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On Wed 19 Jan, Barbara Patterson wrote: > Please do not make any changes in the dose or timing or amount of medication > (prescription or over-the-counter) you take until you have discussed it > with your physician. These are serious powerful medications designed to > alter the chemistry within the brain. We should all be aware of the > potential for disaster that could occur if we abuse/misuse these drugs. > So, again...please consult your physician BEFORE making any changes. Barb > > ============================================================================ > Barbara Patterson [log in to unmask] > HSC 2J22 905-525-9140, ext. 22403 > School of Nursing > ============================================================================ > > > Dear Barbara, I am fully in agreement with your warning about the need for caution when making changes in one's meds, and the need to discuss any concerns with your specialist, but (and you knew that "but" was coming, didn't you), don't you see a need for an alternative viewpoint on such subjects, if only to keep these paragons of expertise on their toes? I am fully aware that some Members of the Establishment take a dim view of some of the things that I write, but try for a moment to see the subject from the other side: Many of the people who write to the list are suffering the most distressing symptoms, and they have been round the loop where the Specialist has pronounced judgement. (Much of the time, it is the Specialist who got them into the trouble in the first place!) Surely you must concede that some experts are not as expert as we would like them to be. And what gives me the right to question the experts, you may ask. Well, 21 years of taking levadopa (and I am still taking about 800mg per day) has tended to teach me a few things, which I try to pass on to you, assuming that there is room in your world for an occasional new concept. You may wonder at the stormy sessions that occur when I go to one of my regular 6-monthly meetings with my neurologist. Nothing could be further from the truth; I have the highest respect for him, and the information which he has given me has been invaluable in my quest to try to understand what is Really going on. If you stand back far enough, doesn't the whole thing look pretty silly? The 'Art' of how to take your meds, when to take them, and in what form to take them, probably took a few lectures late on a Friday afternoon during one of the many years which it took to train these people. For me, however those very same subjecs have been occupying my thoughts and dominating my life for the past 22 years. In my experience, the best neurologists are those who have the humility to recognise that maybe we can teach them some occasionally useful facts. My best regards to you all -- Brian Collins <[log in to unmask]> (60/ 39/34)