Quote:
Originally Posted by bigguyclyde
I had DBS STN surgery 2 years ago. The results have been very good. I have gone from taking 5 pd meds to 2. I used to take 750 mg of levodopa total, and now I take 200 mg LD daily.
My diskynesia is gone, the tone or stiffness in my limbs is gone, and my overall appearance is 5 to 10 years younger. I still work, drive, walk without a cane, travel and hope to see some of you at the World Congress in October.
As with any surgery, there are risks. 3 patients have died out of 100,000 surgeries done. Infections are more common and you must follow the surgeon's instructions to avoid them. The trend is to perform the surgery on younger patients as they tend to have better outcomes due to less co-morbidities ( better health generally).
I am a 61 year old male, diagnosed in 2004. When I did research before taking the plunge my conclusion was that there are four areas of concern to patients: access to programming, speech difficulties, gait difficulties, and personality changes.
You have to undergo some psychological testing before you have the surgery. Sometimes they have found that a person with a cognitive issue can be made worse through the surgery.
Would I do it again? In a heartbeat.
Clyde
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Our friend has had two DBS's. Can't recall why they did it twice. The issue, aside from potential infection, is that in order to remedy the PD symptoms, they must pass thru areas of the brain that control other things. My friend's issue is speech. Even with exceptional programming, he still has difficulty getting the words out, and when he can, he can't get the volume to a level that most people can hear.
Keep in mind that patients who exhibit signs of dementia, or who have hallucinations or other psychotic attributes, are not likely to get DBS. My husband falls into that category. No one will touch him with his history of hallucinations, paranoia, and dementia.
I guess the bottom line is there is no "one size fits all" for PD treatment.