Amantadine

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 1/27/99 2:42:50 PM Eastern Standard Time, jeand@...

writes:

<< This may sound really stupid, but can someone please tell me what

Amantadine

is? I'm thinking it's an antibiotic but I could be way off.

>>

How odd, but my doctor prescribed that for me TODAY! The brand name is

SYMMETREL, and it is used for Parkinson's disease and is also an anti-viral

used to treat flus of the " A " strain. How interesting..........

Hugs,

Chrissy Ü

[Guest guest]

This is what I received from the Rite Aid pharmacist.

AMANTADINE - ORAL

USES: This medication is used to treat or prevent infections of

the respiratory tract caused by a certain virus. It acts by

slowing the growth of the virus. Amantadine is also used to treat

symptoms of Parkinson's disease and to treat the side effects

caused by certain psychiatric drugs.

HOW TO TAKE THIS MEDICATION: This medication is best taken on an

empty stomach, but may be taken with food or milk if stomach

upset occurs.

This medication works best when the amount of medicine in your

body is kept at a constant level. Do this by taking the

medication at evenly spaced intervals throughout the day and

night.

If you are taking amantadine for a viral infection, begin

taking it as soon as possible. Continue to take until the full

prescribed amount is finished even if symptoms disappear after a

few days. Stopping the medication too early may result in a

relapse of the infection.

In Parkinson's disease, the effects of the medication may not

be apparent for several weeks. Do not suddenly stop taking the

medication as an increase in symptoms may occur. Your doctor may

want to reduce your dose gradually. If after several months, you

notice the drug may not be as effective, contact your doctor.

Tolerance can develop after long term use.

SIDE EFFECTS: This medication may cause stomach upset, nausea,

loss of appetite, constipation, headache, dizziness, anxiety,

confusion or purplish-red blotchy spots on the skin during the

first few days as your body adjusts to the medication. If these

symptoms persist of become severe, inform your doctor.

Because this medication may cause blurred vision or dizziness,

use caution when driving or operating machinery while taking

this medication.

Notify your doctor if you develop slurred speech, shortness of

breath, swelling of the arms or legs, vision disturbances,

difficulty urinating, skin rash, or mood changes while taking

this medication.

PRECAUTIONS: Amantadine should be used during pregnancy only if

clearly needed. Since small amounts of the drug do appear in

breast milk, consult with your doctor before breast-feeding.

Alcohol should be avoided since it can increase unwanted side

effects of drowsiness and lightheadedness.

DRUG INTERACTIONS: Before taking amantadine, tell your doctor

what medicines you are taking, especially if you are taking other

drugs to treat Parkinson's disease or other stimulants (like

decongestants which are commonly found in cough and cold products)

as your dose may need to be altered.

MISSED DOSE: If you miss a dose, take as soon as remembered; do

not take if it is almost time for the next dose, instead, skip the

missed dose and resume your usual dosing schedule. Do not

" double-up " the dose to catch up.

STORAGE: Store at room temperature away from sunlight and

moisture.

Rite Aid strives to provide the most current drug information

available, however new findings are constantly being revealed. We

hope your questions have been answered. If further information is

needed, you may submit additional inquiries via our web site or

contact a pharmacist directly at 1-800-RITE-AID. Thank you.

Rite Aid Clinical Services

[Guest guest]

Ann,

I understand that Amantadine is an anti-viral medication specific to

Influenza-A, and sometimes used in Parkinsons (?). The reasoning for its use

is that it raises the intracellular pH, allowing cell wall agents (Biaxin,

Zithromax, etc) to more completely penetrate the cell. I think the low pH

(acidic) of intracellular fluids must inactivate some of the antibiotic, so

this evidently allows more of it to reach targets within the cell.

Good luck,

Jim

[Guest guest]

Lovette,

Do you find that the Amantdine causes you to have disrupted sleep ? I'm

having a terrible time with that, and my Dr cut the Amantadine in half and now

I can sleep fairly well. I wonder if that little bit of Amantadine is doing

much, though. I'm going to ask him about Plaquinel, maybe that's a better

choice for me.

I wonder what the Amantadine really does, it's an antiviral (influenza A) but

seems to be effective on several unrelated problems (Parkinsons too).

I'm interested in anyone who is on the Biaxin/Amantadine combo, side effects,

etc.

