I have had typical PD symptoms for about 2 years (balance, tremors, gait, etc.). My third Neuro insisted that my medications could be causing my symptoms and that therefore I may have Parkinsonism which causes identical symptoms as PD but are a result of other factors. In my case he believed my symptoms may be caused by overmedication and suggested I stop taking aripiprazole. After 6 months off the antipsychotic my off times have been eliminated and my PD symptoms are minimal. Although I had been taking sinemet 25/100 three times a day, we are weaning me off it in six months to see my reaction. So far I am down to 2 a day and no PD symptoms. Obviously, I'm doing this under medical supervision.
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This is so interesting. My doctor thinks my tremors are from Medication and thus must be ET. After researching each medication I take the only two possibilities are Zoloft and Trazadone. I'm afraid to stop or even reduce these medications because I have Major Depression Disorder and have fallen into very deep depression to the point of contemplating suicide for no apparent reason. I have told my doctor that I don't think it is ET because it is resting tremors and many other symptoms that point to PD. Hope you keep us posted as to how it goes. I'm definitely interested.
Whoops I see now that you said Parkinsonism not Essential Tremors. Anyway I still am interested. I'm not at all sure I understand the difference between Parkinsonism and PD.
his personal life does not enter into the fact that he provides me with understanding and alternatives.
just subscribe to his emails, you'll know what I mean.
has an excellent article on ketosis....did you know that the body has two fuels, glucose....and ketosis, and that ketosis is recommended for insulin resistant persons. potentially I can find out if I am insulin resistant by taking MTC oil, available but rare. (it's an oil that you will find in coconut oil, in low dose.) he also gives you option to achieve ketosis by changing diet using natural oils that bypass the liver....what doc would share that?
that other site is an education as well, did you know that viruses, unlike everything else on earth, don't die?
with advent of social medicine, which is grudging uninspired, can kill you and does kill a lot of persons very year, you might as well start your medical education and become this annoying informed client.
I guess I'm just too old school to try anything my doctor doesn't approve of first. Besides the PD that I have I've been a long time diabetic and I know about diabetic ketoacidosis so I don't mess around with different products. Just my opinion. I think it's wonderful that you have found this Dr. Mercola's discoveries have helped you.
what make you think you're doctor wouldn't approve? maybe it's not for your state of health? i'm not advising you, I don't know what happens in acidocis. in the article he cautions, apparently there are test strips to monitor ketosis, I just scanned it, need to study it.
Honestly I don't know if my doctor would approve or not, I haven't asked him. Feeling a little too overwhelmed right now to think about anything but following doctors orders. I was only diagnosed day before yesterday. I have several chronic diseases that I take meds for and it is much too much for me to figure out what interactions could possibly happen so I just listen to Dr. Fulmer, I have a lot of faith in him.
I have Hypothyroidism, Diabetes type 2, Osteoarthritis, Major Depression Disorder, high blood pressure, and now Parkinson's. Geese.... writing them down makes them seem so many.
Well your depression is almost certainly related to Parkinsons (very common) and you may find your arthritis improves once you are on medication and watch out for that BP medication because we can have trouble with low BP.
They always check thyroid in PD as hypothyroid and PD have some symptoms that are similar.
Hikoi, are rotator cuff problems, lower back pain symptomatic of PD? I know I read "shoulder pain" but rotator cuff problems? I had to have my shoulder rebuilt when I was younger but thought it was due to a horse riding injury. Lower back pain for years which is why I do yoga - it truly helps. The board is so helpful and your insight so appreciated.
..........social medicine, which is grudging uninspired, can kill you and does kill a lot of persons very year, .........
OH DEAR 999 666 - will social medicine kill us?! This is what Google came up with for social medicine.
Definition: The field of social medicine seeks to: understand how social and economic conditions impact health, disease and the practice of medicine and. foster conditions in which this understanding can lead to a healthier society.
i'm just relating facts. perhaps your country delivers on social medicine, not here, not for me.
I have not had a chest x-ray in a couple of decades, I was told by an MD, "if there is anything on your lungs...it's too late"....they then sent me to a neurologist who told me the only way they could diagnose pd is if I test-drive levodopa...they also ignored possibility of ear infection. I have had psoriasis in my ear for years....it clears up with lactaid...weird, I know.
I won't cooperate before I get a thorough check-up.
Is Aripiprazole the sole med that the neuro thinks may have caused the PD- like symptoms? Was there something else that you took with it or prior to it and how long did you take it? Did you ever take any herbs or supplements that could also have caused symptoms? What about cholesterol meds?
I have taken other medications throughout the years, but my PD symptoms had a direct correlation to my taking and stopping to take Aripiprazole. I have not taken herbs, supplements, nor cholesterol meds. I am not a scientist nor doctor, just posting my personal experience.
