NEUPRO® (rotigotine transdermal system) is a prescription medicine used to treat Parkinson’s disease.

Caring for Yourself

Caring for yourself when caring for someone with Parkinson’s

The nature of caregiving can create considerable stress or burdens. If you are caring for someone with Parkinson's disease (PD), you know all too well the influence it can have on your own physical, psychological, social, financial, and emotional stress.

Think and act positive

Parkinson's can change the landscape of the entire family—in both negative and positive ways. When someone in the family has Parkinson's, this major change can influence behavior, emotions, and connectivity of all family members. In one study, adults caring for parents with PD described how they valued more about life because of their role caring for a loved one and how they found that the focus and responsibility helped them maintain a positive outlook. Some participants in the same study even noticed improved relationships with their spouse or partner, or their siblings, which they attributed to their parent's illness. Obviously, no two situations are the same, but try to take comfort in the fact that you are doing so much for someone you love.

Stay organized

As you care for your loved one with PD, you may find yourself performing tasks that offer emotional, physical, financial, household, decision-making, and social support. Juggling these tasks along with the duties of your own life can be complicated. Staying organized and structured in approaching tasks may help keep you from feeling overwhelmed.

Make time for yourself

Do what you can to get the rest, nutrition, and exercise you need to remain as healthy and happy as possible. Support from other family members, if available, can prove to be a vital part of your personal coping strategy. Sharing the responsibilities of care, or simply having someone else there, can be an effective resource.

If you find yourself stressed by the added responsibilities of caregiving, you may want to try some of these stress reduction techniques suggested for people with Parkinson's disease.

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Indication

NEUPRO is a prescription medicine used to treat Parkinson's disease.

Important Safety Information

NEUPRO contains a sulfite called sodium metabisulfite. Sulfites can cause severe allergic reactions that are life threatening to some people who are sensitive to sulfites. People with asthma are more sensitive to sulfites. Remove the patch right away and call your doctor if you have swelling of the lips or tongue, chest pain, or trouble breathing or swallowing.

NEUPRO may make you fall asleep suddenly or without warning while doing normal activities, such as driving, which may result in accidents. Tell your doctor right away if this happens. Drinking alcohol or taking other medicines that cause drowsiness may increase your chances of becoming sleepy while using NEUPRO. Do not drive, use hazardous machinery, or do other dangerous activities until you know how NEUPRO affects you.

NEUPRO can cause or worsen psychotic symptoms including hallucinations (seeing or hearing things that are not real), confusion, excessive suspicion, aggressive behavior, agitation, delusional beliefs (believing things that are not real), and disorganized thinking. The chances of having hallucinations or these other psychotic-like changes are higher in people with Parkinson's disease who are elderly, taking NEUPRO, or taking higher doses of NEUPRO. If you have any of these problems, talk to your doctor.

NEUPRO can cause decreases in blood pressure, especially when you start or increase your dose. Increases in blood pressure and heart rate, fainting, weight gain, and fluid retention also can occur. If you faint or feel dizzy, nauseated, or sweaty when you stand up from sitting or lying down, or have an unusually fast increase in weight, swelling, or fluid retention, especially in the ankles or legs, tell your doctor.

Some patients using NEUPRO get urges to behave in a way that is unusual for them, such as unusual urges to gamble, strong urges to spend money, binge eating, or increased sexual urges and behaviors. Some patients may want to use more NEUPRO than prescribed for their symptoms (dopamine dysregulation syndrome). If you or your family notices you are developing any unusual behaviors, talk to your doctor.

NEUPRO may cause uncontrolled, sudden movements or make such movements you already have worse or more frequent if you have Parkinson's disease, which may mean that your anti-Parkinson's medicine needs to be changed.

Skin reactions may occur at the site where you apply NEUPRO. Tell your doctor if you get a rash, redness, swelling, or itching that will not go away.

Avoid exposing the NEUPRO patch you are wearing to heating pads, electric blankets, heat lamps, saunas, hot tubs, heated water beds, and direct sunlight. Too much medicine could be absorbed into your body. Also, do not wear NEUPRO during medical procedures called magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or cardioversion because this could cause skin burns.

Do not stop using NEUPRO without talking to your doctor first. If your doctor tells you to stop using NEUPRO, you should ask your doctor for specific instructions on how to slowly and safely discontinue using NEUPRO. If you stop using NEUPRO, you may have withdrawal symptoms such as fever, confusion, severe muscle stiffness, feeling like you do not care about the things you usually care about (apathy), anxiety, depression, fatigue, insomnia, sweating and pain.

Tell your doctor if you have breathing problems, a sleep disorder, mental problems, high or low blood pressure, or heart problems; are pregnant or plan to become pregnant; or are breastfeeding or plan to breastfeed. NEUPRO may not be right for you.

The most common side effects in people taking NEUPRO for Parkinson's disease are nausea, vomiting, sleepiness, application site reactions, dizziness, loss of appetite, difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep, increased sweating, vision problems, leg swelling, and uncontrolled, sudden movements of the arms or legs.

These are not all the possible side effects of NEUPRO. For more information, ask your doctor or pharmacist.

You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.fda.gov/medwatch or call 1-800-FDA-1088. You may also report side effects to UCB, Inc. at ucbCARES® (1-844-599-2273).

Please see additional Patient Information about the NEUPRO Patch. This information does not take the place of talking with your healthcare provider about your condition or treatment.