 |
 |
Hello Stephan - your latest posting of your letter is certainly the first time I have seen it. Something strange is going on - I seem to have lost one or two E-mails myself. There was some interest in a continuing dialogue on Selegiline; not a lot, but enough that we need not worry that we are talking to outselves. My view of Selegiline is coloured by the way that it came into fashion, and I do mean Fashion. It all happened when those druggies in California accidentally made MPTP, and zapped themselves into total paralysis. A lot of neurologists seized on the discovery as a possible cause of PD, and speculation started to find a protection against MPTP: Selegiline was found to have that capability (I believe that it already existed, but was not a subject of great interest before MPTP.) Incidentally, I love the true story about one of the MPTP drug addicts who, after the fuss had died down went back to his old ways of feeding his habit - theft. Unfortunately, he was discovered halfway over a fence, in possession of stolen goods, completely frozen because his tablets ran out! I was put on Selegiline at that time, as were most PWPs but I began to get those vivid semi-waking dreams and nightmares like many others (nobody knew the take before midday rule in those days) because of that, I made my own decision and stopped taking Selegiline some months before the story about mortality rates broke. I don't propose to go into that in any detail, but a neurologist who is close to, but not a member of the people who reported the story, recently told me that in his view, the various critcisms made about the methods used etc, were valid, but if the data are corrected for these errors, they affect but do not eliminate the basic scary story. Perhaps the most powerful reason for not taking Selegiline (as far as I am concerned ) is the news that it breaks down to Amphetamine in the brain. ( this of course is the cause of the wild dreams). Ingrained very deeply in my mind is the view that it is OK to take tablets which may affect my brain, but I will fight to preserve my mind (or personality) from being affected. After an unpleasant experience with Bromocriptine, I was not about to take a chance with Selegeline. I have also heard from two people who tried to give up Selegiline, and found that they couldn't.- Whether psychological or physical dependency was to blame I could not say, but there must be a risk of some people becoming hooked on it. New data which I first heard about while reading the transcript of an interview with Professor Olanow makes it clear that the long-term condition of people taking Selegiline, compared with a control group showed that the early advantage (which was clearly present in the early years) apparently evaporates over a 5 to 10 year period. Now that really does push the scales accross in my favour, I think. Prof. Olanow may be correct in his belief that desmethylselegiline is a 'super neuro protector'. If he turns out to be right, I will definitely be joining the queue for treatment. However, that is all speculation and has no relevance to this debate, which is just about Selegiline. So there we are - I have to admit that a newbie reading these two E-mails is going to have a hard time deciding which way to go. But after all, nobody said it would be easy! Regards, -- Brian Collins <[log in to unmask]>