Can your meds stop working after taking them for almost 10yrs, I've noticed that if I only take Lorazepan it helps me more with the legs freezing than taking pd meds, it's possible???
If it is happening to you then it is indeed possible! Otherwise I do not have any insight. If no one else comments you could post this separately as a question and get more attention.
About 7% of people with parkinsonism have developed their symptoms following treatment with particular medications. This form of parkinsonism is called ‘drug-induced parkinsonism’.
People with idiopathic Parkinson’s disease and other causes of parkinsonism may also develop worsening symptoms if treated with such medication inadvertently.
In 50% of cases, the symptoms generally occur within one month of starting the medicine. In some older people, features can be identified as early as the fourth day of treatment, and sometimes after one dose. However, there can occasionally be a delayed development of parkinsonism.
Generally, 60% of people will recover within two months, and often within hours or days, of stopping the offending drug. However, some people may take as long as two years. One study reported that 16% of cases went on to be confirmed to have idiopathic Parkinson’s. These people were probably going to develop Parkinson’s at some stage in the future in any event, but the offending drug ‘unmasked’ an underlying dopamine deficiency. This theory is supported by research studies with specialist PET scans.
Thank you, Hikoi. What we don''t know can hurt us. My stepdad was prescribed high-dose lithium for depression, and developed tardive dyskinesia as a result.
I passed out after taking 1 Avelox antibiotic pill. Now have PD symptoms 4 years later. Starting on mucuna pruriens now. Fearful of Pharmacy meds . Any suggestions?
Carbidopa/levodopa will not do you any damage. OTOH dopamine agonists can have some very serious adverse effects.
Of all the fluoroquinolones, moxifloxacin a/k/a avelox is the most serious adverse effect offender. I can tolerate most fluoroquinolones OK but one dose of avelox made me very sick. I suffered body temperature dysregulation - uncontrollable shivering. My oral temperature registered 91 F. Other patients have reported similar symptoms.
A search did turn up one case of PD suspected to have been caused by avelox. Other meds that can cause parkinsonism have been listed upthread. One very significant risk factor for PD is exposure to pyrethroid insecticides such as permethrin. These are commonly sold for household use because they are wrongly thought to be non-toxic.
There are many antihistamine drugs. Your doctor may be right in asserting that the majority of them are safe. British Pharmacists treating PD patients have been warned in particular against the antinausea/motion-sickness drug called cinnarizine (Stugeron, not available in the USA) because it can cause Parkinsonism. You can ask your doctor about page 11 of this brochure: parkinsons.org.uk/sites/def...
P.S. Your doctor -- no matter how smart he may be -- is not as "omniscient" as the Internet. We have to do our own homework.
I was taking it to control mood swings and he replaced it with tegretol. No side effects from stopping to take Airpiprozole except the positive ones. To clarify, I sometimes get tremors and my doctor informed me that the medicine caused changes in my brain that don't go away immediately. He expects that the brain will heal itself and that the effect may only take a year to go away! I have also recently stopped taking Lithium (following his advise). He feels that lithium can also be a contributing factor. HE will re-evaluate in 6 months.
Bravo ! Sounds great. I think often we forget (or fail to fully realize) that medications bring with them side effects. Sometimes its not "us/or disease" that is the problem. I wonder how many other people are potentially capable of taking the same path you have, with similar results.
Good morning! I thought I was finished with my questions on LDN, but one popped up this morn. When do you take your LDN? Do you take it at a time to avoid your C/l-dopa or other meds? Thanks....I am off for my morn walk.
It is (universally) recommended that you take it at 10:00 pm (or at your evening bedtime). I follow that recommendation and take my Cardopa-Levodopa at the same time I don't remember the reasoning behind this. Maybe allow it to repress the immune system temporarily while you are asleep and allow it to revive itself prior to waking.
For my son, a strong possibility down the road. His meds still need to be adjusted. Right now I get to experiment with Mucuna. I'm glad I asked the question because I would have never guessed 10pm/bedtime and to take them with last dose of medication. Thanks!!!
on top of that, I don't know what a "long time" means....I have the impression that after about two years, they have to up the dosage.
I wanted to tell you that I appreciate any thinking person's thoughts on this malady. this pd , in my humble opinion, to date, is somewhere between the "leaky gut" and the "leaky brain" barrier. (toxins from leaky gut get past brain barrier, because of malfunctioning immune system. (I think they call it " oxidative stress/load") what happens is thieving free radicals, hungry for oxygen molecules steal theml from your cells which USUALLY they can easily just go and get another one. if not, you're in trouble.
or else, your not eating/unable to deliver, precursor to dopamine production site.
