....I realize the neuropsychiatrist was trying to help me find a balance that would work for me. This is what they do, psychiatrists. Our disordered disorder falls directly into the chasm that separates neurology and psychiatry. The educated PD patient sooner or later gives up the notion that psychiatry is about head-shrinking or personality adjustment. Psychiatry is about the chemicals in the disease-damaged brain and what can be done to make life more tolerable for the owner of said brain.
That's why I see both a neurologist and a psychiatrist. Unfortunately, my experiences have altered my view of neurologists, who can display shocking ignorance of what psychiatrists do, and who can seem to me to believe that psychiatrists are for crazy people, which can lead to ridiculuous assumptions about their PD patients. Oh well, nobody knows everything.
Here's some interesting stuff for you, Paula, that I found lying around some dusty corridors in the back of my laptop. Please consider it advice from the authors of the papers. (Dementia is a psychotic symptom.)
Cognitive deficits and psychosis in Parkinson's disease: a review of pathophysiology and therapeutic options.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16734499
Psychosis in Parkinson's Disease.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15043801
This abstract ends with:
Quote:
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...Treatment strategies to reduce psychotic symptoms are determined by the clinical picture. ...Medication management is often complex and includes elimination or reduction of antiparkinsonian agents (although this can compromise motor function), management of medical comorbidities, and use of atypical antipsychotics. Clozapine and quetiapine are regarded as the most safe and effective atypical neuroleptics in PD patients. Cholinesterase inhibitors can enhance cognition and may reduce psychotic symptoms.
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For what it's worth.
Getting enough sleep matters, too. To bed I go.
Jaye