Posted on 07/20/2006 7:23:50 PM PDT by Extremely Extreme Extremist
Some Question Unusual Side Effects Of Dopamine Agonists
(CBS) CHICAGO A new group of drugs called dopamine agonists are offering help to some people with Parkinson's disease and restless leg syndrome.
But as CBS 2 Medical Editor Mary Ann Childers reports, complaints of unusual side effects have some questioning if this is a risky remedy.
Barbara Hermansen suffered from chronic insomnia caused by restless leg syndrome until her doctor prescribed a drug called Permax. It helped her sleep like a baby, but she says five years later, it turned her life into a nightmare.
"Gambling was always in my brain," she said.
For this Sunday school teacher and suburban mother of two, a trip to Vegas triggered an urge to gamble that she satisfied online. It became an addiction. She maxed out her credit cards, drained her savings and pension accounts, borrowed money and stole it from her husband's wallet. In three years, Barbara lost $600,000.
"I was basically pouring money down the drain," she said.
She tried Gambler's Anonymous, put a lock in her computer, and even had herself banned from Illinois casinos.
"I had my picture taken like a mug shot and signed this thing and said, 'Don't let me on this boat!'"
But she says she was out of control, suicidal. Then, a therapist asked about her medication.
"And I said, 'Oh, wouldn't it be nice to blame it on the medicine.' And he said, 'What are you talking about?' There are case reports from all over the world that link that medicine with compulsive gambling,'" she recalled.
But could medicine really do that?
"The fact that it's the dopamine agonists that apparently seem to trigger these abnormal behaviors is relatively new," said Rush University Medical Center neurologist Leo Verhagen.
Dr. Verhagen says dopamine agonists are mainly used to control the involuntary moments of Parkinson's disease, but they also affect the part of the brain that controls feelings of reward and well-being. Now, growing anecdotal evidence links these drugs to obsessive behaviors, such as compulsive shopping, hyper-sexuality, binge eating and gambling.
"It's much more common than we thought originally," Verhagen said.
It took Barbara four months to wean herself off the medication, but suddenly, she says the urge to gamble was gone.
"I would suffer from insomnia for the rest of my life rather than go through that gambling hell again," Barbara said.
Barbara Hermansen is suing Eli Lilly and the distributor of Permax, Valiant Pharmaceuticals.
Eli Lilly declined comment and referred CBS 2 to Valiant. Valiant declined comment because the case is pending.
It's important to point out dopamine agonists are considered important medicines and lifesavers for some Parkinson's patients because they slow down the progression of the disease.
Reports about behavioral side effects of these drugs have been appearing in medical journals since 2003, but no definitive scientific study has been done and no one knows how many people might be affected.
So now she's gambling on the legal system. Cool.
You've got to be f-ing kidding me?
My father took dopamine for his Parkinsons. His behavior became very weird and disturbing. He was totally not my father any more. We had it drastically reduced nad the tremours came back but he was himself again.
Crazy as it sounds, compulsive behavior appears to be a rare side-effect of dopamine agonists. The media is picking up on the gambling because it sounds sensational, but they've documented all sorts of sudden-onset compulsions: over-eating, sex, shopping, hand-washing, etc.
holy cow, that's really incredible...
Shades of Kathy Willet, Batman! Remember Kathy claimed Prozac fueled her nymphomania. I think she just ate too many twinkies. Nevermind, it paid her hefty mortgage in Tamarack.
Isn't it? You take Grandpa Fred to Walgreens for his new prescription and the next thing you know, he's blowing your inheritance on 3 hookers a night :)
and the next line from my girlfriend would be "Honey, why have you been spending some much time with Grandpa Fred the past few weeks???" : )
While I think she's looking for deep pockets, I have also read about similar things and I think she probably has a case. This drug actually does seem to stimulate compulsive behavior in some people, and it's not necessarily anything that they have had a problem with in the past and one could attribute to extreme but basically normal behavior. The brain is a truly strange thing, and drugs that tinker with it - for beneficial purposes on one level - should be watched very carefully for other effects.
Can I hang out with Grandpa Fred?
If the drug is beneficial to 99% of those who take it, and harmful to 1%, I don't think the 1% should sue for bad side effects.
It's like suing peanut farmers if you find you or your child are allergic to peanuts.
And even a 1% bad side effect would probably eliminate the drug from ever being marketed.
So now she's gambling on the legal system. Cool
BINGO!!LOL!!!I'm gonna go down to CVS, load up on aspirin, go do some crazy stuff and when the bill comes in, sue Bayer!!!Sheesh!
Hope she gets enough to buy a new Serta.
Bad, bad grandson! :)
What about her doctor who was prescribing this medicine? She was taking it for 2 years or so? Someone was writing the prescriptions.
I have restless leg syndrome, and its awful. When the new medicine (old for Parkinson's) came out for it I read up on it and thought about asking my dr. about it. What I did notice in my reading was in the adverse effects or side effects or cautions or somesuch, was a warning about addiction to gambling. Mentioned specifically, which I thought was very very strange. That's been about a year, so the side effect has been noticed and noted.
I decided against taking the medicine, since it was so new and unknown for that usage. Some of this stuff gets rushed out and prescribed as the new wonder drug, but I think that's their large clnical trials - when it gets prescribed so much they can really see what the side effects are.
I still spend most night kicking my legs around trying to get to sleep, or having to get out of bed altogether and walk around.
Talk to Hand em their arse. You may be able to carpool.
Oh, I agree. I was just pointing out the fact that this is a legitimate side effect, and like anything from burping to getting homicidal, the person taking the drug is often not warned. Clearly, once she realized she had a problem, she should have taken steps to deal with it.
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