The Possible Side Effects from Parkinson's Disease Medications
Unfortunately every sufferer of Parkinson's disease will be prescribed some form of medication to help control their symptoms and many of these medications have known side effects that become apparent with long term use. The extent to which a specific drug will affect an individual will depend on that individual and accordingly while one drug causes very few side effects in a sufferer another drug may make life very unpleasant indeed. Many of the side effects associated with the various drug treatments for Parkinson's disease manifest in the brain and the functions that are closely linked with the brain.
Levadopa reduces tremors and helps with bradykinesia and is still one of the most widely prescribed drugs for the treatment of Parkinson's disease. It is converted to dopamine in the brain and thus compensates for the low levels seen in Parkinson's sufferers. Levadopa is regularly combined with a second drug called carbidopa which improves its action and reduces one of the main side effects, nausea.
Unfortunately the major side effects experienced by a number of people prescribed Levadopa are psychiatric and can include confusion, extreme emotional outbursts, vivid dreams and nightmares, visual and auditory hallucinations, sleeplessness and night terrors.
Dopamine agonists have many of the same side effects as Levadopa including nausea, vomiting, drowsiness, headaches, a decrease in saliva production, dizziness and the psychiatric problems mentioned above however in addition to these common side effects some people find themselves being victims of involuntary sleep attacks or sleep apnea. This is where an individual falls asleep without actually trying, for example they could be in the middle of a conversation and without any warning at all they will simply drop off to sleep. While this is not a problem in many situations is does prove to be a very serious problem if for example the patient works in a factory using large machinery or drives a car.
Catecholo-O-Methyl Transferase Inhibitors act to increase the levels of dopamine that naturally occur in the brain of a Parkinson's disease patient. It improves motor skills and reduces the amount of Levadopa that is needed. However the side effects of this class of drug include mental confusion, possible hallucinations, stomach cramps, vomiting and nausea, insomnia, severe headaches, occasional diarrhoea and discolouration of the urine, although this is harmless. There have been a few reports of liver damage in patients who are prescribed COMT inhibitors and as such they are only used in patients who can not tolerate any of the more commonly used drugs.
In addition to the drugs mentioned above there are a wide variety of other Parkinson's disease medications available today however many of them have the same types of side effects when prescribed to Parkinson's sufferers. The one that is prescribed to a particular patient will depend on the extent of the disease and the symptoms that require the most attention.