I have just begun taking Sinimet. In order to meet my schedule of three times a day and be able to eat I take my first pill at 7 AM and don’t eat before 9 to 930. The problem is I’m concerned about the interaction with food such as Protein and Pyridoxine, Vitamin B6, which can reduce the effectiveness of the Sinimet. My normal breakfast was yogurt with cereal, the first being high in protein and the second often containing B6 supplements. If I wait an hour to an hour and a half after taking a… read more
I suggest talking to your pharmacist or neurologist. My wife remembers my first neurologist who gave me a PD diagnosis after seeing my Petscan that she said to take the sinemet 30 mins before eating. After living with symptoms for about 8 yrs, Jefferson University neurologist diagnosed me with PD. Before that, I had a movement disorder diagnosis.
Years ago when I began taking Sinemet,, I found that it wore off too soon before the next dose, so I began cutting the 3 tablet in halves and taking the med every 1 and 1/2 hours. I am lucky and do not have tremors to speak of, but Parkinson's (I was diagnosed over 12 years ago) plays havoc with the rest of my body. It was impossible to eat properly when told to leave an hour both ways between the pill & eating. I was hospitalized in 2017 with stomach & anxiety problems & fought with the staff as they wouldn't let me take my meds as I did at home (I had to bring mine and leave them in the hosp. pharmacy as they didn't carry them) & after several days, neurologists came to see me, and admitted that they knew nothing about Parkinson's. I was then admitted by the well-known specialist I had been seeing at a University where he was head of the Neuro Dept. I spent 5 days there and was given tons of information on how to space meds & eating, as well as how eating can interfere with how your meds work. I was told to eat lots of carbs, and limit protein. and given loads of info on this. I am primarily a vegetarian, and tried to keep their schedule but lost even more weight than I had in the previous year. I bottomed at 94 lbs. and the specialists, changed their tune. I was then told that only a fraction of the people who take Parkinson's meds have problems with the med/protein uptake. I was told to eat anything i want - and lots of carbs + sweets - anything that would put weight on. I now have gained back 10 lbs of the 40 I lost.
Sinemet, at some point, stops doing a good job controlling your symptoms. Usually around the 10 year mark. I now take Rytary along with half a Sinemet to smooth things out. The Rytary causes Dyskinesia, so I am on 2 more meds for that. It's a balancing act - and everyone is different! What I have found works well for me is to eat small meals of anything I want and to try to leave half an hour before and after meds.to eat. It makes sense to give your meds time to get to the small intestines where they are absorbed, and to give your food time to digest before taking meds. I eat my main meal in the evening at 6 or 7 and eat a lot! It's an ongoing & constantly changing situation - terrible disease -- because Parkinson's can affect any part of the Central Nervous System and the CNS controls almost all of the systems in the body. I have digestive problems, breathing problems, heart issues and it has exacerbated my Degenerative Arthritis to the point where I can't walk at times.
Hope this helps a little! I'm an RN and I am still learning about Parkinson's - All I am sure of is that we know very little about it, but since a few famous people have brought it to the public's attention, we are learning more everyday!
MomK
So what do you do now?
very interesting video on PD and Food and Nutrition - keep on fighting the good fight JOHN
@A MyParkinsonsTeam Member - I have asked the same question many times. And haven’t had a definitive answer . So here’s what I do, . I take my first tablet at 6am, and wait until around 8 to have coffee and breakfast about 8:30. Like you have said I’m concerned about any protein and PD meds competing for absorption and then the meds having a decreased therapeutic effect.
Some one will hopefully post some good advice .