Rasagiline and Fatigue: A Follow Up

In a previously published article, Posy tried to find out if anyone else thought that perhaps Rasagiline was making them tired. Posy was taking 1 tablet a day first thing in the morning. Having felt ok waking up between 7 - 8 am, by 9 am, she would feel so exhausted that it was rare that she didn’t ache to go back to sleep for an hour.

Was this just the Parkinson’s routine or was either Posy’s Madopar (carbidopa/levodopa) or Rasagiline the culprit?

Process of elimination

Although Posy experienced some other drowsy moments during the course of the day, these moments of extreme fatigue did not seem to correspond to the taking of the Madopar. On the contrary, Posy felt heavy and rather down for the 20 minutes leading up to her next dose (i.e. her “off” time). One must conclude that the Madopar was combating fatigue, as it was supposed to.

On seeing her consultant, Posy was heartened that her description of the almost non-life she was leading was taken very seriously. “You shouldn’t be feeling so tired that you cannot do anything you enjoy,” the consultant said. Then, “Rasagiline is not always tolerated well.” “Aha!” thought Posy.

Would coming off Rasagiline ease Posy’s fatigue?

Posy was told to start on a low dose of Pregabalin. Once she was used to that, Posy was to increase it until she was on 75mg twice a day. At that point, she was to stop taking Rasagiline.

A surprising miracle!

Well, dear readers, before even stopping the Rasagiline, a miracle occurred. Within a couple of days on the lowest dose of Pregabalin, Posy was transformed! The sun came out in her head, birds sang in her heart, and she had her energy back!

“I can see clearly, now that the PAIN has gone!” Walking was no longer a painful, slow process. In fact, the sudden lack of pain seemed to make Posy feel as though she was floating on air! Energetic, coping and sleeping soundly!

Now, Posy has traveled alone to Florida to look after her daughter. She hit the ground running, and is giving her all to be a carer/Mum/cleaner/rather helpful person.

An exciting transformation

Having felt useless and feeble over the past 2 years, this is such a change for Posy! Instead of feeling doom-laden, achy and cold, Posy is feeling the (actual!) sun warming her bones. OK, so the lovely Florida spring weather is helping, but how wonderful that Posy feels ANIMATED at last!

The metaphorical sun also has returned to Posy’s brain. Posy can’t believe how she actually keeps wanting to walk the dog, and swim in the (somewhat cold) pool! She is not only feeling embarrassingly healthy, hale and hearty, but she is also able to appreciate the golden moments while dealing with a difficult, stressful situation.

What about sleep?

Posy is SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT! And she is on a sofa! And she doesn’t need to take any of those thousand bathroom breaks!

Perhaps NOT a dream

Posy is waking up refreshed at 6:45 am ready to embrace each new day! The horrid dreams that have plagued Posy’s entire life have given way to rather unremarkable, monotonous ones. Is this just a temporary phenomenon?

As Posy’s typically “dour” Scottish Dad would have said, “Long may it last!” So, although the jury is still out on whether Rasagiline makes one sleepy, Pregabalin certainly gets Posy’s vote of confidence.