Azilect- When does it start working ?

[craigj]

hi,

I have stopped taking mirapex, and have been taking azilect for about three weeks. what should i expect ? so far no change in symptons at all. Is it too soon to see results. i'm getting frustrated and losing patience.

CraigJ

[gretta]

Hi Craig. I'm wondering same thing (how long before Azilect starts working). Started out at .5 mg for first two weeks. This is my first week. The only other thing I take is low dose Requip which I have been on for three months. My toes hurt real bad (affected side), trouble walking, and clenched hand. Tremor not too bad yet. Gretta

[chickenlegsuk]

Hi Craig

There is no simple answer, as I have concluded that the unique feature of PD is that everyone is different, and medication that works for some doesn't work for others. The symptoms of PD also vary considerably - I don't have a tremor for example, but every day, not always at the same time,I have bouts of stiffness and freezing. Sometimes the medication kicks in, sometimes it doesn't.

Medication is a bit of a lottery, but hold the faith - it may work for you. Am I right in thinking that Azilect is designed to protect the dopamine that's left? In my case it replaced selegiline which had the same function. I can't say I noticed any major difference, but that's the story of my life with medication.


:) :)

[Todd]

I'm just finishing my 3rd week on Azilect (0.5) and haven't really noticed a difference. (I'm on Sinemet 25/100 3x a day as well.) In a week I bump up to 1.0 and maybe then I feel a difference? Most people have told me that it takes anywhere from 4-6 weeks to start to feel a difference on Azilect. I'm hoping that's what happens to me.

Being patient is certainly not one of my better virtues... :mad: :D

[Suffolkchris]

Todd

Why was Azilect added for you?


Chris

[Todd]

Chris,

Azilect was added for me because I'm on a relatively low dose of Sinemet, and the purpose was to act as sort of an extender as opposed to increasing my Sinemet dosage. The idea is to increase your "on" time without upping the Sinemet dose and hopefully delaying the dyskinesia that typically comes in younger PD patients who are on Sinemet only.

The agonists scare me to to death. I already have OCD behaviors, so I don't need them increased because of the agonist side effects that happen to some people.

Then there's the speculation that Azilect "may" have neuroprotective benefits. My doctor, who was involved in the clinical studies of Azilect, said I was a great candidate for it. So it is worth a shot.

Like I said earlier, I'm only on 0.5 right now, but in a week bump up to 1.0 and the hopefully see some positive results. It certainly hasn't given me any side effects and I'm grateful for that.

Thanks.

[Suffolkchris]

Thanks Todd that's really helpful.

Chris

[jeanb]

I've been on 1.0 Azilect for about 6 months now.

Mirapex made me obsessive compulsive, so adding Azilect allowed me to cut back to a low dose of mirapex (.25 2x).

Azilect seems to smooth out my day for me - i mean that now I'm often late taking the afternoon dose because Azilect is working and I'm not going OFF .

(My meds, azilect 1.0; mirapex .25 / 2x; stalevo 100/ 2x; isradipine .25/ 2x)

[Kathie]

My husband dropped Selegiline (off it for 2 weeks) and then took Azilect for 3 weeks and not only didn't he feel any improvement in that time but he had to go from taking one sinemet a day to 3. So he dropped the Azilect and went back on Selegiline. Since then, we learned about Zelapar--a sublingual form of Selegiline which bypasses the digestive system--so switched to that. He has found that more effective in lenthening the active period of Sinimet and it's only one quarter the dose (1.25 mg) of the swallowed selegeline.

[proudest_mama]

No time for a long note, but this thread is music to my ears.

Gretta, I am experiencing the exact same thing ... my big toe curls, bringing the others with, and (I assume) that because my gait is off, my entire right side, from my leg to my toes hurt. I often walk around with three icy hot bandages up and down that leg.

I inquired about physical therapy, hoping that I would feel better without increasing medication. The local rehab people were great ... but I was their first (and only?!) PD patient so they don't know a lot to help.

I plan to stick it out for the three months that I was given medication.

I was also told that if this doesn't work that they would try botox injections. Have any of you had botox injections?

Terri

[JoClay]

My husband received Botox injections to relax a large muscle in the shoulder. It was causing dystonia and was pulling him to the right side (which was also his Parkinsons side). The Botox relaxed the muscle and he continued these injections for 2 years before he decided to stop them. The downside was that it caused the muscle to become very weak, and he decided that was causing as much trouble as the dystonia. He started a weight program to build up those muscles that had deteriorated, and he had good results from the exercises. (as a side note: His insurance paid for these injections ($1200-1600 for each. Make sure your doctor codes the insurance as a medical procedure; sometimes the botox invoice is rejected because it is coded as a cosmetic procedure.)