Thanks, Jim

[Guest guest]

Dear Jim: I was on Amantadine by itself for 3 weeks, and it did nothing

to me or for me. I then took it in combo with Biaxin and my foggy brain

immediately cleared up. The Amantadine is important because it changes

the pH of the cells to allow the Biaxin to be more effective. My only

complaint is that it makes me nauseous, but almost everything does these

days - But I don't mind because that weight keeps coming off!

Lovette

[Guest guest]

Hi Jim, I am currently taking Biaxin with Paquinel and although I am about 60

% better I am not as well as I was taking zithromax 750mg with Amantadine.

Unfortunately when I tried Zithro again after this relapse it did not work as

well. Both amantadine and Plaquinel are supposed to raise PH levels in your

cells allowing the antibiotic to get to the bacteria. the spirochete hides in

acidic vacuoles making it hard to reach. When the PH level is raised in the

cell the antibiotic can better reach the spirochete. By the way I am also

taking bicillin shots with this combo. I have had virtually no side affects

from either medication, but I know with plaquinel you need to have regular

vision tests because it can affect you vision. Feel better-Val

[Guest guest]

Val do you know if people often suffer from increased heart burn, and

diarrhea.....??? ( how do you spell the runs LOL) I am having a terrible time

with it, dont' think I can tolerate the Zith and Planq combo any more

Hugs

Amy

[Guest guest]

Amy,

I Know Zithromax can cause srvere diarrhea sometimes and it is very important

to take the drug two hours after a meal of at least 1 hour before. i know when

I didn't follow these rules I would have problems too. If I took the drug at

least an hour before food I had the best luck and it did not bother me that

much. I haven't really heard of plaquinel causing dirrahea,but I guess any

drug can. Sometimes people get it at the start of a drug and then the body

adjusts and it goes away. I guess if it continues for over a week, you should

stop or ask your doctor. As for heart burn, I have never had that with any

drug so I really don't know. Hope you feel better. Zithromax also comes in IV

now as well. -Val

[Guest guest]

Thanks for the info Val. I will try those nifty little tricks.

Hugs

Amy

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 3/12/99 12:19:49 AM, A1M1BISHOP@... writes:

<< Thanks for the info Val. I will try those nifty little tricks.

Hugs

Amy >>

Hi Amy,

P.S. I forgot to mention, try not to drink a big glass of water when taking

the Zithromax. If I drank water within the hour I took it, I would sometimes

get diarrhea as well. Good Luck -Val

[Guest guest]

I believe it is an anti viral. I took it in capsules and had NO side effects

but I know there are some. Ask your pharmacist for a PDR insert (physicians

desk reference) and read up on it.

Damn lyme brain, I cant remember WHY the neuro prescribed it, only that she

was treating me for MS ( I'm sure it is used in lyme too) and later when

she Dx me with lyme and I went to a non neuro llmd he stopped it and switched

me to other meds.

MS was an incorrect Dx but she kept me on it after she knew my prob was lyme.

sorry I am not much help

Dabs

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 8/9/99 3:01:15 PM Eastern Daylight Time, Dabret22@...

writes:

<<

I believe it is an anti viral. I took it in capsules and had NO side effects

but I know there are some. Ask your pharmacist for a PDR insert (physicians

desk reference) and read up on it.

Damn lyme brain, I cant remember WHY the neuro prescribed it, only that she

was treating me for MS ( I'm sure it i >>

I take Amantadine and it is an anti viral. My LLMD said it will help

pentration of the antibotics.

[Guest guest]

Amantadine is an antiviral drug which most often was prescribed for

Parkinson's patients. It is being prescribed in lyme disease to be

taken in conjunction with Biaxin or Zithromax because it raises the ph

level in the cells and allows the antibiotic to more effectively

penetrate the cell and destroy the bacteria. That's the theory

anyway...

Lovette

[Guest guest]

Hi,

My Doc had me on Amantadine for a few months, helps macrolides (Zithro and

Biaxin) penetrate the cells better and do battle with the evil Klingon Bb. I

had a good deal of insomnia at the time, not sure if it was Amantadine or

coincidence. Good luck, I wish I could have stayed on it, that was the best

I've felt in months.

