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Robin Williams

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Posted 11/4/2015 6:57 PM (GMT 0)
I just saw his wife on The View - talking about his symptoms...

They did an mri of his pituitary because of high cortisol levels.
He had delusions, anxiety - depression was a small piece.
He was clean and sober for 8 years.
He had sensitivity to medications.

She said it was like he had cancer in every organ in his body.
He said to her "...there is something terribly wrong with me"
The last month it was like the 'dam broke'.

He was diagnosed with Parkinsons's disease.

An autopsy showed Lewy Body Dementia.


- Are you thinking what I'm thinking?
Posted 11/4/2015 7:05 PM (GMT 0)
I wonder if they did a dark microsope test on the biopsy of his brain, what they would find...is it likely they would find Bb and/or co-infections? Possibly.
Posted 11/4/2015 7:37 PM (GMT 0)
I'm thinking what you're thinking, Girlie. So sad.
Posted 11/4/2015 9:13 PM (GMT 0)
Of course I'm thinking the same thing! Hubby had it one and as his wife was describing things, I had to leave. It was too much for me to listen to and set off my PTSD that I have over all of this. It's such a shame that he wasn't helped and that it won't be known what the real cause most likely was.
Posted 11/4/2015 9:37 PM (GMT 0)
Yes, Girlie~LBD--another alphabet soup label! I have a neighbor with Parkinson's who was so desperate he recently underwent brain surgery with placement of several stimulant electrodes that pulse out from his brain (that he's had to have "tweaked" a few times. I imagine these docs with transistor like radio knobs, flicking them to & fro like boyz with electrical tinker toy sets). He's not doing better & his docs are basically saying it's only downhill from here. I tried before his surgery to suggest perhaps (?) possible underlying infection (knowing genetics, etc, does play a role). It's like a crazy, sad Frankenstein science experiment. Meanwhile, his wife works full time & her dementia dad also moved in recently...How does one cope?!

Wanted to add-I just watched it. The things that especially jump out--"anxiety" & the comparison of cancer throughout the body. Dr Spector, who recently spoke at ILADS, had just compared LD to cancer, too. Tho, as many know, cancer patients are given understanding & help, unlike the desperate LD folk.

And yes, Trav~PTSD indeed!

Post Edited (happyjo) : 11/4/2015 3:43:39 PM (GMT-7)

Posted 11/4/2015 10:36 PM (GMT 0)
A friend's father here in one of the country's Lyme hotspots (upper Midwest), where they are probably slightly better at diagnosing it, was diagnosed with Parkinson's that turned out to be Lyme after further testing. I swear since I was diagnosed in June just about everyone I talk to here knows someone with chronic Lyme. How sad to think he might have had a chance at fighting it.
Posted 11/4/2015 10:51 PM (GMT 0)
Don't let them fool you with thoughts that there are hot spots and areas that aren't. I have yet to live in one of those "hot spots", yet lived with these infections for 40 years and then got reinfected with Lyme in 2014. As you've noticed, it's everywhere.
Posted 11/4/2015 11:08 PM (GMT 0)
My mind went to the same place, Girlie. How sad and such as waste :(
Posted 11/4/2015 11:54 PM (GMT 0)
Yes, I was thinking about Robin W the other day too. I was wondering if maybe he did have lyme.
Posted 11/5/2015 3:18 AM (GMT 0)
He's been on my mind lately. Back when it happened I wondered if it could have been what your thinking...Resistant symptoms and totally giving up on life...sound familiar for sure
Posted 11/5/2015 3:59 AM (GMT 0)
It's sad that with all the money he had, he didn't get enough testing done to get to the bottom of what was going on.

I like watching him with Koko the gorilla when he's in the news too much. He enjoyed that experience and so did Koko.
Posted 11/5/2015 4:47 AM (GMT 0)
As far as hot spots go, I agree with Traveler. Connecticut is one of the hardest places to get diagnosed and treated and that is where it all started. If you look at the maps from the CDC, what you see is that the only places there haven't cases reported are places people don't live. Like the desert.

I hadn't heard of LBD and when I looked it up what struck me the most were auditory and olafactory hallucinations. I have experienced both but did realize they were hallucinations until someone mentioned it here in another post. i always just thought no one else heard or smelled what i did. Like they somehow missed.

It just shows that money doesn't insulate anyone from bad luck and bad health.

Bummer,
Kim
Posted 11/5/2015 4:51 AM (GMT 0)
That was the first thing I thought when I saw article saying had any LBD.
Posted 11/5/2015 4:56 AM (GMT 0)
It was difficult to watch his widow speak - she could hardly speak at times - still very emotional.
She wanted to set the record straight - a lot of the reports were about him getting diagnosed with Parkinson's and being depressed.
She stressed the depression was a small piece of what was going on.

So very sad!
Posted 11/5/2015 12:00 PM (GMT 0)
Hi all,

Guess I'm the odd ball here as I don't think Williams had lyme disease. I think it was a combination of many reasons as to why he chose to kill himself, one of the reasons being that he owed over $30 million in alimony to his 2 ex-wives:

One can scroll to the last 15 minutes of the video:

/www.youtube.com/watch?v=diyuAXzN7yo

www.nydailynews.com/opinion/stasi-robin-williams-30m-alimony-ex-wives-contributed-death-article-1.1906241

www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/13/robin-williams_n_3923027.html

Just so very sad,
Denise
Posted 11/5/2015 1:58 PM (GMT 0)
'Oh captain, my captain'.

Regardless of the reason it is a tragedy, and that will always rate as one of the best films ever made.

Same with Terry Pratchet, I heard talk of Lyme then too. I doubt it, but who knows.

No one should suffer with any of these diseases. It is too cruel.

I am off to stand on a desk.
Posted 11/5/2015 2:33 PM (GMT 0)
I too immediately thought lyme as I read the Robin's wifes story. But I do that with everyone now.

There is a woman that is on the Board of Directors and she has had headaches that can't get fixed, horrible digestion problems and all kinds of other things. She was a state park ranger for 20 years! I told her about lyme and said you should get tested. She said she told her doctor and he said, "I don't think that is a necessary test."

Urgh
Posted 11/5/2015 3:28 PM (GMT 0)
What's truly horrible in my mind is that most people think Doctors aren't human - that they don't make mistakes and can't be wrong about their condition. Having grown up with these infections - and the doctors rarely being right or being able to do something that helped for more than a short while, I learned that doctors are just people too. They have biases, blind spots and are wrong far more often than we like to think they are.

Do I still see them? Yep!! You bet! They have the training I don't, but I'm a hard patient for many doctors because I ask the questions that they don't have answers for many times. And not just for my own health care, but now that I have a *working* brain, I do this with my husband any time he wishes me to be deeply involved in his health care.

I honestly believe that not everyone that shows the symptoms of these infections necessarily have these infections - but if it's treatable, why would someone NOT want to do treatments? What if it WAS Lyme and they healed and were able to live their lives as before? Why would anyone want to live like this and have it get worse and worse over the years? I obviously still talk about Lyme and the symptoms all the time to those I'm around - I'm just not as obnoxious as I used to be about it. LOL!
Posted 11/5/2015 4:05 PM (GMT 0)
I think it is a shame to taint Robin's name due tabloid gossip. We do know he suffered & had been labeled with "Parkinson's." And that whatever this latest label, something disseminated throughout his body. Enough testimonials to Parkinsons/MS/ALS being associated with LD/MSIDS, that it does question biologically what was going on in his body.

Willy Burgdorfer ultimately died with "Parkinson's", & did work for many years with lyme specimens. Some Q&A with the expert Willy on LD:

"What do you think about the relationship between Lyme and neurodegenerative disease like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease?"
Dr. Burgdorfer: "Right now they are building a research center at Columbia University, to study this possibility, because many physicians believe that neurologic manifestations, regardless [of] what type, are typical for Lyme disease."
http://underourskin.com/news/lyme-discoverer-willy-burgdorfer-breaks-silence-heated-controversy

Excerpts from Willy talking here on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLIWSkQdCmU

Carpe Diem~
http://www.samandscout.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/t_db69ae73062f4a0888aa93785a8659cf.jpg

And yes, SS! yeah "Oh Captain, My Captain"!
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/9a/f7/1b/9af71b9c0749cab6d06e80138d3f1a0a.jpg
Posted 11/5/2015 5:04 PM (GMT 0)
PeteZa,

My doctor told me "there is nothing in your record to indicate Lyme." Right, besides all the symptoms attributed to chronic Lyme, there is no evidence or report of a tick bite and rash. But the record he has only goes back 13 years plus not everything is in his records. I also have a cpc. In addition to that, when I got a copy of my records and there was a note that said "a second test would not result in a positive." I was floored. I have never been tested Lyme. I insisted and after 3 months he gave in so I had the igenex test done, but just found out he has been trash talking me in my records.

Kim
Posted 11/5/2015 5:36 PM (GMT 0)
"just found out he has been trash talking me in my records." I think that if we all got our records from every doctor we've seen, we would all be amazed at how much trash talk there is in our records!! I too have gotten a hold of my medical records (now I know why so many doctors here don't want you seeing them!), and was also taken aback at the thoughts "my doctor" - the one that I was supposed to be trusting, actually shared with others and said about me. So much for privacy policies!
Posted 11/5/2015 6:14 PM (GMT 0)
"Oh Captain, My Captain" - Dead Poet's Society - one of my favorite movies.

Two more of Robin's - I love - Mrs. Doubtfire and Good Will Hunting.
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