Safinamide

If you are known to be allergic to Safinamide or any other medicines, please tell your doctor. Please inform your doctor if you are using any medications other than Safinamide. If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, it is advised to inform your doctor. Safinamide is not recommended in albinism, retinal degeneration, uveitis, inherited retinopathy or severe progressive diabetic retinopathy. Safinamide should be used with caution in patients like schizophrenia (a mental illness that causes disturbed thinking, loss of interest in life, and strong or unusual emotions), bipolar disorder (mood that changes from depressed to abnormally excited), or psychosis; or if you have high or low blood pressure; dyskinesia (abnormal movements); or sleep problems. Safinamide should be used caution with liver diseases. Safinamide may cause serotonin syndrome when used with MAO inhibitors, antidepressants or opioid drugs. A combination of MAOIs and dextromethorphan has been reported to cause episodes of psychosis or abnormal behaviour.

Drug-Drug Interaction: Safinamide may interact with other medicines like pain killers (diclofenac, tramadol), antidepressant medications (fluoxetine, bupropion, amitryptiline), antibiotics (balofloxacin, ciprofloxacin), anti-epileptics (carbamazepine), statins (rosuvastatin, pitavastatin, pravastatin), anti-cancer (methotrexate, topotecan), antidiabetic (glyburide), antitussive (dextromethorphan), opioid-medications (meperidine, methadone, propoxyphene), MAO inhibitors (isocarboxazid, linezolid, methylene blue, moclobemide, phenelzine, procarbazine, rasagiline, selegiline, tranylcypromine),

Drug-Food Interaction: Safinamide may interact with foods that are high in tyramine, such as aged cheeses, fava beans, soy sauce, herring, pickled or processed meats, fish, and meats that are aged, dried, smoked, or fermented. Eating tyramine while taking this drug can raise your blood pressure which could cause life-threatening side effects. It may also interact with alcohol and St. John's wort.

Drug-Disease Interaction: The use of Safinamide is strictly restricted if a patient is already dealing with liver diseases, albinism, retinal degeneration, uveitis, inherited retinopathy or severe progressive diabetic retinopathy.

• A balanced diet is essential to show improvement in Parkinson's disease, including grains and leafy foods, as this food is rich in vitamins, fibres, and minerals. With this food, one should also include dairy items, protein-rich nourishments, for example, meat and beans, and solid fats found in nuts, olive oil, fish, and eggs in their diet. However, limit the consumption of sugar.

• Avoid intake of high-protein foods like soy protein, fish, eggs, chicken, beef, and pork. Eat more whole-grain foods such as whole wheat bread, oatmeal, brown rice or pasta.

• Eat more fibre-rich foods to ease constipation.

• Drink plenty of water to avoid headaches due to dehydration.

• Avoid the consumption of alcohol as it may increase drowsiness.

• Talk to your doctor if you develop hallucinations or other changes in your behaviour.