Eldepryl (Selegiline) – All The Things You Must Know
Eldepryl (Selegiline) is a medication used for the treatment disorders related to movement, specifically by Parkinson’s disease. Though it will not treat the actual Parkinson’s Disease, it can improve the symptoms of the conditions. Patients suffering from the disease may see improvement in tremor, loss of normal movement and muscle stiffness, as the effects of other medications for the illness wear off. Eldepryl can also help enhance your range of motion, giving you the chance to exercise and walk. In addition, this medication is combined with other drugs to treat other disorders.
Eldepryl is classified as MAO inhibitor. It works by slowing the breakdown of particular natural substances in the brain. These substances are norepinephrine, serotonin and dopamine.
How Eldepryl Is Used
Eldepryl is taken orally twice a day. It can be taken before breakfast and during lunch. Do not take it in the later part of the day because you may have trouble sleeping. Following 2 to 3 days of using Eldepryl, your doctor may advise you to lower your other medications for Parkinson’s. Do not attempt to alter the dosage of your medications unless instructed by your doctor. Also, it is important to take note that the full effect of Eldepryl may be seen in a few weeks after taking it. If your condition worsens even if you are taking Eldepryl, talk with your doctor.
What Are The Side Effects Of Eldepryl?
If you get any of the side effects coming from Eldepryl, you have to get emergency help as soon as possible. Stop taking the medication once adverse reactions take place, like swelling, difficulty in breathing or hives. Here are the other side effects you may have when using Eldepryl:
- · Headache, confusion, blurring of vision, speech disturbance, chest pain
- · Hallucinations
- · Twitching of the muscles
- · Agitated, irritated
- · Difficulty in urinating
- · Weakness, dizziness
- · Problems in sleeping
- · Pain in the back
- · Mouth sores, pain when swallowing
- · Constipation
Make sure to see your doctor right away if any of these side effects affect you.
What Is The Proper Dosage Of Eldepryl?
Eldepryl is intended for patients with Parkinson’s Disease. The ideal dosage of this medication is 10mg per day. It is divided into two doses of 5mg each. One must be taken at breakfast and one at lunch. Also, there are no evidences that will show the added dosage of Eldepryl having additional benefits for the patients. Additional dosage must be avoided because it will likely increase the side effects of this drug. Do not increase your dosage without any go signal from your doctor.
Furthermore, there are other drugs that can cause serious problems if you take these drugs together with Eldepryl. Do not take this medication without informing your doctor about the other medications that you have used or you are currently using. These include herbal products, vitamins and minerals. Let your doctor know about all the list of drugs you are using. This will help them to devise the ideal course of action to treat your condition.
Eldepryl for Life Extension
Eldepryl is one of the commonest trade names given to Selegiline (Deprenyl) by manufacturers. Other names include Azilect, Zelapar and Emsam but all in all they contain the same active ingredient; selegiline. Selegiline is a monoamine oxidase MAO enzyme inhibitor and was first developed in the 1960s for use an anti-depressant. It however proved to be ineffective but several clinical trials later, it was found to be useful in managing the symptoms associated with Parkinson’s disease. Since gaining FDA approval in 1989, Selegiline has proven useful in the treatment of this condition. This however is not the only benefit it confers to those who take it; it is known to have life extension benefits to all who take it. It is an anti-aging pill which when taken daily prolongs life.
Life-ExtensionLife extending capabilities of Eldepryl have been shown in scientific studies involving rodents and dogs. Eldepryl works as a MAO inhibitor to stop the breakdown of a neurotransmitter found in the brain known as dopamine. When dopamine is broken down faster than normal as is the case in aging people, it results in several symptoms including rigid muscles, loss of coordination and many more due to the death of brain cells that rely on dopamine for full functioning. By inhibiting the breakdown of this much-needed brain chemical, the brain is retained in its optimally functional state which is necessary for life extension.
Other than this, Eldeopryl works in the brain to increase the activity of endogenous antioxidant enzymes like superoxide dismutase and catalase. These work to curb the effects of free radicals that could result in development of cancer and are also responsible for destruction of body cells as is common with aging. The aforementioned enzymes work to get rid of these radicals and so the body cells remain intact. With less cells dying and more being made in normal cell division, aging is slowed down hence extending life. In a 2006 study, it was found that Eldepryl activates Nrf2 which is a gene transcription factor responsible for the direct activation of antioxidant enzymes.
In order for Eldepryl to be effective in life extension, the doses need to be administered in small amounts at a time else the effects are negated. This is what is known as hormesis. In animal studies, doses of 0.25 and 0.5mg per kg in body weight were shown to be effective in prolonging life while when the doses were increased to 1mg per kg in body weight, death was seen to occur much faster. In humans, the recommended dose is 35mg in a person weighing 70kgs but doses as high as 140mg per day have been proven to be effective.
Eldepryl use as Parkinson’s Treatment
Parkinson’s disease is a nervous system disorder characterized by a decrease in the levels of a chemical known as dopamine found in the brain. This causes movement problems which can affect a person’s way of life adversely. The only way to alleviate these symptoms is by Parkinson’s treatment geared towards increasing the levels of dopamine in the body. One such medication used to achieve this effect is Eldepryl. This is usually used together with other medications like levodopa and carbidopa though it may be prescribed for use on its own.
Eldepryl contains Selegiline hydrochloride as the active ingredient which is a selective MAO-B inhibitor. MAO-B is responsible for the metabolism or break down of dopamine and phenylethylamine. When taken, Selegiline acts to stop the action of this MAO-B causing dopamine to accumulate enhancing the reversal of Parkinson’s disease symptoms. Though the therapeutic effect of Selegiline on its own are limited, it is useful when used together with other anti-parkinson’s disease drugs and reduces their side effects. Levodopa which is the most commonly used therapeutic drug for Parkinson’s disease causes motor complications when taken in high doses. When taken together with Eldepryl however, the dosage can be reduced hence reducing the occurrence of these side effects. Eldepryl can also help delay the need to start using levodopa by up to a year.
