Carbidopa-Levodopa Treatment Report : PatientsLikeMe

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What is Carbidopa-Levodopa?

Levodopa is a dopamine precursor used to treat the movement disorder symptoms of Parkinson's disease. Carbidopa is often included with levodopa-containing drugs in order to boost its efficacy by slowing down the metabolism of dopamine.

Reported Purpose & Efficacy

Reasons and Efficacy
Purpose	# of patients	# of patients with evaluations Efficacy
Parkinson's Disease	1389	333
Stiffness/Spasticity	73	21
Tremor	56	25
Slowness	46	17
Other	43	14
MSA (Multiple System Atrophy)	39	12

See all 85 reasons taken ▼

See all 1735 patients currently taking Carbidopa-Levodopa

Mouse over the table for more information

Reported Side Effects

Side effects as an overall problem

Severe	23
Moderate	111
Mild	139
None	161

Commonly reported side effects, conditions, and hospitalizations associated with Carbidopa-Levodopa

See all 153 reported side effects ▼ See top 6 reported side effects ▲
Dyskinesia	63	63
Nausea	54	54
Drowsiness	32	32
Stomach upset	23	23
Sleep problems	15	15
Vivid dreams	15	15
Jerky movements (dyskinesia)	11	11
on/off	11	11
Headaches	11	11
on/off time is like a rollercoaster ride	10	10
Diminished sense of taste	9	9
Dizziness	7	7
Depressed mood	6	6
Anxious mood	5	5
Dry mouth (xerostomia)	5	5
Constipation	5	5
Pain throughout body	5	5
Fatigue	4	4
Hospitalization	4	4
Nausea and vomiting	4	4
Sleepiness	4	4
Low blood pressure	4	4
Lightheadedness	3	3
Vomiting	3	3
Involuntary movement	3	3
Excessive daytime sleepiness (somnolence)	3	3
Tremor	2	2
Insomnia	2	2
Drunk feeling when I increase dosage	2	2
Sleeplessness	2	2
Compulsive behaviors	2	2
Need to eat to help with Nausea	2	2
Pain in shoulders	2	2
Night sweats	2	2
Distractibility	2	2
Weight gain	2	2
Nausea if taken on empty stomach	2	2
Nausea sometimes	2	2
Dystonia	2	2
Tiredness	2	2
Daytime sleepiness	1	1
Jumpy feeling	1	1
Taste changed	1	1
Somnolence	1	1
Dizziness and feeling faint	1	1
Agitation with restlessness	1	1
Nervousness	1	1
Increased Hunger	1	1
Itchy rash	1	1
Muscle rigidity	1	1
Wearing off increased tremors	1	1
Skin rash	1	1
cant sleep at night , so i have to take it right before i go to bed	1	1
Sweating increased	1	1
Pain in legs	1	1
face grimace	1	1
Flatulence	1	1
Stiffness in neck	1	1
Bleeding gums	1	1
Muscle spasms	1	1
Loss of appetite	1	1
Hands shaking to relieve anxiety	1	1
Memory Loss	1	1
panic as it wears off	1	1
Erectile dysfunction	1	1
Excessive thirst (polydipsia)	1	1
Tremor in arms	1	1
Feeling sick	1	1
mild effects	1	1
Dizziness with nausea	1	1
nervous energy	1	1
Pressure headaches	1	1
Tired upon waking	1	1
Frequent nausea	1	1
Nominal Aphasia	1	1
Involuntary muscle movements	1	1
Wearing off effect	1	1
Repetitive Head Movements	1	1
Loss of balance	1	1
Increased insomnia	1	1
Excessive amounts of urine (polyuria)	1	1
Increased anxiety	1	1
Cervical dystonia (torticollis)	1	1
Myoclonic jerking	1	1
Difficulty urinating (dysuria)	1	1
Obsessive compulsive disorder tendencies increased	1	1
Tremor in left foot and toes	1	1
Spasms in hands	1	1
Increased seizures	1	1
Tremor in feet	1	1
Burning Mouth	1	1
Bad mood	1	1
distonia in right leg, foot and right shoulder.	1	1
Feeling faint (presyncope)	1	1
srange electrical protrusion of the tongue	1	1
Dyskinesia of head	1	1
Temporary dystonia	1	1
Hallucinations	1	1
More actvity, depression, skeptical about the future	1	1
Chronic constipation	1	1
Edema (fluid retention)	1	1
sleepy-loopy	1	1
Timid	1	1
Excessive dry mouth	1	1
Occasional nausea and vomiting	1	1
Feeling strange	1	1
Headache at the beginning	1	1
Falling down when walking	1	1
Toe dancing (dyskinesia in toe)	1	1
Excessive appetite	1	1
Jerky movements of legs	1	1
Lightheadedness from upper back into head	1	1
Generalized Anxiety Disorder	1	1
Toe curling	1	1
Stiffness/Spasticity	1	1
Emotional lability	1	1
Generalized weakness (asthenia)	1	1
Slurred speech	1	1
Generalized muscle aches	1	1
Weakness in legs	1	1
Sexual dysfunction	1	1
Memory problems	1	1
Slowness	1	1
Cramps in feet	1	1
Balance problems	1	1
On to off fluctuations worsening	1	1
Blurry vision	1	1
Diarrhea	1	1
Cognitive Confusion	1	1
Dry eyes	1	1
Double vision (diplopia)	1	1
Disordered muscle tension (dystonia)	1	1
Decreased appetite	1	1
Restless feeling in legs	1	1
Facial dystonia	1	1
Falls	1	1
Left leg drag	1	1
Lack of Hand Grasp	1	1
Internal Restlessness (Akathisia)	1	1
Rapid tooth decay	1	1
Loss of short term memory	1	1
Tremor in legs	1	1
Clumsiness	1	1
None	1	1
Pain in lower back	1	1
Personality changes due to medication	1	1
Orthostatic/Postural Hypotension	1	1
Digestive problems	1	1
Joint stiffness	1	1
Tremor in right side of body	1	1
Brain zaps	1	1
clinching of left hand	1	1
Spasms in back	1	1

