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Scott, You ask good questions! I'm sorry that I don't have "the answer" for you but I can share what did/has/is happening in my journey with PD. 1. At what dosage does the Carbidopa/Levadopa side effects outweigh the benefits? I don't think there is a magic number for this. For me, when the dosage caused the side effects that were worse than the PD, I started looking for a doctor to do a DBS. I was dx w/PD in July 99 and started on Sinemet in Dec. 99. I did not develop dyskenisia's until July 2001 at which time I was taking Sinemet CR 50/200 5 X day + Sinemet 25/100 3 X day, Eldypryl 10 mg 2 X day, Comtan 200 mg 5 X day, Mirapex 1.5 mg 3 X day, Sonata 30 mg per night, Vitamin E 1000 IU per day divided into 2 400 IU and 1 200 IU dose, 1 multivitamin and I'm sure there is something that I left out. It is hard to say with the drug cocktail that I was on which caused what. I know that the Eldypryl cause me to have terrible short-term memory problems. I was a real space cadet. Stopping it helped but I was still very very tired all the time yet I didn't sleep at night. 2. How long do people work after their initial diagnosis? I started going to the doctor looking for what was wrong with me in October 97. Looking back, my symptoms began in 1992. I worked until August 2001. My PD wound up being MSA and progressed rapidly in 99,00 & 01 but ironically, since the DBS and its removal and stopping all PD meds except for Sinemet CR 25/100, 2 in the morning and 1 three more times during the day supplimenting with Sinemet 25/100 as needed, I am doing a lot better. The rigidity and slowness is back. I still lose my balance, choke, have difficulty sleeping, am tired all of the time, have short-term memory problems and have pain but the pain is not as severe and my mind feels clearer. I like it best on less medication now that I have something to compare it to. But again, this is just me. Everyone is different. > 3. I have several odd movements going on: rocking from foot to foot, clenching/curling my toes while standing, clenching my teeth, and catching myself with my left hand raised (my wife calls this my "Gumby > pose.) Are these examples of Dyskinesia or side effects of the medication? Wow, thanks for joggin my memory. I almost forgot that my fingers would draw into my hands and lock up and I would clench my teeth... don't know if this is your meds or not but since the doctor eliminated all of the extraneous meds I no longer do this. I still can't write but my hands don't hurt like they used to. > 4. Looking toward the future, how hard is it to get the California State Teachers Retirement System (CalSTRS) to okay disability benefits? This I can't answer. I retired on private disability insurance (they started paying benefits in October) and am still battling with Social Security. Debra, Disability retirement threw me into a 3 month depression. My husband thought that I should be excited about being able to sit home and do whatever I wanted to do and still have income. To me, it was one of the most difficult decisions that I ever had to make. It felt as if I was giving in to this disease, like I was telling the world that I was losing the battle. I knew that I could no longer continue working. It had been almost a year since I was able to put in a full work week but I also could not face the loss. It was a decision that I knew would have no turning back safety net waiting for me. Who would ever hire someone with PD after they went on disability, I would ask myself. Silly question now looking back on it all. If you are seriously thinking about retirement, think about what you can do to stay active and feel good about yourself. Have something set up to make up for the loss of interaction with your co-workers and the time you will have on your hands. After the adjustment, retirement at a young age is not so bad. I retired at 39. I now spend my time writing my book, helping others with PD, advocacy and taking care of my husband. I build computers at home, have installed a network in the house and research the net for info on PD, meds, DBS and questions that others come up with where they don't have the time to find the answers. I also have joined the womens group for my neighborhood and taken over the community newsletter. The point I am trying to make is to make sure when you retire you have something that will keep you feeling needed, something for your mind to do, something that your body is capable of doing. Disability does take a long time to come through and the process social security puts you through is totally degrading but if you build yourself up at the same time, it won't be a rough. Debra, never "surrender", just turn "can do" into "can do differently!" Deborah aka Tenacity _________________________________________________________________ Join the world’s largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail. http://www.hotmail.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn