We all have a cross to bear....

My cross is parkinson's and after 3 years, it still hasn't sent me to a dark place. In fact, it actually got me writing again and that is perhaps the only good thing about the condition unless, like me, you are happy to be constipated, after so many years of battling the aztec two-step. For the most part, drugs have made me normal. I take amantadine and the agonist, mirapex. So here is a little ramble about dopamine agonists.

• the first thing you should know is that they do not produce dopamine as Levadopa does. Rather, the agonists mimic the effects of dopamine, essentially fooling the brain into thinking everything is A-OK.
• There are many different DA's which are chemically different and which differ in duration and side effects.
• Each DA appears to have at least one alias, for example, the DA I take is Mirapex, aka pramipexole, aka mirapexin and I think, aka sifrol.
• There are some pretty freaky side effects to this drug, some of which are compulsive behaviours. People on mirapex have bankrupted their families due to drug-induced compulsive gambling.
• Fortunately, the side effects are absent for me, but I understand that the compulusions can arise at any time and chances of them arising increase as the dosage increases.
• I realize that out of necessity, my dosage will eventually increase as my symptoms get worse.
• The maximum dosage for mirapex is 8mg per day. I am now at 4mg daily.
• For me, the drug worked the day I started it. The tremor in my right hand ceased. However, it may take others some time to adapt to the drug and some may not be able to stomach it and require a different DA

How the doctors determine which DA to start a patient on, I do not know. If you have come here to be educated, be aware, I know which end of the horse to avoid but that is the extent of my knowledge of horses. My knowledge of DA's is similarly stunted.

As Thomas Aquinas once said,"hominem unius libri timeo" which loosely translates to "fear the man of one book".

That's all folks.