WhoIsHe

My former mate has had Parkinsons for 17 yrs (early onset, slow development) and has been using crack for maybe 6 yrs. I didn't know about the crack because I thought his cognitive deterioration had to do with his Parkinson's. He was certainly with it enough to play me like a fool with major deception though!

ANYWAY, what I'm wondering if anyone knows of people with Parkinson's who started doing crack after the diagnosis. For those who don't know, with Parkinson's, the dying cells are dopamine producing cells. When people smoke crack, the high is due to a rush of dopamine. I know it may sound as if I'm trying to give him an excuse - I'm not. I just want to understand as much as I can.

Chino

I don't have any experience but I think about this all the time. I know it's not an excuse, too. Abusing the reward part of our brains is going to cause issues, and long term abuse is going to cause even worse issues.

I don't mean to sound trite, but I wonder about my nicotine addiction. It stimulates dopamine. So does caffeine. Matter of fact, research was done about the effect of caffeine on Parkinsons's and I religiously drink 6 cups a day.

I take 300mg welbutrin a day, too. It's a dopamine reuptake inhibitor. It allows dopamine to float around a little while longer. My doctor swears I need adderall and it's definitely a dopamine stimulant.

Anyway, sometimes I get scared thinking "what if?" What if I frivolously squandered my dopamine in my youth, when I was partying like a rock star? Is that how I came to be addicted to nicotine and caffeine? Because my body needed the stimulants?

My thoughts and prayers are with you and your former mate.

AnvilheadII

i doubt sincerely that he deliberately CHOSE crack as a panacea to his Parkinsons. it just came along the path of addiction and he said yes.

WhoIsHe

I don't think he went looking for it but I do wonder if he was more susceptible to being addicted to crack. I did some more research and found some studies where once certain Parkinson's meds was taken away, so did the crack addiction. Some of the Parkinson's meds cause impulsive behaviors not experienced before - ex. Sex addiction, drug use, etc. Not to excuse my ex, but I do think he went that route with the P. meds. Call me naive but I don't think he would have gone down the addiction(s) road if he hadn't developed Parkinson's. But then again, "mental illness" caused my life to be very different than I wanted it to be. And another friend has cancer. So life can suck - what else is new? We do what we can with what we are presented with, and make the best choices we can. Ideally.