Hello folks:
No, don't look for another limerick! I am strictly abiding by the rules
that I assumed were in place when I joined the list.
I am very gratified to see the numerous responses to Mr. McCarthy's
request re Repuip. I remember asking for the same a few weeks ago and got
little response, and I really do believe it was before I roiled the PIEN
waters with my objection to politically motivated statements appearing on
the list.
I was first diagnosed with Essential Tremor in January, 1998. A drug was
prescribed which had no effect on the slight tremor in my left hand/arm. My
doctor, an Internal Medicine man, had told me he saw no sign of PD when I
asked about it. I then decided that since I was having trouble with my neck
(result of auto accident several years prior) I would try a chiropractor.
She told me up front that she couldn't help the tremor, but could help my
neck. She really did, but the tremor remained. The severity of the tremor
seemed to stabilize, still being intermittent. In the fall of 1998,
however, a tremor began to develop in my left leg. When I told my elder
daughter that (she is an RN, lives in Texas) she insisted I see a
neurologist. So I had my IM guy refer me to a neurologist in the same large
clinic. The neurologist immediately diagnosed PD after having me walk
across the room. He told me I was in the very early stage of PD. I asked
what he could do for my tremor, and he said just take Benedryl every night.
I had done some reading on the subject and knew there were some new drugs.
I was also in the first stage of denial and just slightly bellicose about
it. I asked if there wasn't something better he could prescribe. The Dr
seemed to get slightly irritated at that, perhaps at my demeanor, and said
ok, and wrote a prescription for Eldepryl. When I got home I did some
internet research and saw that the manufacturer of Eldepryl stated in
several places that the drug had not been shown to be effective except as
an "adjunct to Sinemet". I never filled the prescription and when I went
back to the clinic for an MRI (which was negative) I brought the
manufacturer's document with me and confronted the Dr. He was taken aback,
and after reading the document, sort of hemmed and hawed and mumbled
something about trials on primates. He then wrote a prescription for
Requip, as I had brought mfrs statements on Requip and Mirapex. As I left
the office I was stricken by a strong lack of confidence in this
neurologist and related this story to my IM doctor. He made an appointment
for me with a neurologist at Ochsner's Clinic in New Orleans. The only
problem was a 2 month wait. In July, 1998 the neurologist at Ochsner's
examined me and confirmed the PD diagnosis. He prescribed Requip and gave
me the starter kit which gradually increased the dosage from .25 mg x 3, to
1 mg x 3 over a four week period.
The first month on Requip I had stomach pain, dizziness, and
"heartburn". The neurologist told me to gradually increase the dosages and
to see him again in 3 months. This routine has been followed to the present
time. I have peaked at a dosage of 5 mg x3 for a total of 15 mg per day. I
understand the maximum dosage is 24 mg/ day! As most of you are aware,
Requip is quite expensive. I also take a muscle relaxer, chlorabenzaprine
which seems to work well with the Requip.
I also have had most of the side effects that others have written about
like blurred vision, no hallucinations but a sense of movement out of the
corner of my eye. They all have been intermittent. Only one has been
constant and that began last March. It is "xerostomia", or dry mouth, which
is much worse than it sounds. It took many months, and various
specialists to determine that the "xerostomia" was a side effect of the
Requip. I have now begun a program to decrease the Requip dosages in an
effort to end the dry mouth syndrome. It was a relief to find it was, I
hope, xerostomia and not what one Dr thought it might be : Sjogren's
Syndrome, or perhaps lupus, since a sub-cutaneous rash is present over most
of my body. The only other worrisome side effect of the Requip has been a
few episodes of sleep attack, always while I am inactive or sitting at my
computer. The one incident which alarmed me occurred while waiting for a
long red traffic light when I dozed off, but immediately woke up before the
green came on. Since then I have had no problem driving.
I hope this "epistle" was not too boring. I thought that since so many
members have written about their Requip experience it would be apropos to
report that I had been taking a much heavier dosage for a period of 3 years
and have had good results re PD symptoms. Requip is the only PD drug taken,
although the muscle relaxer has shown me that it is beneficial, though my
neurologist doesn't understand why. He believes me however. All this seems
to prove that every individual reacts differently to medication, and it is
the better physician who listens to what his patient has to say.
I had better mention that one PD symptom that hardly ever seems to improve
after medication is a slight balance problem that I become aware of when
walking over rough or uneven surfaces.
If anyone would care to compare experiences further, write to me off
list, please.
Regards
Don A
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