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Thanks to all: Back on the 18th of April I wrote about my problems of concentration and distraction. I was overwhelmed with the response I received from the Digest members. I think I counted 20 responses, some on the board and some sent directly to me. This truly is a caring group. Many ask questions, some responded saying they had similar problems and some had suggested solutions. As a test of your memory I thought I would answer the questions and thank all of those who responded. I will say I had one suggestion that I have tried to implement and I think it is working at improving my ability to concentrate and avoid distraction. Donna Kipp: There is no question that our ability to recall is severely impaired by non-optimal medication. ADD, although it is currently a catch-all, is showing up in anecdotal reports in children of whose grandparents have PD. Martin Jones: Thanks for telling me I am not alone. James Cordy: Aging, retirement and PD all influence our lives in similar ways. Which one does what is difficult to know. It is nice to have multiple things to blame for whatever ails us. John DeGelleke: Your memory is excellent. I wrote about problems in understanding initial stimuli. More is being learned about initial stimuli. It is known that we are unable to immediately recall initial comments. This information is recallable later. The problems your father has with time sounds very serious and well beyond the mental problems of IPD. Ronald Vetter: I had difficulty concentrating on your discussion. You are well beyond my simple understanding of the process. I did understand your last paragraph because you ask if I have anger when interrupted. I did at one time. Any interruption was frustrating and could result in anger. I have been on Paxil (SSRI) for a number of months now. This has taken the edge off the anger issue. I do get startled by my wife or son when I am very deep into an activity. Sometimes this is like electric shock and I am not be able to return to the previous activity. Stephen Holahan: I totally agree with you. If one has too many irons in the fire, nothing gets done. It is important to focus on one or two irons at a time. Then something will get done. Claudia Elliott: I am learning more about the brain and the remarkable power it possesses. Western medicine believes in pills. I am finding more physicians augmenting pills with other forms of "healing." I think we will see more of this in the future, rather than less. The adverse side effects of pills can be stronger than their healing power. Joan Yarborough: Your humor is worth repeating. "Belief in the Hereafter" is when you keep asking yourself "Now, what am I here after?" Susan Paul: I am 54 years old. If you are having these problems at 44 and do not have PD to blame, we would like to know your status 10 years from now (if you remember, we will have forgotten all about this). Jon Stedman: Jon, are you sleeping again? Camilla & Peter Flintermann: You mentioned that mornings are Peters slowest and the afternoons are better. Later you say he is on Sinemet CR 4x daily. The reason Peter is non-functional in the morning is his meds. I will write about how to take pills for PD one of these days. Suffice it to say that there are four phases in daily cycle; startup, maintenance, shutdown and sleep. Peter does not do a "startup." The result is missing half of the day. Carey Payne: Glad we are able to help you understand what is happening (if we know?). Colman Mullin: Depression is not an adverse side effect of PD. It is as much a part of the disease as bradykinesia, rigidity and tremor. Further, the causes of depression may also be the cause of the poverty of movement. Many have found antidepression medications have corrected some of the poverty of movement. I expect to see more on this in the very near future. Ed (ED1912): Thanks for letting me know I am not alone. Yes, I have been a patient of The Parkinson's Institute since about 1989. Drs. Tetrud and Kurth did research together back in 1991 on duodenal infusion. Since than I see both neurologists; Dr. Kurth at Barrow Institute in Phoenix and Dr. Tetrud at TPI in Sunnyvale. Marvin Weiss: As a CPA lapses in memory must be fun around tax time. I didn't know that CPAs never file their own tax return on time. Once the pressure is off, you can be more creative with your own return !!!!!!! Bob & Nancy Martone: Your approach of reminders by messaging, asking people to give a reminder close to the time of the event, keeping a good sense of humor and realizing insomnia and all the meds we take only compound the problems make good sense. I really appreciate doctors who call the day before an appointment to remind me. Bill Phillips: Thanks to Bill for solving his problem and sharing the answer with me. I want to share it with everyone as it works. "ALAN: I had trouble concentrating because I wasn't getting enough sleep. I went off eldepryl and that worked for two weeks. Then the doctor gave me a muscle relaxant (for rigidity), Ativan 1mg. That works the best for me out of the various options he could choose from. This helped keep me asleep and slowly my mental functions returned. Sleep is very important for your overworked brain cells. Make sure you are getting enough. Don't go by how tired you feel, sometimes I can go for days on little sleep and feel normal." John Wherry: John, we are not alone. You had suggested I write about concentration and distraction (or something similar) and look at the wonderful response. Fred Schneyer: Your question concerning your brother, age 40, who is experien cing some short term memory loss along with some minor motor-skill problems, may have at least two possible answers: (1) just being around someone with PD can influence one's thinking about all that ails them. The major concern is that the aches and pains are the start of PD. This is said to be true what ever the disease. (2) Dr. Edwin Montgomery of the U. Of Arizona recently wrote about early signs of PD. The three signs were (a) depression, (b) wrist movement and (c) I don't think I should tell you. Your bother said he had signs of depression and problems typing (wrist). He did not mention the third sign, so maybe it is best not stated. If you think this answer smells, but can't smell it, you have the third sign according to Dr. Montgomery. I thank each of you for your response and your willingness to share. Regards, Alan Bonander ([log in to unmask])