There is a saying amongst us Parkies, that no two people show the same symptoms, or take the same drugs. Also, the drugs we take affect people in different ways.
Mirapex, known here as Cabaser, has been responsible for some very compulsive behaviours, and it's manufactures have been subject to many class actions and individual suing in The USA, the UK and here.
Whilst there is no doubt that the drug has been beneficial in alleviating movement problems, the trouble has been the compulsions that People Living with Parkinson's have endured, and the failure of the manufacturers to warn it's customers. Gambling and hyper-sexuality have led to many, many deteriorations in marriages and relationships, particularly in the early to mid 2000s, when many did not realise what was going on.
It took a friend in The USA, whom I knew to be a good girl from a good home, to tell me her story in Washington DC, where we met at The World Conference, before she was jailed for 7 years for embezzlement, for me to realise how lightly I had got off.
I immediately asked Professor Horne to take me off Cabaser, which he did no-questions-asked, and it was like a switch was turned off.
And why did I get off lightly?
My crime was to buy lots of plates, mostly from ebay.
The cornices of my house are lined with them.
There's my movie wall; a great ice breaker at dinner parties, my travel wall, my Jewish wall, my "I just like them" wall. Plates range from $1 to $200; most were under $30.
A year later, I had forgotten my ebay password.
And my friend in the USA? She was not so fortunate. She will be released from prison within 12 months.... after being incarcerated for almost 7 years.....
Hi Karyn,
ReplyDeleteIt took me a long while to understand P's "compulsions" and it did nearly break us up. Lots of reading on my behalf helped me to comprehend, if not accept them. Talking did not help as he could just not comprehend what his behaviour was actually doing to me - unacceptable and hurtful - not the behaviour of the man I married.
He stayed on Cabaser right up until DBS last year, and they have now left him alone to be himself. I am very sorry for your friend in the US, a country that is not always so understanding.
Talking to people at Parkinson's Victoria was a lifesaver for me as a partner.
Linda
It has been suggested to me to try mirapex and requip....In various chat rooms and friends one of whom is Karyn...owner of this blog has made me intellectually aware of those two medicines adverse reactions thus i choose not to use them..I am taking sinnemet and thats good enough for me.
ReplyDeleteI can not think properly of where to begin. All I can say is for years after being charged with having child porn and pleading guilty to it I have discovered it was not me .All this time I wanted to kill myself for becoming morally bankrupt. I could never explain my addiction to it. I had never been charged for a crime before and I was 66. Cabaser was first scripted to me in 2007 and I was left on it until March 2012. No doctor told me I should not be on it I had to read about it in a magazine. We are nothing but mice and rats to drug companies doctors are either to busy or do not care. SO BEWARE everyone in every sense of the word we are RESPONSIBLE for our welfare we have to get two opinions on everything . Do not trust anyone in the medical profession and you will be better off.
ReplyDeleteI am a different man again or beginning restoration and my wife says "I have my husband back".
Kevin, I really feel for you; I truly believe that Cabaser takes over one's mind. If only you had the support and information that I had.
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