Finding a treatment plan that works for you

“Have you found a cure for me yet?” This is my standard greeting for my neurologist.

“Not much pressure,” she responds. “I like that about you.”

We’ve been doing this same dance for a decade, and the cure for Parkinson’s remains elusive. At age 30 something, Levodopa remains the most effective treatment for managing Parkinson’s symptoms, though not without significant trade-offs.

In order to find a course of treatment that works best for you, you must play an active role in the process. This means:

• Finding the right doctor. Studies show that patients who have good relationships with their doctors are most likely to obtain optimal results from treatment.
• Communicating clearly with your doctor. Finding what works best for you requires trial and error, persistence, patience, and a doctor who listens to you.
• Reading all you can about PD so that you can ask appropriate questions. I visit my doctor armed with a list of questions and a ream of articles printed from the Internet… just in case she missed some news I consider important. She jokes that prior to my visits she pulls all nighters with her colleagues, anticipating my questions so she has the answers at her fingertips.

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Sheryl and her MDS, Dr. Cynthia Comella

• Partnering with your doctor to make informed decisions about tailoring treatment options – pharmacological, surgical, alternative and complementary therapies, and nutritional supplements — to your specific needs and priorities. What works for one person does not work for another. As the disease progresses and symptoms come and go, dosages may need to be modified and medications changed or combined to achieve efficacy.

“When the cure is found, I am certain I will hear it from you first,” my doctor tells me.

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