Hello all. I am 40 and have had a Parkinson’s diagnosis since late 2017. I still work, and I am the breadwinner for my wife and two boys ages 6 and 8. After I was diagnosed I started on Requip (roprinirol) as well as Azilect (rasagaline). The neurologist warned us about the possible impulse problems and we were on the lookout for them initially, but a year passed and nothing had changed in terms of impulse control, and the medication helped with my Parkinson’s symptoms, so I was happy.
However, after the first year, my sex drive increased. I began watching more porn, and then soon even that wasn’t enough. I eventually went to prostitutes, and did so probably around 15 times in the past year. Eventually I came to the realization that the medication was likely causing this, because I wasn’t even enjoying most of it, simply felt I had to do it or “deserved” it, and although I knew it was wrong and could destroy my marriage, I just didn’t care.
Recently my wife found out about it because she saw my search history on the computer, and I am glad she did, because that was the only thing that was going to stop me from spiraling completely out of control. Of course, she is shocked and horrified. I never had any interest in prostitutes before I was on the medication, and she knows that, but she says she finds the whole thing too disgusting to ever be my partner again. She also can’t understand why I didn’t tell her…but how could I have? I was too afraid that she would leave me, which she may do anyway.
This is only two weeks old, so I know she needs time to come to terms with it. She knows the medication has played a role, but also sees me as being ultimately responsible. I don’t want to hurt her any more than I already have, and I don’t want to portray myself as the victim, as I know she is certainly the one who has been hurt on my account. But I know this never would have happened had I been healthy and never needed a dopamine agonist. How can I make her understand that? I tell her every day how much I love her and that I can’t imagine going through life without her and my boys, plus the Parkinson’s on top of it all. Has anyone been through a similar situation? I would appreciate advice from others who have lived through this hell. Thanks to all.
I’m really sorry to hear about what you and your family have been going through. Sadly, hypersexuality is something many people with Parkinson’s have experienced before as a side affect to dopamine agonist drugs. This is known as impulsive and compulsive behaviour and we have a lot of helpful information on via the Parkinson’s UK website which you can find here: https://www.parkinsons.org.uk/information-and-support/impulsive-and-compulsive-behaviours-parkinsons
This type of behaviour can have a big impact on the person affected and the people around them. I’d advise you to talk to your specialist or Parkinson’s nurse. You may find it uncomfortable to talk to a healthcare professional about the difficulties you’re having, but remember they’ll have spoken to others with similar problems before and everything you tell them will be confidential.
If you need to speak to someone a lot sooner, you can give our confidential/ free helpline a call and one of our friendly advisers would be happy to provide you with more support on this. Give us a call on 0808 800 0303 Monday-Friday: 9am-7pm, Saturday: 10am-2pm or email us on [email protected].
There has been many discussions on hypersexuality on the forum so I’m sure you’ll receive some helpful comments from our members soon, however, I hope you find the information I’ve shared useful.
So many of us have faced ruined lives for over 10 years because of these horrendous side effects.Search this site for DAs and OCDs…
Read our stories.
Ring your Parkinsons Nurse…you will only stop the hypersexuality by coming off these drugs slowly and replacing them with levadopa such as Sinemet.
Those who prescribe them know what will happen to about 50% of their patients but don’t care.
Beg your wife to read the accounts…she will then believe you. Tell her you need her help to come off the drugs.
I wish you strength and courage…you can win this battle but it USA tortuous Road,
Love
GG
This happened to my husband immediately he was put on a dopa agonist as far back as 23/24 years ago when it was not publicised about compulsive behaviour. He was on them for 10 years and eventually he started to gamble and blew £136000. By that time (2005) reports of compulsive behaviour were being reported so he was advised to stop taking them. We had a group who were trying to get a class action going but we could not get insurance to sue the drugs companies for not having warnings in the packets. Amongst our group was someone like you and his wife divorced him. But when she saw how these tablets caused compulsive behaviour they got back together again. About 8 years after my husband stopped taking a dopa agonist another doctor prescribed him a different one and within 2 weeks he found all the compulsive behaviours coming back but thankfully he realised and stopped taking them.
Show your wife our posts. As someone else said Sinemet and other medications work for PD. Also Mucuna Pruriens which is herbal bought from Ebay called Pure Selva. The seller is from Scarborough. My husband has had it for more than 26 years and we still go abroad at least 3 times a year. The other thing to do is get a PD nurse. They have more knowledge than doctors about everyday problems in Parkinson’s because they are dealing with solely PD patients.
