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Hi Joan,
Harold had several months where he was trying different things (Mirapex,
Tasmar) and became very weak, paranoid and had hallucinations.  I can't
separate out what caused which symptoms, but here's some excellent news: right
now he is better than he has been for a year!  Last spring he was in a
wheelchair all the time, had significant cognitive deterioration, was afraid
to stay alone even for a few minutes, never slept at night.  I thought I would
go crazy too!

Today he seldom uses the wheelchair, is perfectly reasonable to talk to and
sleeps all night!  The best thing we learned from this is that *all* bad times
are not permanent, even though the disease is degenerative.

Here are the things that fixed him up:
-- Dropped all the new fancy drugs - went back to tried-and-true sinemet and
parlodel.
-- 3 teaspoons of Chloral Hydrate at bedtime.  We tried other sleeping meds
but this is by far the best - the other ones let him wake up after a few
hours.
-- Using a condom catheter at night so he had no need to get up
-- Paxil (40 mg) daily for depression
-- Seroquel (25 mg) daily for paranoia
-- Daily attendance at an adult day care center.

Not only is he a different man than he was last year, I'm a different woman.
I really thought, for a while there, my life was over.  I stayed home from
work for a month because he kept calling me, crying, needing me to come home.
I feel so hopeful now - I've got some independence back AND I sleep all
night!!  Best of all, my partner is a real partner again.

Good luck: keep your spirits up!
Barbara Baichtal cg Harold (59, 21)