Hi friends,
It's been a long time since I posted anything, but I have been
lurking. I felt it was important to let readers know about Stan's
experience with Aricept. Others have reported no changes or a negative
experience. Stan took 5 mg of Aricept (a sample from his Dr) for several
weeks a few months ago and we did not notice any change. We then had a
prescription filled recently to try it again and possibly increase the
dose. The result was DISASTER! He had two of the worst weeks he has had in
years - spending much of his time in a profound 'off' state and the 'on'
periods being very short. He also got very depressed and that made things
unbearable for him. We stopped the Aricept and things have gradually
improved so he is back to normal now. If it was going to interfere with the
balance between dopamine and acetycholine, we don't understand why it did
not happen the first time he tried it (same dose).
Stan has had to stop driving recently and we just hired somebody to
drive him where-ever he wants to go for several hours, twice a week (while I
am at work). Giving up driving has been easier for him knowing that he can
still get to places that are not walkable for him, but it is still a major
transition.
On another note, anybody interested in doing a literature search on
any subject related to PD ( or ANY topic) can now access the National
Library of Medicine database at no cost. It is called PubMed and can be
accessed on the Internet at the address: http://www.nlm.nih.gov It is
really easy to perform a search, obtain abstracts, etc. Use the word 'and'
between your areas of interest, i.e. parkinson's AND depression'. You will
get a listing of articles that relate to both subjects. If you want the
abstract of the article, change the DISPLAY area to 'abstract only'.
I am now President of the National Capital Area Chapter of APDA and
I am interested in communicating with officers of other large support groups
to share ideas on meeting topics and special events. It would be fun to
share copies of newsletters, etc.
Best wishes to all!
Susan Hamburger, CG for Stan 16+/62
It's a funny thing about life; if you refuse to accept anything but the
best, you very often get it.
W. Somerset Maughm
