Helping Those Who Care for Parkinson's Patients
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Hello - I'm new here , but, for those who have a loved one taking Parkinson's Meds... Has anyone had any bad experiences with the meds Permax, Mirapex & LevoCarb ? My almost 57 yr. old husband has had Early-Onset since he was 41... He was on Permax & it did absolutely nothing for his symptoms, it only changed his personality. He was on it for 1 yr., I told him if he didn't try something else , I was going to leave ! We went back to our GP , he sent us to a new Dr. The new Dr. put him on Mirapex & although it did work, it has been " Taken off the market in Canada" due to problems with heart valves in patients who took it for an extended period of time. Now he is on LevoCarb, it doesn't do anything for his tremors at all. His jaw tremor causes his jaw to move left to right. It's like a file as far as his teeth are concerned & all his front teeth are breaking & or falling out ! Does anyone know a dental professional who could help repair this ? Thanks to anyone who can assist ! Jims Wife |
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| To Jim's Wife from Jeanne's husband: Cant help with the dentistry but try the neuro with a suggested switch to RequipXL that was RX'd for me to replace bad side effects of Mirapex. Bandido1 AKA Bob C Welcome to our knowledge nest! |
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Another drug you might try is Comtan -- different mechanism from Requip/Mirapex/Permax, which are all dopamine agonists. Comtan inhibits a chemical that breaks down dopamine, so more dopamine can enter the brain. There's a combination of Comtan with Levo/carbidopa, it's called Stalevo. |
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Jims Wife: Re your comment: "The new Dr. put him on Mirapex & although it did work, it has been " Taken off the market in Canada" due to problems with heart valves in patients who took it for an extended period of time." Mirapex has not been taken off the market in Canada. My wife's prescription was just renewed recently. Unless, this just happened in the last few weeks and I haven't heard about it. If that is the case, I'm wrong ---- I've already been wrong this year. |
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| My DW (sorry, dear wife) has recently switched to RequipXL and loves it. She changed from Mirapex to Requip, but the Requip seemed to taper off. She recently ran out of RequipXL and had to take regular Requip. She was counting the days until the shipment for RequipXL arrived! |
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| Speaking of medication formulations, does anyone else notice a difference between the name brand drugs and the generics? My husband said he definitely noticed more problems with the generic vs the name brand the one time they tried to switch him. We had to fight to get the insurance to give him the name brand, as they traditionally cover the generics where possible. True effect, or just psychological? |
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Comtan only works if taken with Sinemet(carbodopa/levodopa). From Drugs.com website: Comtan's value lies in its ability to extend Sinemet's effectiveness when it begins to decline. It is helpful only when taken with the other drug, and has no benefit when used alone. Lorraine |
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| Yes, I've found that the generic brands of Sinemet (carba/L-dopa) act differently from each other and the brand name. the difference is slight but you can tell. It's deffinitley not psychological. Take care, best of luck and hang in there. |
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That's right ibellomy, Comtan is to be taken along with levo/carbidopa. I should have mentioned that. It was Permax that was taken off the market because of the heart valve problems. I was sorry about that because it worked pretty well for my father, and we never found another combination of meds that was as good. His neuro tried him on Amantadine as a substitute, but it caused really bad hallucinations. |
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| We could not take generics either, the generic sinemet did NOTHING for my husband (not that the name brand did much better, though, but he could tell.) It is scary if you read about generics and how very much they can differ from the name brand, in terms of filler, the timing of the med being released (this is huge for us), everything. Once I read up on generics, I doubt we will ever take one again. And so far, we are lucky in that we "only" take mirapex and sinemet plus a bunch of supplements. If you take a generic, you might want to get the pharmacist to explain to you exactly how it differs from the name brand, and I mean, down to what's actually in it, what the filler(s) is, how it is released and when, etc. Good luck. |
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HI susger 8 Thanks for clearing up the Pill name " issue" My Husband has been through 3 Neuro people & is now with a DR. who only sees Parkinson's Patients ! yippee! I agree with some of the comments about Requip, his wears off too ! We will have to ask the DR about the Requip XL, sounds like " good stuff  ) !!!!Jims Wife |