thick tongue

[Judysessions]

My mother has just recently begun using sinemet, along with amantadine. Her tongue gets really thick and she is hallucinating. Are these side effects? Mother had the flu right after Christmas, ended up on a feeding tube, and the Parkinson's seemed to "take over her body"...with the clinched fists, no tremors (she's never had tremors), inability to walk, but she is slowly regaining use of her limbs now. We are just concerned about the Sinemet and her tongue. Her neurologist really believes in this medication.

[pogo1960]

I have been on sinemet for several months now and the side effects I get are terrible headaches and very sleepy. My doctor does not seem too concerned about the headaches. It does seem to help with the tremors.

[Bellinghamster]

My spouse has the exact same symptoms with the sinemet -- thick tongue that interfers with his ability to communicate verbally. I cannot understand him during those moments -- frustrating for both of us. I have him say one word at a time -- and that does help. Hallucinations are part of the illness and medication. This is what I do know -- hallucinations are caused by too much dopamine (hence, schizophrenia) and PD is caused by too little dopamine. So, when adding medication to replace the lost dopamine it is a Catch 22 situation. Some doses can be too much or too little, depending on the individual. My spouse was experiencing hallucinations and it took "tweaking" of the medications to help. He still has some hallucinations and is now on anti-psychotic medication to help -- a walking pharmacy he has become!! Amantadine did not work well with Douglas so he is not taking that anymore. A slight improvement with the thick tongue and hallucinations, but not enough to say it was the Amantadine. Again, each person is going to respond differently and the doctors can only increase/decrease medications until the right combination is found. But also keep in mind that as the PD continues to advance the medications will also need tweaking -- like tuning up that fine car of yours. Douglas is my Mercedes!! Hope this helps.

[grldnklly]

Hi, my father is on amantadine and he gets hallucinations. At the beginning he was meant to take amantadine 4 times a day along with madapor, but the hallucinations were so bad he had to stop. He only takes one a day now. He too complains about a thick tongue. I had never made the connection with amantadine.

[heather]

My husband has been on sinemet for 10+ years with no side affects , he only hallucinates , if he is getting a infection, or dehydrated, he has a peg mainly for fluids, though his swallowing is very limited

he has very little trembles,but if i forget to give his teatime
sinemet ,then his hoist swings

I think it's like all medication, we all all react differently, it works for some and doesn't for other's

His neurologist was going to take him off and he didn't think they where doing anything ,but we decided against it ,