Jim (Alabama)

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 8/9/99 1:30:54 PM, ksbreezy7@... writes:

<< Hi all - is anyone familiar with Amantadine?The pharmacist has to special

order it because of the high dosage and it will come in syrup form. I just

had that added - and will be taking it with my 750 mg of Zithromax. If anyone

is familiar with this, please email me and let me know how you tolerated it.

Thank you - Kim >>

Kim, I was on amantadine 200mgs it was a pill. what dosage are you taking?

-Val (LI)

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 8/11/99 3:12:34 PM !!!First Boot!!!, ValP74@... writes:

<< Kim, I was on amantadine 200mgs it was a pill. what dosage are you taking?

-Val (LI) >>

I don't know yet -- the pharmacist has had it on order for 3 days now. It

must be megadose, but when I get it, I'll let everyone know. He said it was

too high a dose for the pills.

[Guest guest]

I took amantadine for a bit over two years. It helped somewhat with energy

and kept me from getting colds/flu. They give it in nursing homes to prevent

flu, as well as to Parkinson's patients.

I missed a couple of weeks of amantadine and had a horrible crash. After

three days of restarting it I had the ONLY normal day of energy that I have

had in the past three and a half years. Alas, it was only one day. I stopped

Amantadine in September when I took a break from all medication. I was

having a lot of liver pain, though my FM and neuro pain were greatly

decreased after months on antibiotics. Again I crashed horribly for about a

week and a half, but then started feeling about as good as I was feeling

while taking Amantadine. (not bedbound, but still mostly housebound.) I

don't think that I had any adverse long term effects from taking Amantadine

for so long, though a couple of my medical acquaintances that work with the

elderly have told me about kidney failure, liver failure and death that they

feel is associated with Amantadine use in their patients.

Barb

[Guest guest]

Hi, , Steve & all,

Amantadine has been tested in a moderate-scale double-blind cross-over study

(each person got both tests, in random order; neither they nor doctors knew

which patient was receiving which treatment). Of 30 PWCs, only 15 could

tolerate Amantadine for 8 weeks, and the group showed no improvement in any

of a variety of symptoms.

(Cross-over treatment was l-carnitine; only 1 did not complete 8 weeks of

treatment and the group showed statistically significant improvement in 12

of 18 symptoms measured.)

" Amantadine and L-carnitine treatment of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome " Plioplys

AV and Plioplys S; Neuropsychobiology 1997; v.35 pp. 16-23

abstract available on PubMed - PMID 9018019

Note that the PWCs used here were not pre-selected for specific infectious

agents, lab values or symptom clusters. It is possible (even likely) that

Amantadine would be useful in treating some subset of CFS, as it is known to

be useful in treating MS.

Jerry

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[Guest guest]

That is very interesting -- I once saw a clinical trial on L-carnitine alone and

it reveal a stastically significant improvement but having tried it well it did

not seem to help. Maybe I should

try the pharmacutical version ==carnitor or something like that.

thanks

Steve

Jerry wrote:

> Hi, , Steve & all,

>

> Amantadine has been tested in a moderate-scale double-blind cross-over study

> (each person got both tests, in random order; neither they nor doctors knew

> which patient was receiving which treatment). Of 30 PWCs, only 15 could

> tolerate Amantadine for 8 weeks, and the group showed no improvement in any

> of a variety of symptoms.

> (Cross-over treatment was l-carnitine; only 1 did not complete 8 weeks of

> treatment and the group showed statistically significant improvement in 12

> of 18 symptoms measured.)

>

> " Amantadine and L-carnitine treatment of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome " Plioplys

> AV and Plioplys S; Neuropsychobiology 1997; v.35 pp. 16-23

> abstract available on PubMed - PMID 9018019

>

> Note that the PWCs used here were not pre-selected for specific infectious

> agents, lab values or symptom clusters. It is possible (even likely) that

> Amantadine would be useful in treating some subset of CFS, as it is known to

> be useful in treating MS.

>

> Jerry

>

> ______________________________________________________

> Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

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discussed here, please consult your doctor.

[Guest guest]

jerrycam@... writes:

> It is possible (even likely) that

> Amantadine would be useful in treating some subset of CFS, as it is known

to

> be useful in treating MS.

Gossip has it that they were trying to find out if it was helpful for MS

fatigue......

