Dr. Gilbert Hosts: Managing Parkinson's Medications

Managing medications for Parkinson’s disease can be overwhelming and confusing. What you take and how often you take it can be challenging to balance, and also may change quite a bit over time. Whether you’ve been recently diagnosed, or have been living with PD for a while, you may have a lot of questions about your medications even after you leave your doctor’s office. APDA is here to help! In this episode of Dr. Gilbert Hosts, we spoke with Dr. Stephanie Bissonnette, a movement disorders neurologist, about the basic principles of medication management for PD along with some helpful hints to make daily management more effective.

Topics include:
How do you know it is time to start medication?
How does my doctor choose which medication to start with or to add to my regimen?
When should medications be increased?
When should medications be decreased?

2:23 Dr. Bissonnette’s talk
13:05 Levodopa makes me feel dizzy/tired/have brain fog. Is there another medication I should try?
15:32 Should I use mucuna?
17:12 I have a symptom and I don’t know if it is related to Parkinson’s, is it a side effect of medication or is it unrelated. What should I do?
20:59 What is the best way to organize medications?
23:24 What is the best time to take Levodopa in relation to food?
28:47 Can you talk about using GLP1 receptor Agonists (diabetes medication) for PD?
30:36 Can my husband take medication only when he feels like he needs it and not regularly?
32:56 Can you tell us about the withdrawal syndrome when you reduce or stop ropinirole?
34:48 Which is better to be on immediate release or extended release carbidopa/levodopa?
37:52 Is there a point at which you should be taking carbidopa/levodopa at night to help you get in and out of bed?
41:23 What symptoms can we expect Levodopa to treat?
45:33 Why does drug development take so long?
48:02 What is being done to address the underlying cause of PD and not just symptoms?
48:23 How much Levodopa is too much?
50:57 How much exercise should I do?

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