Honeymoon period

Posted: Mon Oct 06, 2008 10:20 pm Post subject: "Honeymoon Period"

Dear Doctors: I have just finished reading the Taryn Simpson Treatments article "Complications of Long-Term Levedopa Therapy" which is very good. I have a question though which hopefully you will be able to answer for me. I have been symptomatic for 5 years and diagnosed for two and a half years. I have not been prescribed Sinemet however. Instead, I have been taking Requip for the last 2 and a half years (switched to the XL form a few months ago) with Azilect having been added a year ago. Am I having my honeymoon period now with Requip and then will not have it when I eventually begin Sinemet? Or am I in sort of a holding pattern and will have a 1 to 5 year "honeymoon period" when I finally go on Sinemet? Or do I get a "honeymoon period" period with each med? That would be cool if one would get two! Excuse me if this sounds like a bit of a goofey question.........I am just trying to figure out how all this works. Thank you so much for all you do for the PD community and I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this.
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Dr. FernandezJoined: 20 Jan 2007Posts: 90
Posted: Wed Oct 08, 2008 7:12 pm Post subject:

The truth is that each person is different. There will be some where the honeymoon period seems to last forever, and some where in only lasted a few years. In general, for younger patients, starting on requip and azilect would delay the need for levodopa, but once levodopa is started, they would have progressed the same way that they would have should they have started with it from the beginning. Meaning, for people who would have developed motor fluctuations after 5 years of levodopa, they would probably develope it after 5 years of levodopa use, whether it is started initially or later. When we compared requip versus levodopa in early PD. Those who were on levodopa scored better than those on requip (suggesting that levodopa is the superior drug) but they also developed motor fluctuations sooner. However, once they were placed on levodopa, the rate of developing fluctuations was the same as the rate of those who got levodopa from the begining. The problem is we don't in each individual case what the rate it. The honeymoon period is so variable. To me, it is not worth worrying too much about something that may or may not happen. Yours,_________________Hubert H. Fernandez