I believe body can heal itself, is designed to heal itself. I discovered this possibility in: Dr. Mercola.com, articles.
Jose, I am going through the same thing as you. I was just told by my new neuro that I don't have PD but Parkinsonism and am now weaning off the Sinemet (same doses as you). Do you or did you have any side effects going off the meds and how long did it take to see a difference? I would appreciate any info you could pass along to me.
First post, hello. First, I am not a doctor, I only know enough to ask questions of doctors. So if anything I say seems to pertain to you. ask you doctor, don't jump to conclusions.
Rather than addressing Parkinson, I'd like to address Parkinsonism which is my category. Parkinsonism can also be called atypical Parkinson or Parkinson Plus. Parkinson Plus is very uncommon with something like one in every 400 Parkionson patients have either Lewy Body. Progressive Supranuclui Palsy,(PSP), Multiple System Atrophy (MSA) and one other something like CBD
I note the rarity since if your doctor just doesn't understand your symptoms it doesn't mean you have Parkinson Plus. It seems as if many times it's an easy answer if a doctor can't see the typical Parkinson signs to say "well you have Parkinsonism" without defining it.
Parkinson Plus has the same problem with dopamine and some of the movement problems as Parkionson but not tremors. Sinemet isn't effective. They carry other degenerative neurological problems.
There is a nuclear medicine exam using Datscan (again not recommending just saying it exists) which is very good at differentiating Essential Tremors from Parkinsonism, but it does not differentiate simple (bad choice of words) Parkinson from Parkinson Plus types.
None of this is easy for a doctor since there is so much overlap. I've been told I most likely have PSP but even in a disease that occurs in 7 out of 10,000 people, there are six different type of PSP phenotypes which can only be ID at autopsy. It's much easier to diagnosis when the disease has progressed so far the effects are extreme.
So I won't rattle on. Bottom line is listen to your doctor while still being informed, and if a medicine works, great. Medicine is not a cure all. I have had type ! diabetes for the past 52 years, and have had a kidney transplant. I take 18 pills in the morning and 16 at night.
I do everything possible to reduce that amount. I don't ask for more unless definitely needed.
And by the way, life is great and I appreciate whatever I can do, and don't whine over what I can't.
Thank you for your advice. I believe I was very fortunate to see a neuro that identified the possible side effects of Airpiprozole that my other 2 neuros did not.
I will see him next March to see if we continue weaning off the sinemet, which has not produced any negative side-effects.
I was on atenenol, amlodipine. it was making me slow and tired .weak I weaned myself off the two meds within a week and a half I was back to normal working and walking normal. dr told me to go back on them, or I risk a stroke or heart attack. he gave me another tablet indapamide believe its a water tablet. sorry about the spelling I had to take them a week after each other. indapamide 1st atenenol 2nd amlodipine last made another appointment walked into the surgery shuffling could hardly stand he said .you weren't like that the last time you came in to see me.i said I was ok till I taken the last tablet amlodipine. he said i'll need to send you to a specialist ,I think you've got Parkinson's . I got appointment done test on me (physical) . consultant said pretty sure you've got pd .I will put you on 12.5/ 50 Sinemet to start off with . if you improve in the next couple of weeks you will have PD I phoned about 3weeks told them they were no change they said it takes time to go into your system .I phoned 9 weeks ,told them no change. they said we'll double the dose to 25/100 Sinemet . waited another 9 weeks no change .in between times the 2 9 weeks on the sinemet was prescribed RAMAPRIL still taking the water tablet my potassium levels were low I was put on 3 a dayI decided to go off my meds weaned of course. 3or 4weeks I was feeling a bit better by the first 2 weeks then I started to go downhill by 5 or 6 week I couldn't move out of bed. my daughter phoned the emergency dr he whats happened I told him was not sleeping restless leg, constipation, dry mouth. could hardly move. he said stop the water tablet and potassium tablets. i'll give you 0.5mg ROPINIROL take 1 in the morning 1 at night slept like a log that night ( in the fireplace joke) I was up and about in 2or 3 days still shuffling I phoned the PD nurse within 2 weeks to go back on meds the consultant and nurse knew I wasn't taking it too well . ask if want to go for a scan. went for it .got result 24 jan this year it positive. that's that. several months I started taking 4 x 25/50 sinemet still feel no difference . physio therapist helped me with my balance course is finished now been referred to another one. still on ramipril. . still something niggling me . hope this helps
That's awesome... I am hoping this same thing could be my husbands problem also he takes abilify and his tremors in hand arms started about 1 yr into the drug, but no other symptoms of pd at this point. Waiting to see a movement specialist to be diagnosed.
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