Friends,
I've posted several times about the conflicts between my early-stage
PD and my passion for running. I'm happy to report that after
several false starts I am now running again with some regularity and
most importantly some enjoyment. I've even hit the 20 mile distance
a week ago. I'm not running as far or as fast as I used to, but at
least I'm running! The difference for me seems to have been the
addition of the drug Artane. I take 3 2mg tablets of Artane 3 times
a day in addition to Eldepryl.
I had tried Requip first, but it made me so sleepy that I couldn't
function. My neurologist then switched me over to Artane. Initially
Artane made me quite dizzy, but that seems to have passed. Prior to
the Artane I had too much saliva (not quite to the point of drooling
except at night). My neuro commented that perhaps the Artane would
balance the excess saliva since one of its side effects is a dry
mouth.
No such luck. Artane is winning hands down. I have so little saliva
that it's difficult eating dry foods without drinking something at
the same time. (Bad manners!) Worst of all, *everything* tastes bad
now. Even my empty mouth tastes bad.
I called my dentist and explained the problem and asked advice. She
said that there were three things I could do: (1) drop the drug - we
both agreed that this was a non-starter. (2) use "artificial
saliva." She said that all of her patients who had tried this stuff
were totally underwhelmed by its effectiveness. And (3) be
constantly sipping water.
I now have water bottles scattered around everywhere. My kidneys are
threatening to float away. But still everything tastes bad
(including the water!).
Does this problem ring any bells with anyone? Does anyone have
advice for dry-mouthed PWP?
Thanks,
Bill
PS - I'm in digest mode, so I'd appreciate a direct reply in addition
to the copy to the list.
--
Bill Innanen <mailto: [log in to unmask]>
<http://Bill.Innanen.com> & <http://mni.ms>
