Cant seem to find a med that helps

[Tricia7]

I was dx'd a few years ago but took a break when I was pregnant. My Dr has been trying to find a med that helps but everything seems to have side effects that I cannot tolerate. The worst is sleepiness - I started on Requip and fell asleep driving. We tried the patch and rasagiline also. Recently we have tried Artane - instantly helped (I slept for the first nite in years and wrote the next day) but dry mouth and lots of crazy movements, also Azilect - which no side effects but I had not seen any pluses. Now I am on Sinemet -(and Azilect) but dont see much improvement - I can write some, am not sleeping, still a bit of weird moving. My legs ache at nite (almost itchy below the knee) and I am very tired and starting to fall asleep after taking the meds and its hard to concentrate. Sometimes I cant talk (like I have no control of my face) after taking the sinemet and walking isnt going well either.
I have a Dr appt on the 14th but was looking for input from anyone tih these problems. I am begining to feel there are no meds out there for me........
Tricia

[mappergal]

I am on Sinemet and Azilect. I am not sure how long you have been on the Sinemet but I too was very tired, but the body does adjust to it. My doctor gave me Amantadine to help give me more energy. it does help but I also found Magnesium helps me even more--it used to be given to PD patients before lepadova. I took it for about 3 days and my teenage daughter commented that it was almost 11 PM and I was still up. I don't know if these will help but it can hurt to try the magnesium as it is cheap, Mine was 250 mg, I take it at night.
Good luck.

[Drew Saunders]

All meds for PD have some sort of side affects. The problem is that as we are all different the side affects vary person to person. You have to give all meds time for your body to adjust, there is no instant cure. For what it is worth I take Azilect once per day 2mg first thing when I get up and 9 62.5 Sinemet throughout the day. It was trial and error for about a month until I got the correct dosage time wise but now A ok. I also take Diazepam (Valium) when panic attacks strike. Panic attacks are again common in PD. All above CAN(?) cause drousiness until your body becomes attuned to them. They can all also cause constipation but maybe make you loose.
Best advice is give it up to a month if you can tolerate side affects. If not refer to your doctor and try some other meds.
This is not the most helpful thing you will have read but I tell it like it is. I was diagnosed 9 years ago but probably had "it" for 2 years previously.
Best advice - live for today tomorrow will look after itself. Retain a good sense of humour - difficult at times I know.
Nobody dies from "Parkers" they just die with it,
Have as good a day as you can,
Drew

[Tricia7]

I will look into the Magnesium-probably need to check vitamins in general and Omega 3 my hubby keeps pushing.
I have been on the Sinemet since June - just gradually increasing. Its just becoming disappointing to feel some lousy. I spent years working lots of hours and training in karate now even laid off I am exhausted most of the time.
Just whining :o but thanks for the input! At least it "nice" to know it isnt just me.......
Tricia