12/24/98 9:29 AM
hi, all.
i'd like to "reintroduce" myself b/c i've been off the list for several months
(techie problems w/work server kept throwing me off the list, i think).
anyway, if i may refresh your memories, my mother, barbara, is a pwp (56/7).
she's not computer-savvy, so i keep up with the list for her. all of your
messages are informative and inspirational.
mom's physical pd symptoms are not overly pronounced (not yet, at least; knock
on wood), but her emotional problems (depression and anxiety associated w/ pd)
drive her overall pd symptoms. she doesn't respond well to medication,
including the "gold standard," sinemet, which seems to increase her anxiety
and even caused severe delusional behavior over a period of time.
i'd first written to everyone to find out more about electro-shock therapy
(ect). since i've been back, my mother has been an inpatient twice at
columbia presbyterian here in nyc. the first time she received 6 treatments
over the course of 3 weeks (first week to get her off all medications), which
worked wonders for her. however, when she returned home and returned to meds,
including small dosage of sinemet and clozaril, her anxiety returned after 2
weeks and we were back to square one.
she was discharged from col. presbyt. last week, after 4 more treatments, and
now her psychiatrist is trying "maintenance ect." he has patients who have
been receiving ect weekly for years w/o severe side effects (we have noticed
mom's short-term memory is not as good as it used to be, but she's willing to
live with this).
anyway, my point here (besides my reintroducing myself) is that if you are one
of the (i'm assuming many) pwp's who do not respond well to meds, you might
want to consider ect. so far, so good with my mother. and she also says that
although it's scary at first, the procedure itself is not painful whatsoever.
sorry about the long-windedness of this posting, but her story is complicated
(as is everyone's i'm sure).
may the holiday season find you all safe and happy.
nancy f. (daughter of barbara)
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