INDICATIONSLevodopa is converted to a chemical called dopamine (DOE pa meen) within the brain. Symptoms of Parkinson's disease might be a result of low levels of dopamine within the brain.
Carbidopa stops the breakdown of levodopa before it might get to the brain and work.
The combination of carbidopa and levodopa can be used to take care of Parkinson symptoms like muscle stiffness, tremors, spasms, and poor muscle control. This medication can be used to treat Parkinson symptoms brought on by deadly carbon monoxide poisoning or manganese intoxication.
Carbidopa and levodopa could also be used for other purposes unpublished with this medication guide.
INSTRUCTIONS
If you're already taking levodopa (Larodopa, Dopar), you must stop taking it a minimum of 12 hours before you start taking carbidopa and levodopa.
Take just as prescribed from 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 could be taken with or without food. Take your doses at regular intervals to help keep a reliable level of the drug within you at all times.
Do not crush, chew, or break an extended-release tablet. Swallow the pill whole. Breaking or opening the pill might cause excessive drug to be removed at once.
The regular tablet could be broken or crushed as required to learn effectively to swallow.
To go ahead and take orally disintegrating tablet (Parcopa):
Keep named rolling around in its blister pack until you happen to be ready to go ahead and take medicine. Open the package and peel back the foil from today blister. Do not push a tablet with the foil or perhaps you may damage these days.
Using dry hands, remove the tablet and place it within your mouth. It will start to dissolve without delay.
Do not swallow today whole. Allow it to dissolve within your mouth without chewing. Swallow repeatedly as the tablet dissolves.
It may take approximately a few months utilizing carbidopa and levodopa before your symptoms improve. For best results, keep with all the medication as directed. Talk with your medical professional should your symptoms do not improve after a couple of weeks of treatment. Also inform your doctor when the results of prescription drugs manage to wear off quickly in between doses.
To make certain this prescription medication is helping your condition and is not causing harmful effects, your blood will have to be tested often. Your heart, liver, and kidney function might also have to be tested. Visit your doctor regularly.
This medication might cause unusual results with certain tests. Tell any doctor who treats you that you are using carbidopa and levodopa.
STORAGE
Store at room temperature far from moisture, heat, and lightweight.
MORE INFO:
Active Ingredient: Carbidopa and Levodopa
You may observe that your sweat, urine, or saliva appears dark in color, such as red, brown, or black. This is not a harmful unwanted effect, nonetheless it may cause staining of the clothes or bedding.
Get emergency medical help for those who have any of these indications of a hypersensitive reaction: hives; lack of breath; swelling of the face, lips, tongue, or throat. Call a medical expert at once for those who have all of these serious unwanted effects:
restless muscle movements with your eyes, tongue, jaw, or neck;
worsening of tremors (uncontrolled shaking);
high fever, stiff muscles, sweating, fast or uneven heartbeats, rapid breathing, feeling like you might distribute;
seizure (convulsions);
painful or difficult urination;
severe nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea;
uneven heart rate or fluttering with 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 unwanted side effects may include:
mild nausea, dry mouth, loss of appetite, heartburn, diarrhea, constipation;
headache, dizziness, drowsiness, blurred vision;
sneezing, stuffy nose, cough, or any other cold symptoms;
sleep problems (insomnia), strange dreams;
muscle pain, numbness or tingly feeling; or
skin rash or itching.
This is not a complete report on unwanted effects yet others may occur. Call a medical expert for medical advice about side effects.
Do not take carbidopa and levodopa when you have used an MAO inhibitor such as isocarboxazid (Marplan), phenelzine (Nardil), or tranylcypromine (Parnate) within the past 2 weeks. Serious, life-threatening unwanted side effects can occur if you take carbidopa and levodopa before the MAO inhibitor has cleared out of your body.
You should not take this medication if you are allergic to carbidopa (Lodosyn) or levodopa (Larodopa), or for those who have:
narrow-angle glaucoma;
unusual skin lesions who have not been checked by a doctor; or
a good malignant melanoma (skin cancer).
If you might have these other concerns, you may need a dose adjustment or special tests:
heart disease, hypertension, coronary artery disease, a heart rhythm disorder, or a prior cardiac event;
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 might cause you to go to sleep during normal daytime activities for example working, talking, eating, or driving. You may go to sleep suddenly, even though feeling alert. Tell your medical professional if you have any issues with daytime sleepiness or drowsiness.
You may have increased sexual urges, unusual urges to gamble, or another intense urges while taking carbidopa and levodopa. It is not known whether the medicine actually causes this effect. Talk with your physician if you feel you might have any intense or unusual urges while taking carbidopa and levodopa.
Some people taking medicines for Parkinson's disease have developed melanoma (melanoma). However, those with Parkinson's disease could have a and the higher chances than most people for developing melanoma. Talk to your physician 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 child. Tell your medical professional if you're pregnant or intend to conceive when using this medication. Carbidopa and levodopa may pass into breast milk and can harm a nursing baby. Do not use medicines without telling a medical expert if you are breast-feeding your baby.
The disintegrating tablet (including Parcopa) might have phenylalanine. Talk to your medical professional before employing this type of carbidopa and levodopa when you have phenylketonuria (PKU).
If you missed the dose get it once you remember. Skip the missed dose if it is almost time for your next scheduled dose. Do not take extra medicine to generate the missed dose.
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