Mirapex and OCD...I need an answer!!

[Stitcher]

I know that Mirapex has been linked to headlines such as this: Prescription For an Obsession? Gambling, Sex Manias Called Surprise Risks Of Parkinson's Drugs. I've even read about OCD shopping as a result.

But, has anyone seen any other OCD behavior discussed, or has anyone developed an OCD since PD dx.

I have developed a compulsion that has been come clinically bad, forcing me to seek a therapist to hopefully resolve. I am trying to find a reason for it, but I have not been able to find any literature on the Web about OCD other that what I cited in the first paragraph above. I see my MD doc next month and will bring this up, but in the meantime...

Help Please!!

[Curious]

carolyn,

i can say that my dad has gotten and ocd after his dx with pd, over his meds. he HAS to take each pill at exactly the right time. plans his day around taking pills.

i also see a pattern in what he has to do in daily life. very ritualistic.

i'm not really being much help. but you aren't alone. my dad has such a bad time with requip, he is afraid of adding any meds.

[paula_w]

Hi Carolyn,

OCD - I know the stories and I can't seem to control an increasingly greater part of just - my life; I think that the agonists are getting a bad rap. Eventually, to me, it alll gets meshed together and who cares ...lol. I mean if you are doing a Howard Hughes you should probably be concernd. I know some serious OCD friends who don't have PD.

One of my closest friends can't let toes touch each other while watching tv at the end of the day......I look at her with my best stroke face and we just laugh. She gets therapy. Individual as anything else is my guess.

Paula

[stevem53]

Carolyn..There are some folks in my support group that had to get off Mirapex for that reason..mostly gambling

[Jaye]

For me it was eating. A hundred pounds' worth.

Jaye

[olsen]

I am just thinking here--what if OCD can be a component of Parkinson's, and agonists increase the expression of it???? sort of like "unmasking" the disease that is potentially there, but gets expressed only with a nudge---? madelyn

[chasmo]

the trick is to back down the amount you take or stop it entirely. I think you will find there is an amount that will give you benefit without OCD.
I think those of us who suffer from OCD are over-dosed on mirapex.

Charlie

[BEMM]

When I visited my MDS in December at Univ. of Pa. hospital in Philadelphia, one of the drug companies was conducting a survey of the affect of agonists on PD patients. I agreed to participate, and the questions were about gambling, sex, drinking, binge eating, binge shopping.
I think the tendency has to be there, and the dosis of Mirapex or Requip has to be relatively high for obsessive behavior to occur. I didn't qualify for further study because after five years of taking Requip I have never experienced any of the OBs on the list.
However, obsessive computer dependence was not listed.........

birte

[Evon]

I have posted on this subject before and I do believe the Requip (13mgs. each day) that I take has caused me to have some OCB. I don't feel it is out of control but it is very noticable to me. You have to weigh it up, if the agonist is doing the job and you can live with the side effects its worth it but when it gets out of control its time to make some changes.

[Stitcher]

Thanks for the replies.

Madelyn, I have often wondered the same. And, now am asking if this life-long problem has been intensified by Mirapex.

I hear you Paula!

My OCD problem is something that I have been plagued with since I was a child, but in such a minor way I could control it. It took me a while to think back to when it began to escalate and it was about the same time that Dr. Shulman asked me to return to taking Mirapex, which I stopped taking while I was working due to sleep attacks. She didn't want to increase my carbo/levo unless she had to, so adding Mirapex was one way to do this. My problem has escalated to a point that it is out of control, interferring to with life and causing me to seek professional help, in the event it is not Mirapex, then I have to ask myself what the emotional reason is.

Always that question...is it medical, meds, mental or PD?

I only take 1.5mg of Mirapex daily. I don't even want to imagine taking much more...d...if, in fact, Mirapex is the problem.