Posted by stargazer on February 28, 2007, at 20:26:47
In reply to informative new article about seratonin syndrome, posted by laima on February 28, 2007, at 8:37:17
My father, who had Parkinson's Disease (PD) and was on L-Dopa medications (Sinemet), was admitted to the ER at Yale New Haven Hospital for a condition he developed while at a New Year's Eve party. He was unable to get up after sitting for a few hours, which is very common for someone with PD. The disease itself cause muscle rigidity and tremors and your ability to walk and move can vary from hour to hour...
He was taken to Yale and was given the drug Haldol since he was agitated on arrival and I believe may have had too much L-dopa (Sinemet) in his system before being brought to the hospital.
The drug Haldol, should never be given to someone with PD since the drugs that are taken for PD are used to increase dopamine in the brain. Haldol blocks dopamine and you NEVER want to block dopamine in a patient with PD.
So here at a well respected teaching and research hospital, the doctors who are treating my father are unfamiliar with the interaction of Haldol and Sinemet, the #1 PD medication. They have no suspicians of why he is getting more agitated and has devloped a high fever.
Fortunately for my father, I was there with him, I told the nurse he was "burning up" (they were oblivious)and I asked them to take his temperature. I also asked to speak with his doctor and asked them what medications he was given. I explained that he had PD, which they should have known anyway, and I told the docs I thought he might have NMS (Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrone)from being given the Haldol. When I said this their eyes almost popped out of their heads with confusion and concern. I was familiar with the interaction of Haldol and Sinemet from working in field of geriatric psychiatry and had seen NMS before and knew why it occurred.
Bottom line, the condition NMS (Neuroleptic Malignant syndrone) would have killed my father that night because the doctors were totally unaware of the intereaction of Haldol and Sinemet.
I'm sure many people have died from these types of reactions because of ill trained hosiptal personnel.
Hospitals are not safe places anymore and the medications are so complicated that many of these reactions will be missed when they occur. The only way to avoid something like this would be to wear a bracelet identifying your medications. At least you have a better chance of not receiving the wrong medications if you end up in the hospital and you cannot tell them the medications you are taking.
Else perhaps have a microchip implanted...
poster:stargazer
thread:736996
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070224/msgs/737162.html