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George, in regard to the 45-year-old man who chose not to use standard PD drugs, you wrote: > Part of playing the game is to use standard medical practise as the >yard stick of disabilty, which returns me to my first question. >Is the young man a certified victim of undesirable side effects, or of old >wives tales? > You brought up a very good point that I've wondered about as this debate has gone on: That is, *why* does he choose not to use PD drugs. I've worried that someone fairly new to PD who hasn't yet started the standard meds might read some of the letters on this list and conclude the side effects were greater than the benefit. The same could be true of someone attending a support group and listening to tales of adverse side effects. I hope that's not the case. Perhaps we should all make a concerted effort to educate the "newbies" we encounter to help them understand how differently this disease affects PWP, and also how differently the drugs affect people. Just because one hears of people who have had adverse reactions is no indication whatsoever that someone else will experience that reaction. The vast majority of PWP get good benefit from Sinemet for many years. As for worrying about hallucinations and dementia, which someone mentioned, that's not a standard response to low-dosage Sinemet, particularly in the early stages of the disease. I've never, ever heard of a case of either dementia or hallucinations in a younger PWP. Let's hope there's no one who's frightened to try standard, proven treatment because of horror stories they've heard. Just a thought I wanted to share. BTW, George, my husband also had no trouble at all proving disability after working for 13 years following his diagnosis. Like you, we had a letter written by my husband's doctor that clearly stated the case. He didn't even have to be examined by the SSDI physician. Margie Swindler [log in to unmask]