Dopamine Agonist Withdrawal Syndrome: Implications for Patient Care.
Dopamine Agonist Withdrawal Syndrome: Implications for Patient Care.
Drugs Aging. 2013 May 18;
Nirenberg MJ
Dopamine agonists are effective treatments for a variety of indications, including Parkinson’s disease and restless legs syndrome, but may have serious side effects, such as orthostatic hypotension, hallucinations, and impulse control disorders (including pathological gambling, compulsive eating, compulsive shopping/buying, and hypersexuality). The most effective way to alleviate these side effects is to taper or discontinue dopamine agonist therapy. A subset of patients who taper a dopamine agonist, however, develop dopamine agonist withdrawal syndrome (DAWS), which has been defined as a severe, stereotyped cluster of physical and psychological symptoms that correlate with dopamine agonist withdrawal in a dose-dependent manner, cause clinically significant distress or social/occupational dysfunction, are refractory to levodopa and other dopaminergic medications, and cannot be accounted for by other clinical factors. The symptoms of DAWS include anxiety, panic attacks, dysphoria, depression, agitation, irritability, suicidal ideation, fatigue, orthostatic hypotension, nausea, vomiting, diaphoresis, generalized pain, and drug cravings. The severity and prognosis of DAWS is highly variable. While some patients have transient symptoms and make a full recovery, others have a protracted withdrawal syndrome lasting for months to years, and therefore may be unwilling or unable to discontinue DA therapy. Impulse control disorders appear to be a major risk factor for DAWS, and are present in virtually all affected patients. Thus, patients who are unable to discontinue dopamine agonist therapy may experience chronic impulse control disorders. At the current time, there are no known effective treatments for DAWS. For this reason, providers are urged to use dopamine agonists judiciously, warn patients about the risks of DAWS prior to the initiation of dopamine agonist therapy, and follow patients closely for withdrawal symptoms during dopamine agonist taper. HubMed – eating
Mentalizing in Self vs. Parent Representations and Working Models of Parents as Risk and Protective Factors From Distress and Eating Disorders.
J Nerv Ment Dis. 2013 May 16;
Rothschild-Yakar L, Waniel A, Stein D
This study examined whether low developmental level of mentalization and symbolization, manifested as low ability to represent and reflect on mental states of the self and parents as well as malevolent working models of parents, may be risk factors in the genesis of eating disorders (EDs). We examined 71 female adolescent inpatients with ED and 45 controls without ED using the Object Representation Inventory and self-report measures assessing emotional distress and ED symptoms. The results indicated that the patients with ED presented with a significantly lower level of mentalization and symbolization and with more malevolent working models of their parents in comparison with the controls without ED. A more benevolent parental representation, specifically with the father, combined with better mentalization abilities, was found to indirectly predict lower ED symptoms, via the reduction of distress levels. These findings suggest that adequate mentalization and benevolent working models of parents may serve as a protective factor reducing the level of ED symptoms. HubMed – eating
The Behavior of Eating Glass, With Radiological Findings: A Case of Pica.
J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2013 Mar 1; 25(2): E46-E48
Kumsar NA, Erol A