Hi everyone! Anyone ever take Carbidopa/Levodopa for RLS
How did this work for you
I don't see this drug being mentioned in any posts.....so I am curious to know if any have been on this med??
TIA!
Carbidopa/Levo.....
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- Posts: 2
- Joined: Wed Jul 14, 2004 3:35 pm
- Location: Ransomville, New York
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Carbidopa/Levo.....
~Cammi~
Re: Levodopa/Carbidopa Experiences
Hi there
Levodopa/Carbidopa ... better known as Sinemet by most RLS'ers.
If you have read a bit about RLS and its treatments, you will have come across Sinemet.
Sinemet, being a Dopaminergic Drug, is usually one of the first lines of defense in treating RLS, however it has a short half-life, some nasty side-effects e.g. blood pressure problems, nausea, dizziness, etc; and has been recorded as causing major problems with rebound and augmentation.
How do I know? Been there ... done that!
I was "lucky" enough to be prescribed Sinemet in April this year and thankfully only on it for three weeks. Before I started on Sinemet, I was on Levodopa100mg/Benserazide25mg (Trade Name: Madopar) up to four times a day.
My initial Sinemet dosage was 1 x 250/25 tablet at night.
After one week, my RLS was so extreme my Neuro at the time, Dr S, simply doubled the dosage and so I was taking 1 x 250/25 tablet in the morning, and 1 x 250/25 tablet at night; and to make matters worse, he added 300mg Neurontin to the mix! (If you want to find out more about this, you can read more under my thread "Prescription Drug Side Effects" in the "New to RLS" Forum Topic).
300mg is the maximum recommended dosage of Levodopa for extreme RLS patients i.e. ME! And my dear Neuro (bless him!) had me on nearly double that!
In the end, I was having such bad augmentation from a major overdose of Levodopa, that it nearly sent me mad! However, my GP, Dr K was wise enough to sense that if his patient wanted OFF a drug, then she Ment It!
Well, that's been my experiences with Levodopa/Carbidopa. The Levodopa/Benserazide was not much better in the way of side effects and augmentation problems.
Some people are able to take Sinemet for years, without any major problems, others can't.
Below are some links to some websites which you might find useful.
RLS Treatment Information:
http://www.jmjudson.com/medications.html
http://www.rlshelp.org/rlsrx.htm
http://www.wemove.org/rls.html
Fighting RLS with everything else:
http://www.rlsrebel.com
The link below is to the RLS Foundation's 2004 Annual Report. It is a very informative read.
http://beta.restlesslegs.org/pdf/2004_m ... lletin.pdf
Hope this has helped you out!
Take care of you
Nadia
Levodopa/Carbidopa ... better known as Sinemet by most RLS'ers.
If you have read a bit about RLS and its treatments, you will have come across Sinemet.
Sinemet, being a Dopaminergic Drug, is usually one of the first lines of defense in treating RLS, however it has a short half-life, some nasty side-effects e.g. blood pressure problems, nausea, dizziness, etc; and has been recorded as causing major problems with rebound and augmentation.
How do I know? Been there ... done that!
I was "lucky" enough to be prescribed Sinemet in April this year and thankfully only on it for three weeks. Before I started on Sinemet, I was on Levodopa100mg/Benserazide25mg (Trade Name: Madopar) up to four times a day.
My initial Sinemet dosage was 1 x 250/25 tablet at night.
After one week, my RLS was so extreme my Neuro at the time, Dr S, simply doubled the dosage and so I was taking 1 x 250/25 tablet in the morning, and 1 x 250/25 tablet at night; and to make matters worse, he added 300mg Neurontin to the mix! (If you want to find out more about this, you can read more under my thread "Prescription Drug Side Effects" in the "New to RLS" Forum Topic).
300mg is the maximum recommended dosage of Levodopa for extreme RLS patients i.e. ME! And my dear Neuro (bless him!) had me on nearly double that!
In the end, I was having such bad augmentation from a major overdose of Levodopa, that it nearly sent me mad! However, my GP, Dr K was wise enough to sense that if his patient wanted OFF a drug, then she Ment It!
Well, that's been my experiences with Levodopa/Carbidopa. The Levodopa/Benserazide was not much better in the way of side effects and augmentation problems.
Some people are able to take Sinemet for years, without any major problems, others can't.
Below are some links to some websites which you might find useful.
RLS Treatment Information:
http://www.jmjudson.com/medications.html
http://www.rlshelp.org/rlsrx.htm
http://www.wemove.org/rls.html
Fighting RLS with everything else:
http://www.rlsrebel.com
The link below is to the RLS Foundation's 2004 Annual Report. It is a very informative read.
http://beta.restlesslegs.org/pdf/2004_m ... lletin.pdf
Hope this has helped you out!
Take care of you
Nadia
Nadia
My philosophy is simply this: Life is too short to be diplomatic. Your friends should not care what you do, or say; and for those who are not your friends ... their loss!!!
My philosophy is simply this: Life is too short to be diplomatic. Your friends should not care what you do, or say; and for those who are not your friends ... their loss!!!
Sinemet
I got relief with Sinemet for about 3 weeks before experiencing augmentation which manifested as RLS symptoms during the day, and it stopped working at night. I've switched to Mirapex and am having success. See the Sinemet & Mirapex threads for details. Best,
Heron
Heron