Swinging

It feels great to be 'on'. Judi and I went for a walk after supper tonight, and my arm was swinging - just like a regular person.

The times when my right side feels normal are so appreciated. I remember a PWP in Windsor saying to me; "thank God for Sinemet". I guess now I know what he meant.

I don't know when I last updated about my dosage. I had made my way to two pills, three times per day. Then I found that I was going 'off', and thought I'd just shorten the time between doses. I soon found that I was changing my schedule such that it didn't match up to lunch, and especially with my drive home. So - I tried a different approach; I take two pills at 5am, eat breakfast at 6, take one pill at about 9am, then two pills at 11am, eat lunch at noon, take one pill at about 3pm, then finally two pills at 5pm, and get ready to go home about 5:30.
I wonder if anyone else takes uneven doses like this. I'm going to ask on plm.

More than one year later

It's good to be back here and see how long it's been since I made an update. I'm typing this post with both hands (which is amazing) and it's 8:30pm Sunday evening. Last pills were at 4pm.
I'm taking two pills three times per day now (5am, 10:30am, and 4pm).
Although I feel like I'm progressing too fast, the history here shows me that's not true. It must just be that I'm not happy to be where I am, regardless of how long it took to get here.
I do have definite on and off feelings, and can notice much more how the pills help.

Dose reduction - perhaps not

On my last visit with my MDS I mentioned that I was only taking three pills per day. He suggested that I might want to try 1.5 pills 3x per day. I haven't tried it yet.

A few weeks ago I was in a large crowd in the evening, and I felt like I could really have used that 4th pill. That was a new feeling, as I haven't had any kind of off/on feeling until then (or since).

Dose reduction

My MDS started me on 4 25-100 Sinemet per day. They can cause nausea, so my day is filled with soda cracker snacks. I decided to stop taking the evening pill, and I think I feel about the same (I changed the dose over a week ago).
One day, I may cut it down to two pills per day.

Sensitive finger

Strange feeling lately. My middle finger on my left hand is very sensitive to cold. Just started a few days ago.

PD related? or something else? Dunno.

Update: it takes me so long to post .....

Today, May 27, the sensitivity is gone.

CoQ10 news

I received a call from my doctor's office (my MDS, Dr. Jog). The research assistant explained that the QE3 study was being halted as the early findings were indicating that CoQ10 had no effect on PD progression.

Well, they tried. There's going to be a lot of things tried before we get to a cure.

Improvements, with caveats

I've been feeling a lot better now that I'm medicated. I can move easier, I can button my shirt, tie my shoes - all the normal things we take for granted.

One of the unexpected things for me was pain and stiffness. I think what may be happening is that I'm actually able to move further than before, but now my arm and leg are so unaccustomed to going that far that I have pain. While I was un-medicated I couldn't move stretch my hand back very far. Now I think I can go further; right across the pain threshold.

 My left hand can stretch so that my palm is up against the cabinet. My right hand can't go nearly as far and it's painful to go there. The odd thing about the pain is that it's not in my palm (which is being stretched), but in the back of my hand (which is being compressed).

Something to ask the doctor about.