On Wed 31 Mar, janet paterson wrote:
> hi all
>
> At 08:25 1999/03/31 +0000, brian wrote:
> >Hello Dan, Camilla and Jennifer wrote about the effects of stress. To
> >give you some idea how to cope, it may be useful for you to know that
> >the Adrenalin released in response to the stress seems to have an
> >additive effect on top of the Sinemet. If you can see the stress coming
> >in time (and one hour warning would be ideal), then you should REDUCE
> >your intake of Sinemet to compensate. A reduction of up to 50% of
> >Sinemet may be necessary - its a powerful effect.
> >Regards,
> >Brian Collins <[log in to unmask]>
>
>
> holey moley, brian!
>
> your saying that adrenalin has an 'additive' effect on sinemet
> is completely [i.e. 180 degrees] opposite to my experience
> [and apparently dan's, as well!]
>
> besides,
> heck, if i had an hour's warning of stress' arrival
> i wouldn't have to get stressed at all!
>
> say,
> adrenalin is a hormone, right?...
> and it's a clearly observed phenomenon that certain 'female' hormones
> 'profoundly' reduce sinemet's effect...
> so...???
>
> janet
>
> who's been around this parkie block one or two times herself
>
> janet paterson - 52 now /41 dx /37 onset - almonte/ontario/canada
> <http://www.newcountry.nu/pd/members/janet/index.htm>
> [log in to unmask]
>
>
>
This is interesting: I am quite certain about my personal experience of
stress: For the past 6 years, I have attended the Annual General Meeting
of the PDS(UK). In my innocence I expected a harmonious, friendly meeting
with the accent on Charity. What I found was precisely that (until I
lifted a corner of the carpet to see what went on behind the scenes).
holey moley doesn't come near to my reaction. Lets just say that there
are a number of groups with sometimes conflicting targets, all fighting
for a slice of an inadeqtately-sized cake. To get anywhere, you must put on
your rubber boots (because there is blood all over the floor), and dive in.
This I did - It was both exhilarating and terrifying, and I found that I
seemed to be ovwr-medicated virtually all the time. After the second AGM
the conclusiom was obvious: Since then. I have effectively to re-calibrate
myself for the AGM! Instead of my norma;l rigid every 2 hours medication
timing, I went onto an as-required system. (This was OK because I was not
getting the usual cliff-edge effect.)
The result is that I am much more relaxed, can defend my ground against
all-comers, and after the 2 days are over, I find that my levodopa intake
over the entire weekend is down by 50%!
One thing that we should get straight: the symptoms of PD + an Adrenalin
boost are not exactly the same as the effects of an overdose of levodopa
My understanding is that in the total system which comprises the Substantia
Nigra, the signals to the muscles, the responses from the muscles (along
different pathways) back to the brain, all form part of the closed-loop
control system. When stimulated by Adrenalin (The 'fight or flight'
response as it is called, affects some of the elements in that closed loop
system- it becomes more hair-triggered, and that makes itself visible with
dyskinesia- like movements.
I have gone to some lengths in the hope that you may notice something in
my descfiption. I would not expect Dan to show any effect, because with only
1 year gone, you have to work quite hard to overcome the brains's defences.
Advance warning of stress is not as silly as it sounds: when you have an
appointment for a potentially stressful meeting, it is easy to fine-tune
your system to avoid the un-wanted symptoms. When you look for them, you
can find quite a lot of situations where this trick is useful (To me, that
is, and a few of my friends, who have tried it out with similar results.)
Would anyone else like to try an experiment, in a spirit of scientfic
research?
Failing that, maybe another turn around the block is indicated ?? :-)
--
Brian Collins <[log in to unmask]>
59 now /39 dx 33 onset
