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Judith, Joe, Murray:

I have to report the other side of the coin, namely that abrupt
cessation of amantadine does not necessarily lead to acute delirium.

My PWP, Judy Hazlett (whom you, Judith, met at the PFC AGM in Quebec
City last October) has been on amantadine since December 1996 (as well
as sinemet & permax for much longer) and has on five occasions since
then abruptly ceased taking it (as well as, again, the sinemet & permax)
as part of the clinical evaluations relating to her participation in a
transplant study. On no occasion was there any hint of delirium or of
any of the other effects reported by Dr. Factor. On each occasion, she
was with me continuously (during an all-day drive and a night in a
hotel) when she ceased taking them, and she was hospitalized the next
day for several days for the evaluations, so there was no chance of
anyone having missed observing any of the symptoms, and she was in good
care lest any problems had occurred.

However, I admit I would have been pretty freaked out and unprepared if
she had manifested any of the reported symptoms prior to hospitalization
(though help was but a phonecall away), and I certainly agree that
forewarned is forearmed. But five-zero is a pretty convincing score in
favour of the absence of deleterious symptoms for this patient.
Nevertheless, the info is appreciated, as we will be repeating this
procedure every six months in the foreseeable future.

Roger

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*  L3R 3Y3                                                      *
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