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Complications of chronic levodopa therapy

Long-term efficacy Of drug holiday

Department of Neurological Sciences, Rush-Presbyterian St. Lukes Medical Center, Chicago, IL.

Chronic use of levodopa may be complicated by dyskinesias, on-off effect, or hallucinosis. Transient levodopa withdrawal (drug holiday) may increase motor responsiveness and decrease levo-dopa-induced side effects, and the improved state may persist for as long as 9 months. After 1 year, parkinsonian signs approached pre-holiday levels, and two of the patients required a 'second drug holiday; side effects began to reappear 9 to 12 months after the holiday. Four of six patients with psychiatric complications remained free of hallucinations for the entire year.

Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Klawans, Department of Neurological Sciences, Rush-Presbyterian St. Lukes Medical Center, 1725 W. Harrison, Chicago, IL 60612.

This work was supported in part by grants from the United Parkinson Foundation and the Boothroyd Foundation, Chicago, IL.

Presented in part at the thirty-second annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology, New Orleans, LA, May 1980.

Accepted for publication July 29, 1980.

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