Not necessarily upping the dose maybe adding another med .for example adding comtan to improve the effective time of sinemet.she is on sinemet 25-100 which is 25mg carbidopa and 100 mg levodopa.carbidopa increases the effectiveness of levodopa.Comtan is another drug that increases the effectiveness of levodopa,and has been recently combined with sinemet in a new drug out about18mos.known as stalevo.Stalevo doubled the effective time of sinemet for me may not work for all but should be checked out with the neurologist.Unfortunately drugs also can cause severe side effects different in all individuals.guess it comes down to the question is the cure worse then the disease.i wish you and your mother the best .Use the chat sites and talk to people that have been fighting pd for yrs they are a wealth of info.Also the parkinsons foundation.Ed ps effective time between dosages depends on individual a low protein diet will help as will exercise and other factors such as adding comtan.Which I might add is wicked initially on the G.I.tract.When was your mother's diagnosis of pd?