Parkinson's drugs

Like any drugs, Parkinson’s drugs can have side effects. This means that some things you may think are Parkinson’s symptoms could be side effects of your medication.

Impulsive and compulsive behaviours

People who experience impulsive and compulsive behaviours can’t resist the temptation to carry out  an activity – often one that gives immediate reward or pleasure.

Behaviours may involve gambling, becoming a ‘shopaholic’, binge eating or focusing on sexual feelings and thoughts. This can have a huge impact on people’s lives including family and friends.

Not everyone who takes Parkinson’s medication will experience impulsive and compulsive behaviours, so these side effects should not put you off taking your medication to control your symptoms.

If you have a history of these behaviours you should mention it to your GP, specialist or Parkinson’s nurse.

Asking your specialist to make changes to your medication regime or adjusting the doses that you take is the easiest way to control impulsive and compulsive behaviours. So, if you or the person you care for is experiencing this side effect, tell your healthcare professional as soon as possible before it creates large problems.

If you are not able to get through to your healthcare professional straight away, you can call our Parkinson’s UK helpline on 0808 800 0303.

We have advice that can help you manage impulsive and compulsive behaviours as well as information on what behaviour to look out for.

Find out more about impulsive and compulsive behaviours. 

Hallucinations and delusions

Hallucinations and delusions can also have a huge impact on daily life.

A hallucination is when you see, hear or feel things that aren’t there. Delusions are unusual thoughts, beliefs or worries that aren’t based on reality.

They can happen with any Parkinson’s medication but are more common with dopamine agonists. Not everyone will experience this side effect and it is more common in the later stages of Parkinson’s. 

It’s natural to be worried about them but ask your doctor for clear information about hallucinations and delusions before starting your medication if you have any concerns.

Talking about hallucinations and delusions with your healthcare professional will mean they can adjust your medication regime to help reduce their impact.

Find out more about hallucinations and delusions.

Sleep issues

Some Parkinson’s drugs can make you very sleepy. Sometimes this happens suddenly and without warning. Make sure you know what safety precautions you need to take – if you can drive, for example.

Sometimes it can be hard to know whether your sleep problems are part of the condition or whether they are a side effect of your Parkinson’s medication. It’s important to talk to your healthcare professionals to find out the cause of these problems.

Find out more about sleep and night-time problems in Parkinson’s.

Blood pressure changes

Some Parkinson’s drugs can make your blood pressure fall very quickly, causing you to feel dizzy or faint. Increasing the amount of liquid you drink can help. Your specialist or Parkinson’s nurse will be able to prescribe medication to ease this side effect and give you other tips, so speak to them for more advice.

Find out more about low blood pressure and Parkinson’s.

Names of Parkinson’s drugs

Drugs for Parkinson’s can be divided into three categories.

On our website, we have listed drugs in the following order to help you see each category clearly.
 

• The class or type of drug, for example levodopa.
• The generic (unbranded) name, such as co-beneldopa, which will include the active ingredients of the drug. For example, co-beneldopa is a combination of levodopa and benserazide. 
• The brand name. For example, Madopar is the name that the pharmaceutical company, Roche, uses to sell co-beneldopa. 

Your specialist will decide whether to prescribe you branded or generic versions of your medication. It usually depends on which area of the country you are in or what is most common to prescribe in that area. Once there are no longer any legal rights to the brand name any company can make generic (unbranded) versions of a drug.

The active ingredient of a generic drug is always the same as the branded version and lots of people won’t have any problems using the generic medication.

In the UK, a generic or branded medicine needs a licence and there is a strict process for this. This means that the quality of a generic or branded version of the same medicine will be the same, and they will also act in the same way.

If you find that you respond a bit differently to generic medication, discuss this with your specialist or Parkinson’s nurse.

The brand name will usually be the most visible name on your packet of medication. The generic name is usually written in small print.

It is useful to keep the packaging for your medication. This will help you to remember what you are taking. You can also record the name and strength of your medication and carry this list with you for when you need it. This will be particularly useful in an emergency as it will help medical professionals to understand what medication you take.

Modified release, controlled release and prolonged release medication

You may see that your medication is written as modified release. It can also be written as controlled release (CR) or prolonged release (PR). All of these labels mean the same thing but drug companies can choose which one to use with their drug.

These types of medication are made to release your treatment slowly to help you have more even control of your symptoms throughout the day.