mental Problems
- Deal with depression. If you are feeling sad or depressed, ask a friend or family member for help. If these feelings don’t go away, or if they get worse, talk to your doctor. He or she may be able to suggest someone for you to talk to. Or your doctor may give you medicine that will help.
- Deal with dementia. Dementia is common late in Parkinson’s disease. Symptoms may include confusion and memory loss. If you notice that you are confused a lot or have trouble thinking clearly, talk to your doctor. There are medicines that can help dementia in people with Parkinson’s disease.
Common Cold And Parkinson’s
In a way, yes. You get a little headache and a tickle in your nose and all hell breaks out. It’s as if there is a new kid on the block and all the other kids are being jostled out of their happy routine. Your symptoms rebel and fight to regain your attention. Your muscle and joint pains start earlier and by two thirty in the morning, you just have to get up and move your body. It feels like you are carrying a watermelon around in your gut. Your calves spasm and the dreaded curly toes seem to be mocking you, there is nothing you can do to stop them from playing their macabre tune at the end of your feet. Day one and you feel defeated. But wait, now youre sneezing and coughing – it is just a cold that’s causing this chaos. You can overcome.
Years ago, when I was working on a brand of cold medication, we conducted some very insightful research into the psychology of the cold. In the first stage of a cold there is relief, we deserve a rest a little pampering goes a long way. So Parkie peeps, rest a while. After a day or two, the study told us, the cold starts to be a nuisance. People can’t do the things they want to do, they feel helpless, hopeless, frustrated and out of control. Now they start to look for ways to feel better. The search can be almost frantic.
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