Originally Posted by Lala4
Can you tell me if Sinemet really works? because my husband is looking for a med that does not have side affects. He's not taking any thing yet because we r affraid of any side affects.
He's only had the PD for 2 yrs, he was taking all natural med, but he needs something stronger, what do you recommend?
Nearly every medications have its side effect. Consider to take it or not is to balance the benefit and the risk. In Pakinsonism, the anti-Parkinsonism medications is for relief of the symptoms such as to reduce rigidity and thus mobility can be improved. If one can still cope with his/her daily activities without difficulty, then we can delay the use of anti-Pakinsonism medications. On the other hand, if the symptoms have already affected patient's mobility and daily life activities, or is disturbing e.g tremor, then medications should be considered. The first line medicatilons used is dependent on patient's age and symptoms. The most common first line medication used is L-dopa such as sinemet/madopar, usually starts from low dose such as sinemet 125 1/2 tab 3x/day, then titred the dosage or the interval between the drugs intake according to the symptoms. Usually if start from low dosage, its side effect can be tolerated and the common side effect are nuasea, vomiting and dizziness. The other first line medication that are commoly used in the younger patient are dopaime receptors agonist e.g bromocriptine and pergolide. If tremor is the most disturbing symptoms, then anti-cholinergic e.g artane can be used alone or on top of sinemet or bromocriptine.
Hope these information can help you a bit. For choosing appropriate medications, you should consult your doctor.
with Kind Regards