Teaming Up with Your Doctor to Manage
Parkinson's Disease

Your doctor is your partner in managing Parkinson's disease (PD). To strengthen your partnership, it’s important for you to use your time together to inform him or her about your symptoms, side effects, new prescriptions, and any issues affecting your general health. To do this, you can follow these steps:

Need help finding a Parkinson's disease specialist? To find a neurologist or movement disorder specialist in your area:

  • Ask your primary care physician for referrals.
  • Contact your insurance company for a list.
  • Use support groups to ask others living with Parkinson's disease for referrals.
  • Consult Parkinson’s disease advocacy groups. 

Prepare for Your Visit

The following tools can help you get the most out of the time you have with your doctor:

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Communicate Clearly

If you have prepared for your visit and made a list of questions and concerns, you should be ready to make the most of your time with the doctor. In addition, consider:

  • Bringing a family member, friend, or caregiver to offer an objective viewpoint and help prioritize your issues. He or she can also provide emotional support and may even have noticed symptoms or side effects that you had overlooked.
  • Being ready to voice your needs. Be open and honest — your doctor needs complete information about symptoms, side effects, and how well you've been complying with prescribed treatment.
  • Taking good notes. It's not easy to remember everything your doctor says. And if you don't understand something, ask your doctor to explain it to you, and write down the explanation.

If you would like to get information from a doctor online, the National Parkinson's Foundation offers an "Ask the Doctor" Forum.


 

 

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AZILECT (rasagiline tablets) is indicated for the treatment of the signs and symptoms of Parkinson’s disease (PD) both as initial therapy alone and to be added to levodopa later in the disease.

IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION ABOUT AZILECT

Do not take Azilect if you are taking meperidine as it could result in a serious reaction such as coma or death. Also, do not take Azilect with tramadol, methadone, propoxyphene, dextromethophran, St. John’s wort, or cyclobenzaprine. You also should not take Azilect with other monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs).

Inform your physician if you are taking, or planning to take, any prescription or over-the-counter drugs, especially antidepressants and ciprofloxacin. If you have moderate to severe liver disease, you should not take Azilect. You should not exceed a dose of 1 mg per day of Azilect in order to prevent a possibly dangerous increase in blood pressure. All PD patients should be monitored for melanoma (skin cancer) on a regular basis.

Side effects seen with Azilect alone are flu syndrome, joint pain, depression, and indigestion: and when taken with levodopa are uncontrolled movements (dyskinesia), accidental injury, weight loss, low blood pressure when standing, vomiting, anorexia, joint pain, abdominal pain, nausea, constipation, dry mouth, rash, abnormal dreams, and fall.

You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.fda.gov/medwatch, or call 1-800-FDA-1088.

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