Print

Print


Steve Dunleavy just wrote about rapid mental deterioration. My father was
hallucinating, very suspicious, poor memory, difficulty expressing
himself which began to dramatically increase about 5 months ago. I kept
in daily contact from FL to TX to monitor the situation and provide
support to my Mom who couldn't imagine what would happen next. Wandering
about began to be a problem, too.
 
But the last three weeks have just as suddenly brought much improvement
due to elimination of clozapine (taken to reduce hallucinations),
elimination of levsinex (bladder relaxer prescribed by urologist, not a
PD specialist), and reduction of Sinemet dosages daily. My Mom decided
that he was not being helped by these drugs (he also takes some others
for a heart condition) even though the Dr's said to keep them going.
Since he has improved so much, the neurologist in Ft Worth agrees it was
the right thing to do.
 
A quick compliment to the PARKINSN List: A posting several months ago
alerted me to the potential for levsinex to CAUSE hallucinations, so
thank you for that clue.
 
Bottom line from my perspective is that the fewer medications, the better
off you are. Certainly if it improves your quality of life, take it, but
there are so many individual characteristics of each person and their
reaction to the MIXTURE of chemicals in the body. Best wishes to all on
the list and to Barbara for continuing to make it all happen.
 
-----------------------------------------------
John DeGelleke          Palm Harbor, FL
Email    [log in to unmask]
Voice     813-934-3648
_______________________________________________