I googled for comments on Mirapex. I have been on it for a few years and didn't think it did much. Then one night I upped my dose by .25 and my meds kicked in like clockwork. I am now upping my dose as per my Neuro's instructions and sometimes it's good and sometimes it's not so good. and looked up comments for some other input. No two people have the same experience (like everything else on the PD menu). All you can do is try it ( or not) and watch for the side effects. Compulsive eating, gambling, sex, and whatever else were mentioned by several people who had developed that problem. Hmmmm...yet another product from the Alice in Wonderland selection of brain treats.

my dad is sleeping much better thru the night now with mirapex.
Besides being more active during the day, he is now having dreams some of them are pretty funny.

One where he is stacking firewood and he is trying to lift up moms head in his sleep thinking it is a piece of wood??

another nite he was dreaming that he was tamping in a fence post and was thumping mom on the head??

maybe she needs to sleep with a helmet on- LOL

Before mirapex he had been waking up 4-5 x during the nite - they though it was bladder or prostate troubles - all OK there

turns out he was waking cause the other meds wore off and since he was awake he would go to the bathroom anyway.

spent most of the time before mirapex dozing in his recliner - because he wasn't getting his deep REM sleep.

At the first sign of any hypersexual feelings drop what you are doing... and... call me at home .

Seriously, I found it "tolerable" upon a very long titration up (and i stress very long , because the first time i tried to go up fast with the dose, it was almost as bad as my horrible experience with requip). You might be lucky and find no "Warts" with it, you may come back to the board with no more questions and find it quite useful. A lot of PWP are successfully using a mixture of mirapex and sinemet. A neuro will often add Mirapex if you are on sinemet alone and the "smooth" effects of sinemet are starting to wane. It was chasmo who clued me in on upping the dose to therapeutic levels VERY slowly, but it still made me sleepy, so i dropped it, but it did work OK in bringing my sinemet levels down.

I'm very sorry if I offended you with the first comment, however someone recently did say that we should "lighten things up around here"

No offense taken!!

Thanks for the info.

Mary

I've had PD since I was 47. A few years ago my life was hell on earth. I thought I was losing my mind. I am a moral person with spiritual values. The "fog" I was in with these agonists lasted about 16 months. Never gambled before - lost over $27,000 at casinos. Was a virgin when I got married almost 40 years ago. Under the influence of these drugs I did unspeakable things with call girls, massages, and gay encounters. I am a tea-totaler. I ended up drunk as often as I could manage. I lied to my wife and didn't tell my doctors even when they asked. If it wasn't for God's grace and my wife's tough love I don't know where I'd be today.

If the drugs work for you - fine. But I am convinced the numbers of people suffering in this addictive fog are shamefully silent. Don't take this lightly. For the rest of you who have been where I've been....speak up.
Sincerely,
Slowmo

Mirapex and I did not mix - perhaps I will say it this way -It was the worst drug - I unfortunately was ever put on -
I was superwoman - I was insane... I finally had a type of situation -where I was sitting in front of a slot machine in the middle of the night -
and the words -What Am I doing? came to my mind...
and it is not the money I lost -because I won many jack pots...

when I found out what was going on with the drug... I stopped cold turkey, perhaps not the greatest way to stop a drug ,
and I do recall some - crawling on the floor episodes - weak shakey withdrawal...

but I will say - the levodopa carbi dopa, has some very addictive side effects as well, so what I DISLIKE about PD besides Mr. Parkinson's himself! -
I DISLIKE with a PASSION - THE ENTIRE PILL POPPING DRUG EVENT ...

~~~~
yet so far I am still on very few in comparison to my before list,

Mirapex to me is the real life nightmare drug... so if you get the side effects of low blood pressure -or falling asleep at the wheel, from sudden sleep attacks - or you start feeling invincible! (like Superwoman)

Stop -& drop the bottle in the trash , and fly over to your doctor's office...ASAP!

Are you OK? Did you pursue the Mirapex or other agonist route? I had not thought about you until this got bumped up.

Also, Terextu/Teresa; are you still with us? Haven't heard from you in a while.

Robert

I was on Mirapex for nine years, most of that time at "maximum dosage," whatever that means. When she put me on it, my very prestigious doctor (also MJF's doc) said 'This has a lot of psych effects - you'll be up cleaning closets.' I'm someone who always balanced my checkbook every month, never went into debt...during the 5-years after initiating Mirapex, I lost probably $100,000 - was sued numerous times. I wound up with out of control behavior which led to me being raped - in a gay bar of all places. I was not even capable of opening my mail or filling out a form.

I am finally off Mirapex, and it was really, really hard to get there. My mind has begun to clear up to the point where I am no longer in debt, and am having the semblance of a coherent life. I have many people who saved my life from this, including my family, wonderful friends, shamans in South America, and other unexpected helpers. I am so grateful to them all, and live to repay these debts somehow. The panic attacks in getting off the Mirapex were horrendous and almost did me in. But you can get away from it, and I feel INFINITELY better now. You could not pay me enough to ever take that again.

Mary FRances is barred from contacting any of us by her husband, I am guessing.

Theresa was supposed to have a DBS last fall. If she is like the majority of us, she is out enjoying life, this is my hope anyway. I will get her email from Lee and see how she is doing.

Charlie

Been on maximum dose for several years now without a problem. Now, if I could just tear myself away from the blackjack table... (just kidding.) No side effects at all.