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                                 RTK.NET Mail 164423   Jun 13 18:55:05 1996


Hi Judy, Clozaril is the most powerful anti-psychotic that can be used in
patients with PD.  Side effects vary, but many people do quite well with
it.  The most famous potential side effect is the uncommon drop in white
blood cell count.  Although unusual, this was fatal in some early test
subjects, so he would have his blood drawn regularly to monitor this as
long as he was on Clozaril.  Since he's been having problems with some
hallucinations for a year and a half, I think you'll definitely want to
discuss this with doctors.

The other thing you'll probably want to look at is his total medication
picture.  Is he on any of the less essential medications, such as Eldepryl?
If so, in consultation with his neurologist, you would probably want to
consider discontinuing it to see if that helps before moving to Clozaril.
If he's on lots of medications, you may want to post the details here and
get feedback from the most medicinally knowledgeable.

I hope you find a good treatment option soon,

Sherri Cave
[log in to unmask]

p.s. If my mailer hasn't deleted it, I could send you a quite long (20-25
pages, I think) piece called "An Algorithm for the Management of Parkinson's
Disease".  It's written for doctors and discusses most of the major
medication options.  I remember a discussion of Clozaril and a set of
suggestions about which drugs to decrease or eliminate first.