Symptoms vs Side Effects
In my last piece I mentioned that I'm trying to keep off the traditional Parkinson's medications. The side effects are so severe and strange that I want to avoid any chance of them happening to me.
So today I thought I'd do a pros and cons comparison and see if I'm making the proper decision. Let's get started.
First symptom is constipation. First side effect is nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. As uncomfortable as being constipated is, do you really want the other extreme? And not just out of one end. I mean c'mon!! There has to be a happy medium...but there isn't. First win for the symptoms.
Symptom number two is problems with balance and walking. Hey...that's me. There really isn't a corresponding side effect for this so how about these....delusion, confusion and hallucinations. I admit to being confused about a lot of things but when you add in hallucinations, as much fun as that might be, it's probably a little much. I'll stick with the walking problems and bumping into things.
Next symptom is about handwriting. It gets smaller and is harder to read. I have times where mine is almost impossible to read. Here's an example.
This is a card for my friend, Lisa (hi Lisa). She finished a program and this was a congratulatory card. My greeting is at the top middle. It says 'congrats on graduating from the class.' Then it gets iffy. No idea what I crossed off. The next word might be love or luvya or whatever. I really have no idea. The final word is most likely my name. It could be Howard. It could be Howie. If you didn't know it could be Harry, Harold or even Helen.
That's just eight words. I almost always write out these pieces in longhand.Then I edit them. I type them the next day. By then, I struggle to decipher the words. If eight words makes me nuts, imagine reading 300-500 words.
But still, compare that with impaired memory. I already have short-term memory problems. Ask me a story from childhood and I'll give you names, dates and places. But ask me to Google something and by the time I get to the page, I'll forget what I wanted to look up. And these drugs make it worse? I think I'll deal with the bad handwriting. Apologies in advance to the next person who gets a card like this.
There are other symptoms, the main one being tremors. At this point, I can live with them easier than dealing with any side effect.
It's pretty obvious that the symptoms have won this competition but there is one side effect that really intrigues me. You can develop compulsive behavior. All the big ones are there. Sex, gambling, drugs and alcohol.
I think I get how this works. The medicine affects the portion of your brain that causes the symptom but it leaves you vulnerable to these other things. I'd ask my therapist about this but she cancelled today's appointment. By next week, I'll have forgotten all about this.
Not to dismiss the other ones but the sex addiction thing interests me most. By taking some medicine, you'll be thinking about sex constantly? What's so different? Typical male, right! A little pill turns you into the next David Duchovny. BTW, the same side effects are found in the women, also.
But what if you don't have a partner to help out with this? Well, I guess there's always.....OMFG!!! I could be a 14 year old boy again.
So there you have it. I think I've figured out what to do. I'm not making any changes just yet. But I am on the lookout of a woman who is taking Parkinson's meds.