Hi all,
Been a little busy lately, not much time to participate, but I
read it all. And, on Mon, 17 Jul 2000 the digest contained:
Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2000 13:47:47 +0200
From: Hans van der Genugten <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Question about tremor
> Hi Alf,
>
> >> The books say that PD tremor stops when you fall asleep. <<
>
> Yes.
>
> >> But I haven't read anywhere WHY it stops? <<
>
> Correct, that is because they have NO idea why it stops.
> ...
And ...
Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2000 10:18:24 -0300
From: Joao Carvalho <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Question about tremor
> Could it be that the need of dopamine is reduced during sleep ?
Well, I'm certainly no expert here, but I thought I would
throw in my thoughts and experiences.
I have become somewhat adept at producing a special sort of
consciousness in which my body is essentially asleep but my mind
is completely awake. The people I learned how to do this from
call this unique state of consciousness "Focus 10." And, it is
due to a special state of the brain that they call "hemispheric
synchronization."
This state occurs naturally in some people on rare occasions.
But, it has been observed as a naturally occurring mode with
someone who is in a deep meditative state. I'll admit that I've
only been "challenged" by PD for about four years now. But, when
I get into "Focus 10," my tremors disappear. It isn't a fast
process -- it takes some time; and there are times that I can't
"get there" for whatever reason -- I'm sure there are a variety
of reasons; and, it's not a very useful state of consciousness as
the only thing you can do is use your brain and mind for think-
ing. The instant you move a muscle, you pop back into your nor-
mal, consciousness state.
So, my *theory* is that when part of the brain notices that
the body is asleep, it stops sending its signals to the muscles
-- the good signals and the bad (PD) signals. It sees no sense
it transmitting anything to the muscles because they're asleep
and they aren't going to respond anyway.
But, the instant that part of the brain notices, the body com-
ing "awake" (under the direction, I'm sure, of a completely *dif-
ferent* area in the brain) it starts it's normal job of sending
the signals (good and bad :-( ) to the muscles to try to control
the movement again.
I wish different parts of the brain would be more coordinated.
:-)
Now, if I could just get that "Star Trek" image of Captain
Pike's head mounted on a rolling computer system from the origi-
nal pilot, I'll be okay. :-/ And, if I could just find something
to do while in Focus 10 ... :-)
And, on another topic ...
In one of my last posts to the list, I had mentioned that my
doctor had put me on Requip. I'm up to .75mg at three times a
day and it seems to be providing some benefit. On my most recent
visit, I talked to him about my dyskinesias. So, he put me on
100mg of Amantadine four times a day.
But, this is the second night in a row that I've had this
strange feeling while sitting and typing e-mail replies. It's
not as bad today as it was last night, but I had this sort of du-
al-consciousness feeling come over me. I was obviously sitting
there typing e-mail and (I hope :-) ) making some sense out of
the words I was typing. But, at the same time, I had this feel-
ing that I was standing behind the guy doing the typing, watching
over his shoulder, and wondering who he was writing to and what
it was about.
It was (not quite) almost as if I were two people and was
switching conscious awareness between the two beings several
times a minute. Has anybody ever experienced anything similar?
Is it a possible conflict between one or both of the newer meds
and the ones I was taking previously?
Sinemet CR (Carbidopa/Levodopa), 50 mg./200 mg., four times a day.
Cogentin (Benztropine), 0.5 mg., three times a day.
Eldepryl (Selegiline), 5 mg., twice a day.
Levoxyl (Levothyroxine), 0.5 mg., once a day.
Requip (Ropinirole), .75mg, three times a day.
Amantadine, 100 mg., four times a day.
Feldene (Piroxicam), 20 mg., once a day as needed for pain.
Also, a multi-vitamin and ginseng.
And again, FWIW, I personally decided to cut the Sinemet and
Amantadine down to three times a day. I did this, for the most
part, because I typically don't have to worry about my tremors at
home in the evenings. And, there seems to be some residual ef-
fect (most of the time) from the other doses that pretty well
holds me over until the next day
Well, enough babbling for now, perhaps the strange feeling is
just because I'm tired a lot lately. Thanks for listening, take
care ...
Bill--
...who believes five out of four people have trouble with fractions.
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