Mirapex: Alzheimer's Drug Causes Gambling Addiction

[CountAllVotes]

Gambling is an addiction, a form of insanity, when the urge becomes overwhelming and we can't control ourselves. We may end up spending money we actually needed for buying food or paying the rent and sending the kids to school. Mind you, there is nothing wrong with the occasional game, as part of a social get-together, even if we play for money. But when the urge becomes a compulsion and we spend entire days without being unable to unhook ourselves, alarm bells should go off.
Can pharmaceutical drugs stimulate the gambler in us? Apparently yes. Mirapex, an Alzheimer's drug, has been linked to the gambling habit in people who were "straight" before and became unable to stay away from slot machines or gambling tables once they had filled their prescription.

Question: Should such side effects not be cause for concern - for removing the drug from the market and finding better ways to prevent Alzheimer's?

http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/sepp/2006/02/23/mirapex_alzheimers_drug_causes_gambling_addiction.htm

This is a very interesting link. Check it out and read more about this whole thing. I think I will avoid Mirapex should the need arise. :dunce:

[pitohui]

1. it's a parkinson's drug, read down

they would have never figured it out if they were being treated for alzheimer's because you lose the ability to make good judgments with alzheimer's anyway, for instance, a friend of my mom's lost millions of dollars, yes, millions to a con artist when she developed alzheimer's, and i could a few more tales out of school from personal knowledge also

i'm thinking if i ever have to treated w. a dopamine antagonist the way to go is to surrender my control of the finances to a trusted individual, as some people i've known have chosen to do w. alzheimer's so that they are not beggared and left w.out the money for their care or their family's care due to a drug-induced bad decision

people can live a long time and have a good life w. parkinson's but they need awareness so they don't beggar themselves or their families if their disease only responds to this particular type of treatment

[Misskittycat]

2. It's addictive in other ways also. I have a personal story.

Mirapex is also prescribed for Restless Legs Syndrome, which is a neurological-based sleep disorder that is real hell for me and other sufferers. (You may remember seeing some recent TV commercials for a new drug, the only one approved specifically for this use, and which I now take. You know -- one of those "ask your doctor" type ads.

I tried the new drug early last spring, but it had sedative side effects, so my neurologist tried some other things that work for some people. One was Mirapex. I took it for about six weeks during the summer. I liked it better because it had less sedation than the Requip, but it made my heart race, so I decided to stop taking it. (Tried a third one, for one night only, which was really awful; then went back to the Requip, sedative side effect notwithstanding.

When I stopped the Mirapex, I noticed something peculiar. I realized that during the six weeks of taking Mirapex, my normal chocolate/dessert cravings had skyrocketed to outrageous levels. I was suddenly eating 4-6 Krispy Kreme donuts every day; occasionally more (if I had bought the 12-pack that day). I would daydream about these donuts and other desserts. I was buying so many Krispy Kreme donuts each day that I had to start varying my supermarket routine, because I was embarassed to go to the same market that I had just bought a 6-pack the day before. Honestly, I could have almost killed for Krispy Kreme donuts.

When I went off the Mirapex, I noticed the cessation of the heart palpitations, but also gradually became aware that I wasn't craving the donuts. Ok, still a little bit, but not 6 a day.

After a few weeks, something in my subconscious made the connection with the Mirapex-gambling addiction information I knew, and I realized that I had become seriously addicted to chocolate/dessert/Krispy Kreme donuts during that six weeks.

When I went to the doctor several weeks later, we were still evaluating medicines, I mentioned the Krispy Kreme addiction, and she said that other patients of hers taking Mirapex had also reported sudden, horrible cravings and compulsions, including: shopping, chocolate/desserts, gambling, etc.

[pitohui]

3. wow, sounds like you dodged a bullet!

i hope your current medication does the trick for you, what a scary story

[Misskittycat]

4. Yes, the Requip works, but with the sedation.

Luckily, I do freelance work from my home, and I can arrange my work scheduled usually so that I can wake up when I want to, and then take a nap in the afternoon. I work lots of evenings to make up for the daytime loss of work time. I could never do a regular 9-5 job with this thing.

I guess it's a good thing that the addiction was only to Krispy Kreme and not something like the gambling addiction. Also, it was good that I only took it for 6 weeks, and only gained about 15 pounds during that episode.

The only problem with the current medication, Requip, by Glaxo Smith Kline, is that it is subject to "augmentation" which means that it takes larger doses over time to keep the same level of effectiveness. So I get to deal with that later on, I guess.

Restless Legs Syndrome has only recently gotten some attention. Even many doctors really don't know about it, so a lot of people suffer without knowing what they've got or getting any treatment at all. There's a good Restless Legs Syndrome Foundation website that you or anyone else wanting more info can Google.

[PetraPooh]

7. My 2cents about leg syndrome,

I have that as well, but have found that taking Vitamin E at lunch and at least a one and half mile walk after dinner seems to keep it calm enough to live with. Only the occasional outbursts, as it were. And those are usually within 48 hours of my deciding to "take a day off" of my regime.

[CountAllVotes]

5. Wow!

That is some story you have there! The FDA should get on this Mirapex is what I think. If you read that whole page I posted it talks about a suicide in one case and cases where one guy lost $200,000 in 6 months, another ended up living in his car supposedly.

With that last statement in mind, I wonder how the hell the guy that ended up living in his car because he was broke could even afford the drug? :wtf:

:kick:

[pitohui]

6. well they can't take all dopamine antagonists off the market

it's the only hope for some people

they do need better awareness and information given to patients and their spouses or families so that they can arrange for someone else to control the finances