A patient with Parkinson's disease is taking levodopa/carbidopa [Sinemet] along with amanta-dine [Symmetrel] 400 mg/day to treat dyskinesias. The patient reports having increased dyskine-sias several months after beginning the amantadine
The nurse will contact the provider to discuss which action? a. Increasing the dose of amantadine [Sym-metrel]
b. Interrupting treatment with amantadine for several weeks
c. Ordering renal function tests
d. Ordering another anticholinergic medica-tion
B
When amantadine is added to therapy to treat dyskinesias associated with levodopa, it often loses effectiveness after several months. If the effects diminish, they can be restored by either increasing the dosage or by interrupting treatment for several weeks. The maximum dosage of amantadine is 400 mg/day, so it is incorrect to increase the dose. Altered renal function would result in drug toxicity, not ineffectiveness of the drug. It is not necessary to order another drug until determining whether the effectiveness can be restored.
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