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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 13 of 13. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Flame on June 4, 2007, at 9:55:05
http://www.dr- bob.org/babble/20070524/msgs/760376.html
I hope that link works ..?
Anyway, I believe that this is (more or less) a follow-up to the above link.
In the above link I expounded on things that have been going down hill since my husband has been on his med regimen. He started his "newer" regimen three years ago. At the six month mark things began to go badly in that my husband frequented the bar (almost every night.) Along with that, he spent (and is STILL spending) a lot of money on his drinking habit.
Throughout all of this husband has "decided" that he cannot work. (Probably the affects of high dose Effexor/375mgs.)
My question here, I guess, is with this low dose of Mirapex (1 mg nightly) .. Can this cause the compulsiveness that I have been reading about as a side affect of Mirapex?
My thinking on this is that he already has what I and other docs have defined as an "addictive" personality. Considering this, it probably would not take much to make him compulsive in other areas ..?
My husband is also on Ambien. He takes his Ambien and Mirapex, almost immediately .. when he walks in the door .. returning home from the bar at night. After a couple minutes to one-half hour, he practically "lives" in the fridge/kitchen. He eats and eats and eats. I originally thought the eating was caused by the Ambien, but I am now wondering if maybe (this too) might be caused by the Mirapex .. ?
Anyway .. wondering if anyone out there would agree with this thinking? Would appreciate any thoughts, etc you might have on this.
Posted by Phillipa on June 4, 2007, at 10:10:23
In reply to 1 mg Mirapex Cause Of Compulsiveness?, posted by Flame on June 4, 2007, at 9:55:05
Flame the link doesn't work. Love Phillipa
Posted by Flame on June 4, 2007, at 10:13:15
In reply to Re: 1 mg Mirapex Cause Of Compulsiveness? » Flame, posted by Phillipa on June 4, 2007, at 10:10:23
Oops! ..Let's try this again.
www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070524/msgs/760376.html
Posted by Flame on June 4, 2007, at 10:18:40
In reply to Re: 1 mg Mirapex Cause Of Compulsiveness?, posted by Flame on June 4, 2007, at 10:13:15
Okay .. not sure what I'm doing wrong .. But, if you want to pull up that link, you will need to copy and paste (listed below) to your address bar.
www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070524/msgs/760376.html
(Sorry!)
Posted by Phillipa on June 4, 2007, at 20:04:58
In reply to Re: 1 mg Mirapex Cause Of Compulsiveness?, posted by Flame on June 4, 2007, at 10:18:40
It's not your fault can't do it myself will look for it. Love Phillipa
Posted by flame on June 5, 2007, at 7:22:42
In reply to Re: 1 mg Mirapex Cause Of Compulsiveness?, posted by Flame on June 4, 2007, at 10:18:40
Okay .. I originally posted this 'cause I thought that 1mg Mirapex was (probably?) a small dose.
After talking with local pharmacist, she said that was a pretty "average" dosage. She told me that she was not aware of any "compulsiveness" contraindications. (Why am I not surprised??)
Based on pharmacists comment that 1 mg is an "average" dose (not so small, like I originally thought) and after reading more info on internet .. I guess I've come to the conclusion that (at least part of) husbands current issues are (more than likely) linked to his daily (night time) mirapex regimen.
Posted by Quintal on June 6, 2007, at 16:51:42
In reply to Re: 1 mg Mirapex Cause Of Compulsiveness?, posted by flame on June 5, 2007, at 7:22:42
As you'll probably have seen elsewhere on the internet Mirapex is gaining notoriety for inducing compulsive pleasure-seeking behaviour like gambling and drug abuse. I took it for a short while about two months ago and (luckily?) didn't have any problems with it, but it sounds as though your husband needs to discuss this with his doctor.
Q
Posted by flame on June 7, 2007, at 8:26:07
In reply to Re: 1 mg Mirapex Cause Of Compulsiveness? » flame, posted by Quintal on June 6, 2007, at 16:51:42
Hi Q,
Thanks for your response!
The sense that I get .. with most doc's out there, is that they really do not like it when someone sites an internet search as "documentation" for something. So, am hoping that husbands pdoc will take ME seriously.
Husbands pdoc asked me to write a letter about what has been going on .. so that is what I am going to do. I am WAY beyond waiting for my husband to do anything about this! My husband can't see the "forest from the trees" right now, so I don't believe he would bring it up .. I am sure he won't believe that any of his meds are "the problem".
Posted by hgi698 on June 10, 2007, at 20:40:45
In reply to Re: 1 mg Mirapex Cause Of Compulsiveness? » Quintal, posted by flame on June 7, 2007, at 8:26:07
Pramipexole has been shown to produce significant impairment of short term verbal memory, attentional-executive functions and verbal fluency. That effect coupled with the drugs ability to stimulate dopamine receptors in the nucleus accumbens (pleasure center) could lead to compulsive, mindless reward seeking.
Here's the link for the memory impairment study.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=12658365
Posted by flame on June 11, 2007, at 9:19:05
In reply to Re: 1 mg Mirapex Cause Of Compulsiveness?, posted by hgi698 on June 10, 2007, at 20:40:45
Thanks hgi!
I will be printing this off and attaching it to the letter I send to my husband's psychiatrist.
Hopefully, your link (along with other documentation I've gathered) will be enough "support" .. to encourage husband's psychiatrist to take him off of this terrible drug!
Husband has been advocating for some time now, that he cannot work (for the most part) because he can't remember like he used .. nor can he stay on task. I guess this PubMed article explains THAT .. right?
I'm still thinking that the high dose Effexor is probably taking away "motivation" .. of which is just adding to all that is going on here. (He takes 375mgs Effexor, 10mgs Ambien, 1mg Mirapex and Provigil!)
"Present findings indicate that pramipexole may worsen cognitive functions although not exceeding normative values."Quoted the above from that PubMed article. I wonder what is meant by "not exceeding normative values" ... ?
Posted by hgi698 on June 14, 2007, at 11:44:36
In reply to Re: 1 mg Mirapex Cause Of Compulsiveness? » hgi698, posted by flame on June 11, 2007, at 9:19:05
I personally have tried mirapex and found it to significantly impair my attention span. I think what happens is that you have 5 different types of dopamine receptors (D1, D2, D3, D4 and D5). Mirapex is an artificial agonist that can only stimulate D2, D3 and D4 receptors. By stimulating D2/D3 autoreceptors (which are sensors that regulate the amount of neurotransmitter in the synapse) the amount of dopamine in your brain actually decreases. So while D2, D3 and D4 receptors are properly stimulated by the artificial agonist mirapex, there is actually less activation of the D1 receptors that are located in your frontal lobe. Proper stimulation of the D1 receptor is necessary for attention, working memory, verbal fluency etc.
Posted by flame on June 14, 2007, at 13:22:30
In reply to Re: 1 mg Mirapex Cause Of Compulsiveness?, posted by hgi698 on June 14, 2007, at 11:44:36
"I personally have tried mirapex and found it to significantly impair my attention span."
"Proper stimulation of the D1 receptor is necessary for attention, working memory, verbal fluency etc .."
Goodness .. THIS, I believe, would explain much in my husband's situation. He has repeatedly told me that he could not work, focus, stay on task etc.
I sent out my letter to husband's pdoc. Now I am just waiting to hear if his doc will take my letter to heart and actually do something about these problems .. by taking him off of the Mirapex.
Thanks!
Posted by Quintal on June 14, 2007, at 13:35:28
In reply to Re: 1 mg Mirapex Cause Of Compulsiveness? » hgi698, posted by flame on June 14, 2007, at 13:22:30
I found Mirapex drastically impaired my concentration too. Adding a bit of reboxetine helped with that but overall I found it wasn't very effective and I didn't wasn't worth the side effects. Sounds as if this isn't a good med for your husband either.
Q
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