brian, brian, brian
as i mentioned before
my experience with eldepryl has been wonderful.
started on it 12 years ago, and i added vit. E (1M) ,and C, 500 mg and
NOTHING ELSE, and am s t i l l in pretty good shape, no side efffffects,
just some old age syndromes.
brian,; wejust took the chunnel from Waterloo to Gare du NOrd and back,,,
got a litttle stiff....so i did a few stretching exerc. on the the Euro
Star===went to a wedding in Montparnasse, then to a receptiong in Loches in
the Loire, and took selegine every day, felt ok , even forgot second
one occasionally.........
speed???????? am i totally wrong ??? is it perhaps the vit. E ????
they're gonna have to scrape me off the floor before i take anything else.
love
bernard
----------
From: Brian Collins <[log in to unmask]>
To: Multiple recipients of list PARKINSN <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Selegeline
Date: Tuesday, October 06, 1998 3:34 PM
On Sun 04 Oct, Keith Chancey wrote:
> :
>
> Selegiline, on the other hand, is now considered to be 'not worth the
> trouble' - and it has taken a long time for that conclusion to be
> reached. We are now in the catching-up phase, where those neuros who do
> not regularly read the medical press continue to prescribe it with no
> idea of whether it is really good, bad, or indifferent. (fortunately
> indifferent is perhaps the nearest to the truth.)
>
> Brian, I can only speak from my own experience, but selegeline has been
> the only medication I've taken since I was diagnosed just over a year
> ago. My symptoms have remained about the same during this period, and I
> attribute that to the selegeline. So I can't say that I agree with your
> assessment.
>
> Keith Chancey 45/1
>
>
Sorry, Keith - I should have explained more clearly, but I was short of
time. Selegeline has been a controversial subject since it became
available. The argument is not over the question of whether it makes you
feel better - that is accepted, at least in the early years of PD.
The controversial aspect came from the claims that the anti-oxidant
properties of Selegeline would sweep up any free radicals in the
substantia nigra, and would be 'neuro-protective' - effectively halting
the downward progression of PD. Devotees of the drug became quite
aggressive iin their claims, and people tended to be believers (those
who were taking the drug) and unbelievers (like me) - I started it, on
the advice of my neuro, but refused it when I found that I was
experiencing wild 'semi-waking' dreams. Now this is where the arguments
get heated. I instinctively shy away from anything which affects my
'personality', and I have no doubt that Selegeline does that. (One of
the by-products of Selegeline as it is broken down in the brain is
Amphetamine (Speed!). Some people claim that it doesn't affect PD
symptoms at all - you just don't give a damn! Since nobody knows what
causes PD, the Free Radical story can only be considered as hypothesis.
A major review of this and other claims was undertaken (The Datatop
Study), and my understanding is that after several years of use, and
then introducing sinemet, the amount of Sinemet required by the
Selegeline takers was the same as that required by people who had been
taking Sinemet all the time. Conclusion: Selegeline is no better than
Sinemet as a neuro-protective med.
The neuros are now grappling with the question of whether Selegeline
should be discontinued. Some of the long-term takers have reported quite
severe withdrawal symptoms and are continuing to take it because of that.
--
Brian Collins <[log in to unmask]>
