My husband takes his when he first wakes up. Then breakfast 45-60 minutes later. Second dose is about 1:15, an hour after lunch. Third dose is 5:30, so 45-60 minutes before dinner. Final dose is at 9 p.m. The basic idea is to make sure that protein does not interfere with the medication.

I take the Extended-Release carbidopa. Levodopa 3 times a day (6am or upon waking up if it is later than 6am,, 2pm and 8pm) I take regular C/L twice a day, but I chew it since they no longer make the dissolvable one. I take it in between the ER tablets, and it takes about 10 minutes to kick in I take it sometime between 10 and 11 AM depending on how I am feeling and between 4:30 & 5 :30 Pm depending on how I feel. It extends the efficacy of the ER tablet.

I take the long acting levodopa at bedtime. It improves my movements during sleep so I feel better upon waking.

I take regular Carbidopa-levodopa during the day and 2 of the ER tablets at bedtime.

My sister takes carbidopa- levodopa immediate release 4x/day; it takes 45 min- an hour to kick in and last maybe 3 hours. At same time she takes 1 extended release except not at bed time these days. Everyone is different and it changes over time.