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Scott, my first neuro told me he felt 50/50 about selegiline. Another was kind of like yours who said "do you want this or try this" but I submit that it is worse to have a neuro who orders you around and wants you to take drugs that don't help I think I've said many times that Sinemet was like a miracle on the very first dose, but never again although I took it for a year. After DBSs I tried it and Comtan again, still no help with dyskinesias this time, so I don't take any PD meds..I know they really help most PWP, but I feel I am better off without them and think the DBS helped more than anything. Tremors are very hard to treat. This is a very strange disease and not well understood, Ray ----- Original Message ----- From: "Scott E. Antes" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Tuesday, November 01, 2005 7:27 AM Subject: Re: Shoulder Shrugging > Thanks, Dee. > > Laureen can move her shoulders just fine when *not* on meds. The meds > (Sinemet) seem to stiffen her up rather than help with mobility. It > wasn't > always that way, but she has been on Sinemet for at least eight years now. > Interestingly, it's not just Sinemet. When she takes highly-concentrated > vegetable extracts, she gets the same reaction as with Sinemet, > symptom-wise. > What she doesn't want to do is take one more drug of any kind. > > What amazes me with PD are the doctors' reactions to it. One neurologist > wrote Laureen about half a dozen prescriptions on visit. It was like, > "Want > to try this? Here, I'll write you a prescription. How about this one? > Here's a prescription. And another. And another. And one more. > Experiment > on yourself and see me in a year or so." > > A few years back we made contact with a shaman in Ecuador who told us he > would > have Laureen "dancing like a ballerina" (I know, amazing that he knew what > a > ballerina was). I told a big-name PD neurologist about it, and he > encouraged > us to try the treatment--and if the herbs worked, to bring him some so > that he > could have them analyzed for the active ingredient. While I was impressed > at > his apparent open-mindedness, it was another example of how much is *not* > known about treating PD. Anyway, we never did go to Ecuador. Too much > shamanic competition going on.... > > Scott > >>===== Original Message From "Parkinson's Information Exchange Network" > <[log in to unmask]> ===== >>Good morning Scott, >>...In answer to your question about shoulder shrugging, I don't have that >>problem myself.... >>...It does seem strange that your wife would have difficulty shrugging her >>shoulders when her Sinemet is working. That is when we should be at our > most >>flexible and pain free. I do recall having read articles about Levadopa > related >>dystonia. In those cases, I believe the recommendation was to reduce the >>Sinemet dosage to see if it relieves the dystonia without aggravating the >>Parkinson's symptoms. If that doesn't work, it is suggested that adding >>Amantadine might help. Check with your doctor if you suspect that there >>is > a >>connection here and do some research on the subject before doing any > alteration to >>the drug dosage. >> >>Happy Halloween! >> >>Dee >> >>---------------------------------------------------------------------- >>To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: >>mailto:[log in to unmask] >>In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn > > Scott E. Antes > Department of Anthropology > Northern Arizona University > Flagstaff, AZ 86011-5200 > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: > mailto:[log in to unmask] > In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn