Does anyone else have experience of living with their partner who due to the medication now suffers with obsessional sexual thoughts ?
My husband was diagnosed 3 years ago and for the past year has had these thoughts which have lead him to viewing porn sights often. He’s very disturbed by this and wants to stop. He tries incredibly hard and the situation has improved but it’s something he struggles with daily. We have a very strong marriage of 42 years and this is obviously putting a strain on us both but we’re trying so hard to stay close and communicate.
I suppose I’m reaching out here on this forum because it’s not something I can share with friends or family. Any suggestions or support would be gratefully received. My husband’s consultant has told us there’s not many options open to us. DBS would be offered and if we’d consider this, then to think about it and let him know because it can take some time to arrange. He said he knew many marriages that had ended because of this which upset us both greatly. Feeling pretty lost right now.
Hi check with gp/parkinson’s consultant and see if he can get the meds changed. I’m on co-careldopa and am lucky only to have very lucid dreans and the odd (very odd) hallucination. Does he have any other compulsive behaviours like gambling or shooping to excess. As i said at start see your gp or parky consultant or nurse and they should be able to help. My parky nurses are pretty good and only a phone call away.
Hi @Rosie5, 
Welcome to the Parkinson’s UK forum.
I’m sorry to hear that your husband has been experiencing this and you feel pretty lost right now. We’re here to offer you the right support in the best way we can so and the forum has a wonderful community of people that can relate to you and offer sound advice.
Unfortunately, based on what you’ve described it sounds like your husband may be experiencing impulsive and compulsive behaviour which is likely to be a side effect to his medication. Therefore, I would strongly encourage you to speak to his GP as they may need to review his medication and make some changes where necessary.
Impulsive and compulsive behaviour is a known side effect of some Parkinson’s medication.
There are many estimates. But the most comprehensive study to date shows that approximately 17% of people with Parkinson’s taking dopamine agonists and 7% of people with Parkinson’s taking other kinds of Parkinson’s drugs are affected by impulsive and compulsive behaviour.
Impulsive behaviour is when a person can’t resist the temptation to carry out certain activities that could lead them to harm themselves or others.
In many cases, this behaviour is out of character.
Compulsive behaviour is when a person has an overwhelming drive or urge to act in a certain way, often repetitively, to reduce the worry or tension that they get from their drive or urge. We have more information on this along with what can be done to help here.
If you’d like to speak to someone in more detail about this, please give our free and confidential helpline a call on 0808 800 0303 and one of our trusted advisers can give you more support on this. 
Best wishes,
Reah
Forum Admin
Hi Just wanted to say Reah has given good advice. I have had these types of behaviour but changing medication made all the difference. I hope the same happens for your husband. Take care
Many thanks 
Hi Rosie5,
I do agree it is one of the symptoms of PD and especially if the medication is wrong.
Ok, this is a delicate topic and I can see a plethora of people saying I’m sextist etc, but are you and your husband having intercourse?
It may be out of simple frustration.
I have counseled, I do have PD, and am on a support group that does try to help people, and have come across this before, and found that as the sexual “activity” increased the obsession with porn did decrease enormously.
Of course everyone is different and reacts differently to the symptoms, so please don’t take this personally.
No offence taken. We do have a really healthy sexual relationship and make love regularly. The problem has decreased but doesn’t go away completely. I only joined the forum as I thought there may be some other thoughts on a remedy. Psychotherapy has been mentioned on the Parkinson’s UK website but I wondered if anyone has experienced a similar problem. Thank you all
Thanks Rosie5,
I was really worried you wouldtake offence, but could think of no other way to say what I wanted.
It’s really great that you do, whether or not Parkinsons plays a role.
I’ve been racking my brains and going through notes I have made on various sessions in the PD groups I have held with people, and other than that I am somewhat at a loss.
I did council on Life Line and Suicide Anonymous as well and must admit this is beyond me.
The suggestion of a pshchologist is a good one.
Sorry I could not be of more help.