Based on the findings on that chart, we adjusted my medicines. Well, it's been a couple months on the new drug routine and I thought you'd be interested in my results.
I WAS taking a Stalevo 150 and a Requip 1 mg (see Notes below), at 7am, 2pm and 9pm and this is what my chart of symptoms looked like for an average day.
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As you can see, there aren't a lot of 10's and I was spending most of the day waiting for the medicines to work. A 10 is the best I expect to feel on any given day, not what a 10 would be for a person without Parkinson's Disease.
Based on that chart, we decided to lower the strength of the Stalevo and increase the number of times I took it. I NOW take Stalevo 100's at 6am, 10am, 2pm, 6pm and 10pm and the Requip 1mg at 6am, 2pm and 10pm (see Notes below). My cell phone alarm goes off to remind me and since it was going off so often, I used some humor and it plays "I Want A New Drug", the Huey Lewis song from the 1980's.
I am very pleased with the results and this is what my chart looks like on an average day.
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| Clicking on chart will enlarge it |
Notice how many more 10's there are. If there was some way to make today's 10's feel like last year's 10's, it would be fantastic, but that ain't going to happen. I am worse than I was last year, and much worse than I was 2 years ago, but I am still doing better than I was the day before I got diagnosed, so life is good, yes very good (and I still feel better after eating chocolate chip cookies)!
PS Every Parkinson's patient is different and what worked well for me might not work for another patient. And what works well for me today, may not work at all next week.
Notes:
Stalevo 150 is a brand name combination of 37.5 mg carbidopa USP, 150 mg levodopa USP and 200 mg entacapone
Stalevo 100 is a brand name combination of 25 mg carbidopa USP, 100 mg levodopa USP and 200 mg entacapone
Requip is a brand name of 1 mg ropinirole
Thank you for reading this story, I hope you enjoyed it. This is just one of a hundred stories in my book, Parkinson's Humor - Funny Stories about My Life with Parkinson's Disease. Please consider purchasing a copy from Amazon.com or your favorite online book seller. Thank you and have a Happy Parkie Day!
That's me. Stalevo every 3 hrs. - there is an App for smartphones called
ReplyDeletePillboxie - great reminder for more then one Med
I swear by it!! Thanks for your posts!!!
Fascinating chart ... but I couldn't handle thinking about and assessing my PD ailments every hour. Heh..at least not yet.
ReplyDeleteChops to you for an interesting blog.
This chart is just the tool we need when we go to the Dr. instead of forgetting to even look at questions we have written down, now just hand the Doc the chart, How simple, well at least after you get used to charting how you are feeling. happyjoyann@yahoo.com
ReplyDeleteGreat story, thanks for sharing. BGS is the best place for parkinson’s disease treatment, one must visit them.
ReplyDelete