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Judy and Mary -

have your parents' doctors ruled out the possibility of stroke?

My mother has been doing pretty well on zyprexa - it's similar to clozapine but supposed to have fewer side effects.  It especially helps the paranoia and hallucinations.

Another thing she's tried is ECT (electroconvulsive therapy).  This is a very mild version of the old-style shock treatments.  They seem to have helped both her mental state and her physical PD problems.  She was in the hospital for a month - yes, that is a long time - for a series of treatments (MWF, once daily) during October.  She's been going downhill again for the last 4-6 weeks, so we are currently (pun?) getting her a short series on an outpatient basis.  From the little  I've been able to find out about ECT,  I get the impression that it is becoming more popular for treating the elderly precisely because it involves no drugs, the effect on PD is beginning to be recognized, and in one article the authors said it has to be followed by something like clozapine or zyprexa for its effect to be maintained.

Good luck - the mental/emotional problems can be the worst, so take care of yourselves, too.  Mary - check with the U of Rochester, they have a big PD center and would probably know about stuff in the Buffalo area.

Mary Rack   cg for Mom (75/6)
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