Quote:
Originally Posted by soccertese
just having to take meds too often and diminishing affect. passed the dbs mental and physical tests. was a little hesitant to do this since i don't have a long term care giver if anything goes wrong but i figured i'm going to get worse, do it now while i'm in good health and have the support i'll need for recovery, i'll have to face this dilemma by just getting older and not just for pd. i'm 62 and i don't see anything better on the horizon for at least the next 5 years so no point in worrying about a DBS preventing me from getting into a clinical trial.
i was diagnosed 14 years ago and my medicated UPDRS part 3 score was 9, unmedicated 28, I think 25 is the cuttoff. What this test fails to measure is mental fatigue which is a major symptom i have, rigidity the other. i hope i can reduce my l-dopa significantly and that will help the fatigue.
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Soccertese..Good to hear that you are in the process of having DBS surgery..I can't say enough about how it has changed my life for the better..I was not one of those patients who was able to cut down my meds..I still take the same amount, but I no longer have to deal with the horrible side effects that I had prior to surgery..My batteries are still off..It has been 8 months now, and my dyskinesia is little to none..I get about 4 more hours of on time every day..I still have some problems with balance and freezing when I am off..I came to the same conclusion that you did..I am going to be 63 July 3rd, and I got sick and tired of being sick and tired..I had no idea how sick I was..I wish you the best, and hope it does everything for you that you hope for..All I have is Medicare, and the bill was around $2000.00 that I have to pay out of pocket..A small price to pay for the results of the surgery