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Dave,

Even though the decrease was extremely slow my guess would be this is a drug
withdrawal syndrome.  The hallucination of bugs etc. it most common with sudden
withdrawal from a drug( e.g. DT's with alcohol w/d)  It probably will go away on
its own and be sure that drugs like haldol, chlorpromazine or any other
neuroleptics are given to him (they block dopamine transmission and therefore
cause worsening of PD symptoms.

Good luck,

Charlie

Dave Jones wrote:
>
> My son Dan (20/1.5 + Down Syndrome) has been reducing his sinemet dosage over
> the past 3 weeks as requested by his neuro. He's not sure Parkinsons is the
> correct diagnosis even though many of his symptoms are classic Parkinsonism.
> We were at 1 1/2 tabs, 100/25s, 4x per day and had weaned down to 1/2 tab, 4x
> per day over a period of 3 weeks.
>
> Four nights ago Dan began to see "bugs" that weren't there, wipping his arms
> as if there were critters on them and abrubtly jerking and grabing his body as
> if he were being stung by a "bee"! The accompaning look on his face is one of
> great fear. These behaviors have been recuring off and on ever since, mostly
> late at night and within a half hour after waking up in the morning. Often
> these episodes end up in tears because of the fear.
>
> The neuro is very surprised at this because normally when you reduce the
> sinemet you decrease hullucinations. Dan has never hullucinated before. Doc
> says to hang on for a few days to see if the situation improves and to tough
> it out for now witnout adding any other drugs. Any thoughts on this matter
> would be greatly appreciated.
>
>  CG:   Dave Jones ([log in to unmask])

--

CHARLES T. MEYER, M.D.
Middleton, WI
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