Thank you for such a positive post. Do you have tremor dominant PD or rigidity? Does the DBS help with fatigue, brain fog, slowness, rigidity?

Trixiedee

Hi Trixiedee, sorry for the late reply, but this is due to the fact, that since I underwent DBS surgery, I am always very busy all day. I am literally reborn. My PD is bradykinetic-rigid type, but since the day of DBS surgery, I forgot all the symptoms, and more importantly, I forgot all the medicines. About 18 months have passed today. I go to the gym regularly every day, after leaving work. Before DBS surgery I had an average of 5 days per month of absences from work, after DBS surgery, I was at home 3 days for a common flu, in 18 months.

Best wishes.

How many others on this forum have experienced DBS? Steve does not post much anymore but I believe he is doing much? better. Peg posted a lot before her DBS but rarely does now.
How many DBS candidates were turned down because of PD psychosis (my wife) and how many were accepted for DBS even if they did have any degree of PDP?

Ashleyk,
We too have psychosis and cognitive and memory issues. I very recently stumbled across a line of research using DBS for dementias including Alz and PDD. It is a very new idea, and one you might consult with your wife's neuro about. What I have found so far is that the procedure itself is safe and tolerated by patients with dementia, and that it can improve memory and some facets of QOL for some patients; however those benefits seem to wane about a year after the procedure, and from what I have read, were not that robust (and definitely not enough to transform someone who needed a caregiver into someone who could live alone). While the improvement wasn't huge, in my book, any improvement is still improvement

Unfortunately, I can't see our insurance company (or Medicare/Medicaid, depending on your situation) being willing to pay for DBS without a lot more research showing that the majority of patients not only improve, but improve enough to justify the risks and costs of the surgery. Just thought I would mention this. I believe the neuro heading up a lot of this research is Lozano, if you're interested.

Hello to everyone. As soon as possible, I will upload some videos to show my current state of health. Next week I will ask the neurologist for my pre-DBS videos ...

That would be great! I am having the neuropsych evaluation for DBS on 2/2. may I ask what the target of your DBS was the Internal Globus Pallidus (GPi) or the Subthalamic Nucleus (STN)? It seems STN really works best for physical symptoms and reduces amount of meds required. However, STN has a much more negative impact on speech, cognition and
mood (depression) as compared to Gpi stimulation.

Can anybody share personal experiences?

Hi, my DBS surgery was STN type. However , after 18 months, I haven't any speech or cognition or mood problem. In any case, I know that neurologists do not perform DBS surgery, if the candidate suffers from any non-motor pathology related to PD.

However, this is an interesting link: GPi vs STN deep brain stimulation for Parkinson disease: Three-year follow-up. - PubMed - NCBI

hi
i know many who have PD.Some of them have had dbsMost of them were disappointed of their outcomes.I myself would never have it as mine is the stiff guy.In my area I think it is being oversold,another sign of how our care is going.No longer professional and patient.Now we are just customers .
I have had very good results over the last 7 years to use meds at a minumn and rely more on concetration and exercise

I just spoke with a friend who is not levadopa responsive but exhibits classic idiopathic parkinsons sx....she went to an MDS at Oregon Health Sciences University (after seeing several other docs) and he is stumped- so he is recommending DBS but when she hesitated he responded with pressure saying that her doubt was not good and she should act quickly otherwise medicare might not approve her. I smell a rotten powerplay there. ) Now she is seeing a naturopath in Seattle that charges $200/half hour for a phone consult!!! The more they don't know....the more expensive it gets......

MD