Eldepryl is strictly a prescription-only drug which should not be taken without a recommendation by a qualified physician. Many physicians will recommend a starting dose of 5mg per day which is later on increased to 10mg. The medicine comes in the form of a tablet which is taken orally with water once a day. For best results, it should be taken at the same time every day. It is advisable not to eat or drink anything 5 minutes before or after taking the tablet. If you forget to take the tablet in time, take it as soon as you remember but if it is near the time for the next dose, skip it and continue taking the drugs as usual.
Just like any other drug, Eldepryl has several side effects. These differ from one person to another and while a person may experience several of them, another person may not experience any. They include sore mouth which is the most common and lesser common ones like stomach upsets, headaches and light-headedness, constipation, back pain, diarrhea, tiredness and nausea. Others which if experienced a doctor needs to be notified immediately include confusion, depression, blocked nose and uncontrolled muscle movement. An overdose in Selegiline can have adverse effects including a sudden decrease in blood pressure and must be reported immediately.
Common Parkinson’s Symptoms
Parkinson’s disease is associated with aging and the symptoms change as the disease progresses. The symptoms are not always the same in every person and what one may experience another may not. Typically, the symptoms start between the ages of 50 and 60 and progress slowly often going unnoticed by those suffering from initial stages of the conditions and those around them. Parkinson’s symptoms can affect the motor skills of a person as well as non-motor skills. These tend to start on one side of the body and then move to the other. They however remain worse on the side where they start.
Common Parkinson’s symptoms are:
Tremor or shaking
Tremor-Parkinson. This is often the first symptom of the disease and will often go unnoticed. It mainly affects a leg or arm while at rest and causes what is known as resting tremors. A unique characteristic of tremors due to Parkinson’s disease is that they tend to get better when the affected body part is moved. Tremors caused by other disease conditions on the other hand get worse when the part is moved. It may also be noted as back-and-forth rubbing of the forefinger and thumb in what is known as a pill-rolling tremor. The tremor often starts in one of the limbs and later on moves to all four of them getting worse as time progresses.
Bradykinesia
Parkinson-mask. This is characterized by slow body movement in which the daily activities become harder to achieve due to slowness in pace. This is especially exaggerated when one wants to move from a resting position. Walking becomes slow with the affected person taking small, short and shuffled steps. Balance and posture problems are also experienced with frequent falls experienced in advanced stages of the disease.
Rigid muscles
This can occur in any part of the body with the most commonly affected being leg, neck, face and arms muscles. The rigid muscles feel tired and ache while at the same time reducing the abilities to move the affected body parts. Muscles in the face and neck region may make it hard to talk and swallow causing slow monotonous speech. It may also lead to choking, coughing and drooling. A common Parkinson’s symptom is a Parkinson’s mask which is characterized by a vacant facial expression due to the muscles remaining fixed in one place.
Smaller handwriting
In Parkinson’s disease, writing tends to become difficult and when one is able to write, they do so in handwriting smaller than usual. This change is sudden and usually not by choice. The letters you write are small and the crowded together. Only if the two traits are combined should you be worried and get proper diagnosis for Parkinson’s disease else it could just be a usual change.
Selegiline For Depression
Selegiline is an alternative phenethylamine that is used to treat the earliest stages of depression, Parkinson’s disease and dementia. It is a selective unalterable inhibitor of MAO-B in its normal clinical dosages. When Selegiline is taken in higher doses, it also acts as an inhibitor of MAO-A. While dietary restrictions for the lower doses of Selegiline are unnecessary, they are common where MAOI treatments are concerned. Such restrictions are also unnecessary when the drug is taken as Emsam (in the form of a transdermal patch). There have been no negativities reported due to dietary restrictions with Emsam.
The class of drugs that Selegiline belongs to is called phenethylamines.
The fundamental utilization of selegiline is in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease. It can be utilized naturally or as a part of a mix with other agents, frequently levodopa. For recently analyzed Parkinson’s patients, some claim that selegiline moderates the movement of the disease, despite the fact that this case has not been generally acknowledged and the technique has been rejected by the Food and Drug Administration.
Selegiline delays the time that the levodopa treatment gets to be important from 10 to 18 months after the disease has been diagnosed, which is useful regardless of not being complete proof of neuroprotection. The justification for adding selegiline to levodopa is to diminish the obliged dose of levodopa and along these lines lessen the issues of levodopa treatment.
Selegiline is an antidepressant. Doses that treat depression, not at all like those for Parkinsons’ disease, are in the 40 mg to 60 mg for every day range. Selegiline is generally endorsed to discouraged patients, for the most part in the 15 mg to 30 mg range.
They begin at close to 5 mg for each day and gradually expand the measurements. At these higher doses, selegiline turns out to be non-particular and can deliver an out and out MAOI food response, pretty much as any MAOI can. Subsequently, the patient should be instructed about food confinements, drug limitations, and the utilization of sublingual nifedipine in a crisis. MAOI ascends at these higher doses of selegiline can and do happen.
Selegiline used together with pethidine is not prescribed as it can prompt extremely unfavorable consequences; selegiline in mix with the more established non-specific MAOIs or in conjunction with the reversible MAO-An inhibitor moclobemide obliges a low tyramine regime. The danger of a genuine serotonin disorder with SSRIs as well as selegiline is very low and the mix can be taken together without incident. In any case, a mix of selegiline and fluoxetine can prompt extreme effects.