Carbidopa Dosage

Your healthcare provider will recommend carbidopa dosing based on several factors, including how you respond to the drug, your current dose of levodopa and other carbidopa products, and other medicines you may be taking. To avoid severe nausea and vomiting due to levodopa therapy, most people need at least 70 to 100 mg of carbidopa daily. The maximum carbidopa dosage is generally 200 mg daily.

Carbidopa Dosage: An Introduction

The dose of carbidopa (Lodosyn®) that your healthcare provider recommends will vary, depending on a number of factors, including:
 
  • Your current dose of levodopa and other carbidopa products
  • How you respond to carbidopa
  • Other medications you are taking
  • Other medical conditions you may have.
     
As is always the case, do not adjust your dose unless your healthcare provider specifically instructs you to do so.
 

Carbidopa Dosing for Parkinson's Disease

Carbidopa is always used in combination with levodopa products (Sinemet®, Sinemet® CR, Parcopa®, Stalevo®), as it has no activity against Parkinson's disease when used alone. While most people take carbidopa as a carbidopa-levodopa combination product, some people will need to take additional carbidopa to achieve the right balance of the two drugs.
 
Most people need at least 70 to 100 mg of carbidopa a day (from all sources) in order to avoid severe nausea and vomiting due to levodopa. Doses that provide less than 70 mg of carbidopa per day are very likely to cause severe nausea and vomiting.
 
In general, the maximum carbidopa dose (from all sources) is 200 mg per day, as higher doses have not been thoroughly studied.
 

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Written by/reviewed by: Kristi Monson, PharmD; Arthur Schoenstadt, MD
Last reviewed by: Kristi Monson, PharmD;
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