INDICATIONSLevodopa is changed into a chemical called dopamine (DOE pa meen) in the brain. Symptoms of Parkinson's disease may be brought on by lower levels of dopamine in the brain.
Carbidopa aids in preventing the breakdown of levodopa before it could get to the brain and be effective.
The mix of carbidopa and levodopa can be used to take care of Parkinson symptoms including muscle stiffness, tremors, spasms, and poor muscle control. This medication can also be used to treat Parkinson symptoms caused by co poisoning or manganese intoxication.
Carbidopa and levodopa doubles for other purposes not listed with this medication guide.
INSTRUCTIONS
If you're already taking levodopa (Larodopa, Dopar), you must stop taking it no less than 12 hours prior to starting taking carbidopa and levodopa.
Take the same manner prescribed because of your doctor. Do not take in larger or smaller amounts and for longer than recommended. Follow the directions on your own prescription label.
Carbidopa and levodopa might be taken with or without food. Take your doses at regular intervals to hold a steady amount of the drug inside you constantly.
Do not crush, chew, or break an extended-release tablet. Swallow the pill whole. Breaking or opening the pill may cause too much of the drug to be removed previously.
The regular tablet could be broken or crushed if required to learn effectively to swallow.
To go ahead and take orally disintegrating tablet (Parcopa):
Keep named in its blister pack until you might be ready to go ahead and take medicine. Open the package and peel back the foil from the tablet blister. Do not push a tablet through the foil or you damages named.
Using dry hands, remove the tablet make it inside your mouth. It will begin to dissolve straight away.
Do not swallow these days whole. Allow it to dissolve with your mouth without chewing. Swallow more than once as named dissolves.
It may take as much as a few months utilizing carbidopa and levodopa before your symptoms improve. For best results, keep with all the medication as directed. Talk with your doctor if the symptoms tend not to improve soon after weeks of treatment. Also tell your doctor if the effects of medicines apparently wear off quickly in between doses.
To make certain this prescription medication is helping your problem and is not causing harmful effects, your blood will have to be tested often. Your heart, liver, and kidney function may also need to be tested. Visit a medical expert regularly.
This medication can cause unusual results with certain tests. Tell any doctor who treats you that you're using carbidopa and levodopa.
STORAGE
Store at room temperature far from moisture, heat, and light-weight.
MORE INFO:
Active Ingredient: Carbidopa and Levodopa
You may notice that your sweat, urine, or saliva appears dark in color, such as red, brown, or black. This is not a harmful side-effect, nevertheless it may cause staining of your clothes or bed linens.
Get emergency medical help if you have these warning signs of a hypersensitive reaction: hives; lack of breath; swelling of your face, lips, tongue, or throat. Call your doctor at the same time for those who have all of these serious unwanted side effects:
restless muscle movements within your eyes, tongue, jaw, or neck;
worsening of tremors (uncontrolled shaking);
high fever, stiff muscles, sweating, fast or uneven heartbeats, rapid breathing, feeling as you might distribute;
seizure (convulsions);
painful or difficult urination;
severe nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea;
uneven pulse rate or fluttering within your chest;
confusion, hallucinations, anxiety, agitation, depressed mood, thoughts of suicide or hurting yourself;
chest pain or heavy feeling, pain spreading for the arm or shoulder.
Less serious side effects can include:
mild nausea, dry mouth, loss in appetite, heartburn, diarrhea, constipation;
headache, dizziness, drowsiness, blurred vision;
sneezing, stuffy nose, cough, and other cold symptoms;
sleep problems (insomnia), strange dreams;
muscle pain, numbness or tingly feeling; or
skin rash or itching.
This is not a complete set of side effects yet others may occur. Call your medical professional for health advice about side effects.
Do not take carbidopa and levodopa for those who have used an MAO inhibitor like isocarboxazid (Marplan), phenelzine (Nardil), or tranylcypromine (Parnate) within the past fourteen days. Serious, life-threatening unwanted effects can take place with carbidopa and levodopa before the MAO inhibitor has cleared from the body.
You must not take this medication if you are allergic to carbidopa (Lodosyn) or levodopa (Larodopa), or when you have:
narrow-angle glaucoma;
unusual skin lesions which may have not been checked by way of a doctor; or
a reputation malignant melanoma (skin cancer).
If you've all of these other difficulties, you need a dose adjustment or special tests:
heart disease, hypertension, heart disease, a heart rhythm disorder, or possibly a prior cardiac arrest;
asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and other breathing disorder;
liver or kidney disease;
an endocrine (hormonal) disease;
a stomach or intestinal ulcer;
wide-angle glaucoma; or
depression or any other mental illness.
Carbidopa and levodopa could potentially cause you to go to sleep during normal daytime activities such as working, talking, eating, or driving. You may go to sleep suddenly, even though feeling alert. Tell a medical expert if you have any difficulties with daytime sleepiness or drowsiness.
You could have increased sexual urges, unusual urges to gamble, or other intense urges while taking carbidopa and levodopa. It is not known if the medicine actually causes this effect. Talk with your doctor if you feel you might have any intense or unusual urges while taking carbidopa and levodopa.
Some people taking medicines for Parkinson's disease are suffering from skin cancer (melanoma). However, individuals with Parkinson's disease might have a and the higher chances than most of the people for developing melanoma. Talk to a medical expert about your specific risk and what skin symptoms to watch for. You may need to have regular skin exams.
FDA pregnancy category C. It is not known whether carbidopa and levodopa will harm an unborn baby. Tell a medical expert if you are pregnant or prefer to become pregnant with all the this medication. Carbidopa and levodopa may pass into breast milk and could harm a nursing baby. Do not use medicines without telling your doctor if you are breast-feeding an infant.
The disintegrating tablet (for example Parcopa) may contain phenylalanine. Talk to your physician before applying this type of carbidopa and levodopa in case you have phenylketonuria (PKU).
If you missed the dose go once you remember. Skip the missed dose if it is almost time for your forthcoming scheduled dose. Do not take extra medicine to generate in the missed dose.
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EMS: 3-8 business days