I'm Back

["Charles T. Meyer" <cmeyer@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi everybody,

I am back from the hospital (Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's in Chicago).
Benefit at this point is equivocal.  I was switched from 35 mg of
Parlodel to 3.5 mg of pramipexole /day in 1 day with only minor side
effects.  About 4 days later we increased to  1.5 mg 3x/day and several
days later added 0.5 mg at 9 PM because of severe cramping at night.  My
walking is not much better yet although I did walk well intermittently
with a walker in PT.  I hope that the benefits will continue to increase
over the next few weeks.  Also I am to have PT at home which should
help.

I was impressed by the facility.  Both on neuro and Rehab the nursing
staff actually knew a great deal about PD.  In rehab there were at least
5-6 other PWP on my floor.  Unlike other hospitals the staff was acutely
aware of the need for meds to be on a strict schedule.  Most times they
were offered within 5-10 minutes of the scheduled time (even with me
receiving sinemet every 1 1/2 hours and all the patients on different
but complex schedules).

Regarding libido I have had a mild increase but with bromocriptine(at
higher doses than my 35 mg I had serious problems which were actually
disruptive to sleep (both mine and my wife's) and reached obsessional
proportions.  Unfortunately my physical abilities were not augmented by
the drug leading to a lot of frustration. A decrease of bromocriptine
and starting of zoloft resolved the problem and I have not had a
recurrence.

Again,  thanks so much for all the caring from listmembers.

Charlie
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CHARLES T. MEYER, M.D.
Middleton, WI
cmeyer@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx