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Observant CareGivers

Observant CareGivers

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My wife saw me as depressed but I didn't think so. I was started on Zoloft by my MD and 1 week later I was feeling much better. What makes my denial even more remarkable is I practiced psychiatry for almost 20 years and knew all the symptoms and still missed it in myself.

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Yes! A CG may often pick up on things that are missed by the busy neuro on an infrequent visit, or even by the PWP her/himself. A recent example ---I had noticed for weeks that my husband was "spacey" and hallucinating at dinner time every evening. This was shortly after his dose of Seroquel at 6:30 PM and it hadn't kicked in yet. Finally I wrote his neuro and asked if he might be getting an overdose of dopa, in view of the fact that at 4:30 PM he took 1 -10/100 Sinemet, a 25/100 Sinemet CR, AND a Comtan.

I got an immediate email back, saying to try dropping the Comtan (which of course is designed to increase the effectiveness of the Sinemet). This is the 2nd night, and so far, so good---

Now this is a very good Movement Disorder Specialist, who of course has a complete list of Peter's meds in his record, BUT he doesn't live with us. [G] SO, I say again, PWPs listen to your CGs when they notice something, and check it with your neuro---the CG may be, excuse the expression, the "canary in the mine", giving an early warning of a problem.

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