Stiffness and tremors are among the most common symptoms of parkinson’s disease. HOwever, there are other uncontrollable movements that many parkinson’s patients suffer, such as head bobbing, twitching, and swaying. All these are signs that indicate the presence of a condition known as dyskinesia, which is a known side effect of the drug, levodopa, which is often prescribed to treat Parkinson’s disease.
The onset of dyskinesia is typically evident after a few years of using levodopa in high doses. While dyskinesia does not occur for every parkinson’s patient, or it’s just mild in some cases, the symptoms of dyskinesia may cause major disruption in the lives of many others. The major treatment for dyskinesia caused by Parkinson’s disease treatment is most often a change in medication, or the addition of other drugs to relieve dyskinesia symptoms, as such:
- Dosage change
The first course of treatment for relieving dyskinesia symptoms is to start by changing the recommended levodopa dose. The symptoms of Parkinson’s disease are quite severe when there is not enough dopamine generated by the brain to help smooth the movement of limbs. While levodopa is the medicine that triggers the release of dopamine to prevent both jerky and stiff movements, it’s the rise and fall of dopamine levels that respectively cause dyskinesia. However, by reducing the levodopa dosage, the side effects can be controlled, but still be effective enough to produce sufficient dopamine to help control Parkinson’s symptoms. This can be done only with via the recommendation of a physician, and there may be additional medication prescribed to ensure the treatment is stable. Another option as far as levodopa, is to switch to an extended release form of the medication, which aims to keep dopamine levels steadier without much fluctuation.
- Alternative medications
Other forms of medication for treatment of parkinson’s that don’t cause dyskinesia include Amantadine, which is available in two forms that control the dyskinesia effects. However, this drug also has some serious side effects associated with it such as nausea, dizziness, and sleep deprivation.
- Alternative therapies
In the event that medication is insufficient to control the symptoms of dyskinesia, there are alternate methods of treatment that can be quite useful, for instance:
Deep brain stimulations can aid with the treatment of the Parkinson’s disease, but also with the onset of dyskinesia. This is administered via a device that’s placed inside the brain in order to block the nerve impulses that are common with parkinson’s and dyskinesia. conditions, and allows for lesser doses of levodopa. This is only suggested to patients with parkinson’s for at least 4-years.
