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Lucy Hartley writes: >During that time, dad's condition worsened to the point that he was >suffering more severe hallucinations and extreme paranoia. He saw animals >and people that didn't exist. He stopped sleeping. He believed that everyone >was conspiring >in a plot to injure him or take his home. Snip,snip.... >His hallucinations/delusions are milder; however, he continues to exhibit >paranoid behavior; he has become almost zombie-like. His on-time is next to >none; he literally falls on the floor and can't get up. He still stays >awake nearly all night, talking constantly. Snip, snip... >If a man cannot care for himself, cannot walk, cannot feed himself, cannot >dress himself, cannot clean himself, cannot get himself on or off the bed, >and exhibits irrational, psychotic behavior, does this not constitute a >medical emergency? > This description is almost word for word how I would describe my friend Ron who is in a rapid downward spiral (or plunge). It is very scary when the onset is so quick, and the decline very fast, and the response to treatment nil. I am beginning to wonder whether there is another disease at work. The diviiding line between reality and fantasy slips away, and the violent tendencies do not surprise me, as I think we all carry some of that in our subconscious minds. Or is this a classic psychiactric problem? Paranoid psychosis? Ron has become extremely obsessive, counting the threads in his socks, going into elaborate stories about the hidden meanings of the colors of his pills. Or is this simply the effects of long-term sinemet use? Can some of the care-givers comment on this? Is this paranoid/delusional state common to the more advanced PWP's? I have two friends who suffer from serious problems with hallucinations, delusions, etc., but both of them are 20 year veterans of levadopa use, even the pre-sinemet variety. I would really like to know if this is the potential result of 5-10 years of sinemet use. What happens if sinemet is completely eliminated, in other words sacrifice function for sanity. This is a hard topic, but with such powerful agonists such as Mirapex finally available, possibly many of us should reevaluate our treatment approach. BTW, I'm having one of my happy 4 AM email fun times,,, Kathie Tollifson [log in to unmask] 47/9