I am almost embarassed to ask this question, but I heard it on the radio and I haven't been able to get it off my mind. It was stated the some medications perscribed to people with PD have been discovered to cause gambling problems? Please say I heard this wrong. :(

[This message has been edited by Dillonfish (edited 08-14-2003).]

I first saw this topic on a different forum, but thought it was so ridiculus i didn't read it.

Speaking for my self, i have had pd for twelve years, and i have no urge to gamble, because the odds are strongly against you beating the house.

Bruce

Yes, it is true. Some people do have gambling problems if they are on certain medication, like Mirapex. But I do believe that they must have a predisposition for it since everyone that is on Mirapex doesn't have a gambling problem.

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Pelicangirl (aka Ruth)

Most people taking pd drugs do no have a gambling problem. If someone has a predisposition to gambling, the meds or the disease have nothing to do with it.

Bruce

During the late 1970s I was living and working in England, and worked for the US Defense Dept at an RAF facility. This was BEFORE Mirapex and my PD diagnosis. The RAF club/lounge had 10-15 slot machines. I played them an absolute maximum of about 10 minutes a month, never more than that. There were plenty of months when I did not use them at all.

After starting Mirapex in 1998, I walked into a casino while on vacation, and was immediately hooked, very badly. Over the last two years I lost a tremendous amount of money. After reading the stories about Mpx and gambling in mid August of this year, I stopped the Mpx and within 72 hrs all urge to gamble simply disappeared. It was like magic. There is utterly no doubt in my mind that Mpx was the cause. Also please note that my gambling PREVIOUS to Mpx was very very limited. There are a lot of people in this boat; I know because I am now a litigant in a class action suit.