National Parkinson Foundation – Zoltan Mari, MD
We will side effects of parkinson’s medications and possible interactions with medications that you take for other diseases just like any medications medications for parkinson’s disease can cause side effects there are many medications used for parkinson’s disease all of them can cause side effects and therefore there is a very long list of potential side effects
It is very important that when you are about to start a medication for parkinson’s disease as well as when you change increase or otherwise adjust your regimen that you consult your doctor about the possibility of side effects some of the most common side effects are mild and do not require the discontinuation of the medications almost all of the side effects can be
Reduced or their risk be diminished by very slow titration however some of the side effects are difficult to avoid and then it becomes an issue whether the side effects are more disabling or the symptoms that we are using we are using these medications to treat for and that balance is sometimes very difficult to evaluate you need to have a discussion with your doctor
As to how you go about those side effects sometimes as opposed to reducing the medications or titrating them even slower more slowly it is possible to treat the side effects with yet another medication one example is levodopa levodopa is notorious for causing nausea most of the time nausea is transient if the introduction of levodopa is slow and gradual the risk for
Nausea is less and over time nausea becomes less and less noticeable and in the end not limiting the use of levodopa however in some cases levon of levodopa does remain ematic which is to cause nausea and there is a need to address it by other means very often it is not possible to replace levodopa because that is the most potent medication for parkinson’s disease
And when you do need levodopa likely it is likely that it cannot be easily replaced by other medications therefore the use of medications to suppress nausea is often recommended including extra carbidopa or even don’t pair it on another example is hallucinations caused by levodopa in later stages of disease because the patient depends on levodopa so much from the
Motor standpoint it is often not possible to reduce levodopa and try to make the side-effects go away that way the use of neuroleptics such as seroquel or clozaril is often very useful in that circumstance because it can easily treat hallucinations while the patient can maintain the same amount of levodopa and enjoy all the motor benefits that they actually need
At that stage of disease when side effects occur you need to tell your doctor if you start a new medication or if the dose is increased it is the time when side-effects are very likely to develop if you have been on a medication for a prolonged period of time it is unlikely that you would develop side effects from that medication at that later stage although it
Is not completely impossible the best way to know if a particular symptom you are experiencing is attributable to one of the parkinson’s medications is to temporarily discontinue the medication which sometimes can cause worsening of your motor symptoms but at the same time it will help to generate a very useful piece of information regarding affect and cause of the choices
Transcribed from video
What are the most common side effects of Parkinson's disease medications? By Parkinson’s Foundation
