Hello dear friends.

Well, I read Janice W-H's book, too, and had very conflicting feelings about it. Yes, in many, many ways she is spot-on, describing some of the aspects of PD with a clarity and accuracy that I have seen nowhere else. But I found her conclusions horrifingly depressing, and almost like she was condemning those of us who are stuck on PD meds as a quarantined ship of lepers with no hope....

there were also things I disagreed with, such as her characterization of what we are like during an on period as maniacal and irrational, unable to admit that we are being badly influenced by these drugs....no one I know is like that. Yes, there often is a 'high' kind of feeling, but it's mainly relief because you just can't believe how bad you felt during the off period and how good it feels to be normalish again. Everyone I know talks about the imperfection of the on time and most of my acquaintances and myself would give anything to not be on these drugs.

Given that she acknowledges how important stress and perception are to PD people, I am at odds with her negativity in terms of imagining a positive outcome for us. I found ultimately reading her book a real downer, although I think the advice to make changes in drug regimen very, very slowly is probably right on the money.