"Bigamy is when you have one wife too many; same as monogamy." An essay on wives, pills and optimism

Fortunately, the title does not describe my wife. Even though I am not debilitated by PD, she does help me psychologically and, if (or is it "when") things get difficult for me, I know she will be there both as a carer and as an advocate. I have been heard to describe her as my "secret weapon". If anybody disturbs her, particularly if it involves our children, grandchildren and yes, even me, she will hunt them down like a heat seeking missile and get satisfaction. The only good thing about PD is I will probably die before her, which is ideal for me as I would have a hard time being without her.

On to other things. I have told you a little about one of the drugs I take, mirapex, and how it can lead to compulsive behaviors, which have not befallen me, touch wood. On the other hand some or all of the following side effects have come my way.

• Headache
• Hyperalgesia (body aches and pains)
• Nausea and vomiting
• Sedation and somnolence
• Decreased appetite and subsequent weight loss
• Orthostatic hypotension (resulting in dizziness, lightheadedness, and possibly fainting, especially when standing up)
• Insomnia
• Hallucinations (seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting or feeling things that are not there)
• Twitching, twisting, or other unusual body movements
• Unusual tiredness or weakness

So.....Let's see ...(1) headaches - oh, occasionally but never too bad, (2) hyperalgesia - yup, quelquefois, more likely, tout le temps (3) nausea and vomiting - nope -not since I left university (and you know what that means),(4) sedation and somnolence - I think they are referring to that condition known as "near sleep" - ie - you are asleep but at a level where you are almost aware of what's going on. Without zopiclone, I would suffer from near sleep every night (5) decreased appetite and weight loss - Ha! I wish! (6) Insomnia - you bet, but zopiclone cures that (7) hallucinations - had some minor ones early on. I enjoyed them but they seem to have gone away (8) Twitching etc - oh boy, whenever I close my eyes to relax (9) unusual tiredness and weakness - tiredness is my close companion; fortunately not accompanied by weakness.

It snowed a couple of days ago and then yesterday the temperature reached 25C (80F) and will be the same today but tomorrow the cold returns and I bet it will continue for the rest of the week. That is the pessimist in me. The optimist in me whispers "at least we won't get an earthquake".