Reported Dosages

Frequently reported dosages based on patients currently taking Carbidopa-Levodopa. See all 204 dosages ►

daily	25 mg daily	25 mg-100 mg daily	2 x 25 mg-100 mg daily	3 x 25 mg-100 mg daily	4 x 25 mg-100 mg daily	5 x 25 mg-100 mg daily	6 x 25 mg-100 mg daily	7 x 25 mg-100 mg daily	8 x 25 mg-100 mg daily
55	43	154	80	256	147	80	116	28	60

Reported Stop Reasons

Why Patients Stopped Taking Carbidopa-Levodopa (multiple reasons could be selected)
Reason	# Patients	Percentage of patients
Doctor's advice	78
Did not seem to work	58
Other	44
Side effects too severe	36
Personal research	19
Course of treatment ended	12
Not indicated	9
Expense	3
Change in health plan coverage	1

See all 207 patients who’ve stopped taking Carbidopa-Levodopa

Reported Duration See details about how long patients take this treatment ▼ Reported Duration Hide details ▲

Currently Taking Carbidopa-Levodopa

A bar graph

0-1 month	1-3 months	3-6 months	6 months-1year	1-2 years	2 years or more
3	5	21	63	148	618

Stopped Taking Carbidopa-Levodopa

A bar graph

0-1 month	1-3 months	3-6 months	6 months-1year	1-2 years	2 years or more
24	35	20	39	35	57

Reported Adherence, Burden & Cost See details from patient evaluations ▼

Adherence

Taking treatment as prescribed

Adherence of Carbidopa-Levodopa

Always	312	72%
Usually	98	23%
Sometimes	12	3%
Never	12	3%

Burden

Difficulty being on treatment

Burden of Carbidopa-Levodopa

Very	17	4%
Somewhat	74	17%
A little	102	24%
Not at all	241	56%

Cost

Paid out of pocket

Cost of Carbidopa-Levodopa

$200+	4	1%
$100-199	9	3%
$50-99	17	6%
$25-49	46	15%
< $25	220	74%

See more information, including instructions, precautions, side effects, and interactions.

Patient Evaluations

See all 434 patient evaluations

YOPD Warrior Princess

Sex: F

Mouth/throat: mild

Arms: mild

Chest: mild

Legs: mild
YOPD Warrior Princess

since Dec 30, 2009
Efficacy Major for Parkinson's Disease
Side Effects Mild
Advice/Tips When taken alone, one dose lasts about an hour or so. When taken with Comtan, "ON" period is extended up to 2 - 2.5 hours. Needs to be taken on empty stomac... See full evaluation

wishpeace

Sex: F

On

Mouth/throat: none

Arms: mild

Chest: mild

Legs: mild
wishpeace

3 x 25 mg-100 mg daily

since Mar 16, 2010
Efficacy Major for Tremor in hands
Side Effects Mild
Advice/Tips This drug, along with Mirapex, has controlled the tremor in my hands....get a bit of tremor rarely when really cold or on down times of meds. Dr. just chang... See full evaluation

essay

Sex: F

Mouth/throat: mild

Arms: mild

Chest: mild

Legs: mild
essay

10 mg-100 mg daily

since Jun 16, 2006
Efficacy Major for Other
Side Effects Severe
See full evaluation

See all 434 patient evaluations

Report created on February 09, 2012.

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