My husband has been taking carbidopa-levodopa, also known as Sinemet, for 12 years now. It is the primary medication for everyone who is diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease, but why? What exactly does it do to his brain and what could go wrong? Also, with so many different presentations of this disease, how can it be that one pill fits all? To get answers to these and other questions, I visited the internet, or more specifically Medline Plus provided by the National Library of Medicine, where I was able to search for the medication by name.

First, I need to understand that all the different challenges of Parkinson’s Disease are thought to be caused by a depletion of dopamine in the brain. I find it fascinating that a deficit of one chemical in the brain can result in such a variety of physical and cognitive symptoms. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that works to convey messages between other parts of the brain. It makes sense that if the messenger is broken signals go haywire and all systems are impacted. This medication works because Levodopa converts to dopamine in the brain and carbidopa keeps dopamine from being broken down before it reaches the brain. Levodopa has proven to cause nausea so combining it with carbidopa allows for a smaller dosage and less complications. My husband takes 25/100’s which means he takes 25 mg of carbidopa and 100 mg of levodopa with each tablet.

The tablets worked well at first, Then, as his symptoms progressed, they became less effective and he chose to have deep brain stimulation surgery. He still takes the medication, but not as much, which is good because some people have found that prolonged use of carbidopa-levodopa can lead to uncontrolled movements called dyskinesia or other complications. It can cause obsessive behaviors, some of our friends have gotten very interested in gambling or shopping thanks to their meds. The medication has always made my husband sleepy and mildly impacts his cognitive abilities. He sometimes says he feels fuzzy headed when he takes it. We can deal with a fuzzy head occasionally as long as it is working to help control his tremors, at least until something better comes along.

For more on dopamine see Dopamine: What It Is & What It Does (webmd.com), and to read the entire article on carbidopa/levodopa visit Levodopa and Carbidopa: MedlinePlus Drug Information.