I am begining to wonder if it helps ME ? My Dr was the one that thought it

enhanced Doxy but can't find anything on his thinking but I know others are

on it. I have stopped it slowly and will go thru the process and seeing what

I feel helps ME. I apparently was on a high dose 100mgs twice a day.

[Guest guest]

hi,

i was told at one point by md that if my insurance didnt cover my

kutapressin then many hmos would allow amantatdine. (next choice)

somish

[Guest guest]

SusyDog@... wrote:

> jerrycam@... writes:

> > It is possible (even likely) that

> > Amantadine would be useful in treating some subset of CFS, as it is

> known

> to

> > be useful in treating MS.

> Gossip has it that they were trying to find out if it was helpful for

> MS

> fatigue......

>

Yes, I tried Amantadine for CFIDS years ago, based on the concept that

it was used to treat fatigue of MS.

It seemed to help for a few months, then stopped working. It ended up

feeling like speed - a nice boost, then jitters, then a crash. Needless

to say, I no longer take it ;@)

The plus side is that it's pretty cheap, safe to try, and most docs are

willing to give you a month's rx to try it and see if it helps.

--

el - andrea@...

(IFF " FNORD " appears - remove it from my email address to reply)

" ...wake now! Discover that you are the song that the morning brings... "

[Guest guest]

I use amantadine for fatigue due to my Multiple Sclerosis. I use a

very low dose, but it helps my brain functioning (thinking clearer

and more quickly) and helps my depression. It is an " upper " for me,

and many people with MS who may have depressed central nervous system

functioning. I don't think it has anything to do with with viral

activity in MS, only that it increases dopamine levels.

> I'm a virologist, so I'm somewhat familiar with Amantadine. It

definitely does have central nervous system effects in addition to

its anti-influenza A activity. In fact, its central nervous system

side effects make it a very poor drug for influenza. Most people

would rather have the flu than the side effects, which include

disorientation and dizziness. We only keep it on our hospital

formulary for Parkinsons now that there are better flu drugs.

>

> If anybody else has more information or experience on its use in

autism or other brain diseases, I'd be interested in hearing about it.

>

> Judy

> Pandas

>

>

> Hi! I've been lurking off and on the list for awhile but haven't

had much

> time to post. The discussion on Pandas and whether of not it

could be

> triggered by more than just strep infections reminded me of

something. There

> is an antiviral medication, Amantadine, that was originally made

to help

> stop flu symptoms. It was found to have a positive effect on

people with

> Parkinson's since it effects dopamine(sp?) in some way. It is

now being

> used in treating autism with, from what I've heard, good results

on some

> symptoms. I found out about it from someone on another list, so I

don't have

> much info. There is not a lot of information available about its

use in

> autism, but there has been some speculation that autism, or some

forms of

> it, may also be triggered by a virus. The person that I know

whose son is

> being treated lives in North Carolina and sees doctors from the

University

> of North Carolina. Wish I knew more but thought I would pass this

> information along.

>

> Vicki

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 7/18/01 9:09:25 PM Eastern Daylight Time,

jmedlen@... writes:

> At 01:16 PM 7/18/01 -0700, you wrote:

> >I'm wondering if this is the correct spelling of the

> >drug; the information I have for amantadine is that it

> >is an antiviral used for treating influenza and hep C

>

Ok. Got out my paper from KKI. It says " Symmetrel (Amantadine HCI) works

to increase levels of the neurotransmitter Dopamine in the brain both by

increasing its release and inhibiting its re-uptake (inactivation) from the

synapse. Brain dopamine influences certain movements, as well as level of

attention and alertness. Symmetrel is used to treat movement disorders in

children and parkinson's disease in adults. There are no studies available

on the use of Symmetrel in the treatment of repetitive behaviors in children

with mental retardation. There are a few case reports of its use in Down

Syndrome to improve muscle tone. "

There's more, but that's the important stuff. This was dated 1998. One

thing I ought to mention. It said Symmetrel should be used cautiously in

children with seizures or those receiving stimulant or anti-cholinergic

medication.

Donna

[Guest guest]

At 01:16 PM 7/18/01 -0700, you wrote:

>I'm wondering if this is the correct spelling of the

>drug; the information I have for amantadine is that it

>is an antiviral used for treating influenza and hep C

>

Yep, that's what it is (both the spelling and the purpose of the drug as

designed).

j