Any conductors, parents, other professionals out there? Does anyone have any experience in the use of L.Dopa for a child with athetoid CP? it has recently come up as a suggestion for one of our kids and i'm a bit bemused about it and had never heard of it being used for CP before. I am aware of its use for people with PD but never CP. Does anyone have any knowledge, exprience etc...
Jules
Jules
ReplyDeleteI do not know anything about L-Dopa for cerebral palsy but I have recently heard that a child that I work with with athetoid cerebral palsy is being given a very small dose of a drug normally used for treating epilepsy. I will find out next week which one.
I work with an older client who developed epilepsy in his late teens. When he started to take the drugs to treat the epilepsy some of the symptoms of the athetoid cerebral palsy changed.
He was able to gain more control over the movement in his arms. His speech also became clearer, perhaps a result of the reduction in the production of saliva.
But maybe the changes were not related to the epilepsy or the drugs at all and were a result of his hard work and growing maturity!
Susie
http://www.wemove.org/pediatric_treatment/medication_dopamine.html
ReplyDeleteThere's lots more up there where this came from. Another source of pharmaceutically induced confusion, for example:
http://www.scope.org.uk/forum/lofiversion/index.php/t1587.html
Our son was on L.Dopa for 1 year from the age of 1 to 2 years old. He was 7 months old when he contracted meningococcal septicemia which caused cardiac and respiratory arrest - resulting in brain damage and the label "spastic quadriplegic CP". He also has epilepsy and 'global development delay' [he's just 5 yrs old now, so still has the latter tag].
ReplyDeleteL.Dopa was a trial and we observed him go from vegetative to some awareness and saw him 'wake up' somewhat to have motivation to seek and do. But he was, and remains, severely affected, and any improvement was observed and celebrated. It may have been a natural healing and the young brain developing as best it could - which showed signs of improvement following his damage.
When we took him off of L.Dopa it was to see if there was a noticeable difference, negatively, and there wasn't, really, so we haven't re-trialled or continued since.
Our neurologist may have suggested L.Dopa to other children with various severties of CP and therefore may have more information for you. She is based in Perth, Western Australia, but on sebatical sometime soon [2010 - 2011] for a year in Toronto, Canada, and New York, USA: Dr Lakshmi Nagarajan. You may be able to find more information if you can contact her: she works out of Princess Margaret Hospital for Children. Phone (08) 9340 8222 for switch board, and they can redirect your call to neurology OR contact neurology dept direct: 08 9340 8364 [Perth, WA is GMT +8hrs timezone].
Good luck.
BTW: I should mention that I came to your blog by way of CE comment. Our gorgeous little boy [same 5 yr-old that trialled L.Dopa a few years back] has accessed CE in early intervention since he was 2 and is now in 3 days per week Conductive Education PrePrimary after 2 days per week Kindergarten 2009. This year he is doing a shared education plan with 3 at CE and 2 days at mainstream where his older brother attends Grade/Year 3.
ReplyDeleteIf you ever feel the urge to work and travel to Western Australia, we always have a waitlist screaming out "please! more Teacher-Conductors!".
Visit www.conductiveedwa.com.au for more info - as well as the special programs page of Carson Street Primary School where the programs are run: http://www.carsonst.wa.edu.au/programs.htm