Having levodopa as the “gold standard” of Parkinson’s disease (PD) treatment, modern medical science still continues the search of new remedies against the disorder first described at the dawn of the 19th century as “the shaking palsy”. Since 1970th levodopa has been used as the first-line treatment against Parkinson’s disease; however, because of its specific mode of action, the medicine gradually loses its effectiveness over time, so that patients need to take larger and larger doses of it, which consequently results in the increase of side effects.
In 1997 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a new group of three medications, known as non-ergoline dopamine agonists, called to become a new weapon against Parkinson’s disorder. Requip XL or ropinirole as the generic medication is one of such novel remedies, which can fight the PD either by itself or it can be used to enforce levodopa action.
In order to illustrate how Requip XL works, let us recall the experience of driving a car, which runs out of fuel. When there is a lack of gas in the tank, the vehicle’s movement gets sharp and jerky, interruptions appear in the work of the engine, and, finally, the vehicle stops. Parkinson’s disorder is somewhere close to such situation, but the role of fuel is played by hormone dopamine, which supports the proper communication between brains and muscles. It was researched that people with PD have 80% reduction in the amount of dopamine in their brains, which results in gradual degradation of patients’ motor functions.
What do we do, when the car runs out of fuel? – We mostly either have our car transported to the closest gas filling station or use an auxiliary gasoline can to refuel a car. In case of Parkinson’s disease, Requip XL works like an additional can with fuel to fill up the deficiency of dopamine in the human brains, and restore motor functions.
Unfortunately, Requip XL does not work exactly like dopamine, - it can only mimic the role of the natural hormone in the brains. So, Parkinson’s disease cannot be cured with Requip XL; however, the improvements of symptoms can be very significant. With the help of medication, one can improve his ability to move, decrease shakiness, stiffness or unsteadiness. Besides, the medication can help decrease the amounts of the so-called “on-off episodes”, during which a patient loses his ability to move.
Clinical trials reported very promising results, when Requip XL was used in addition to levodopa therapy. For example, the improvements in daily activities and motor function were significantly higher in those patients, who were treated with the combination of Requip and levodopa, compared to those, treated only with levodopa.
Besides, adding Requip XL to the treatment plan helps to reduce the dose of levodopa, which again brings additional benefits to the patients in terms of safety and prolonged period of the drug’s effectiveness.
While discussing Requip XL it is worthy to underline one more benefit of the medication, enclosed into “XL” abbreviation, which means “extended release” tablets. The point is that Requip XL is the only oral dopamine agonist medication against Parkinson’s disease, which should be taken only once per day. That adds significantly to the convenience of therapy, because with Requip XL there is no need stop usual activities several times throughout a day to take a pill.
Requip XL is available in multiple strengths: 2 mg, 4 mg, 8mg and 12 mg. At the beginning of the treatment it is recommended to take the lowest dose of the medication and gradually increase the dose by 2 mg for every one week. It is important to undergo examination by the primary health care provider during the treatment with Requip XL in order to determine the appropriate dose that would provide the highest effectiveness with the lowest rates of side effects. By the way, patients, taking Requip immediate release tablets, are welcomed to switch to once-daily Requip XL pills (the conversion table is available at the informational leaflet supplied with the medication).
Finally, our overview of Requip XL would be incomplete without mentioning safety concerns, which may arise while taking the medication. As any other drug, Requip XL may cause some side effects, the most common of which are nausea, somnolence, abdominal pain or discomfort, dizziness, headache, and constipation. When Requip XL is taken along with levodopa a patient may also experience dyskinesia, hallucinations and orthostatic hypotension.
So, if you know someone, who suffers from Parkinson’s disease and levodopa seems to provide smaller improvements than it was expected to, it may be reasonable to talk with a doctor about Requip XL - a refuel can of dopamine for the brains to slow down the progression of Parkinson’s disease.
daily, I too am experiencing knee and leg pain. Walking has become a chore and getting up and sitting down are extremely painful. I thought it was my knees because I have lost much carlige. But, you have made me think again perhaps it is the Requip??
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