Parkinson’s medication turned man into sex-crazed transvestite

A man has told how he became a sex-crazed transvestite and ran up £400,000 debts on flash cars and holidays after suffering bizarre side-effects from a drug prescribed by his doctor. Town councillor Pete Shepherd, 60, was given a new drug called Cabergoline by his GP after he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. The pills relieved the symptoms of the debilitating illness but turned Pete into a high-living, violent, attention-seeking, sex-addicted gambler with delusions of grandeur. He maxed-out 15 credit cards, exceeded two bank overdraft limits, ran up £400,000 debts and lost his wife, £50,000-a-year IT job and home.

Pete claims he was sent ”mad” by the drugs which twisted his mind so badly he suffered ”compulsions” which made him a sex-addicted gambler. Cabergoline is a new form of drug called Dopamine Agent (DA) and can also be used to increase sex drive. Peter, from Hull, Yorks., said: ”I started to develop a range of strange obsessions, compulsions and interests. I became obsessed with gambling, spending, sexual excess and various fetishes. I suffered from delusions of grandeur, exhibitionism, paranoia and hallucinations and became violent and suicidal. I was out day and night at racecourses, betting shops, casinos and brothels. I developed a transvestite tendency and spent tens of thousands of pounds on ladies’ clothing for myself.



”None of this high-living, gambling, hypersexuality, fetishism, violence or attention-seeking made any sense at the time. I knew I was behaving oddly but I was totally driven down these paths and unable to control the compulsions whatsoever.” Peter was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease in 2001 but believes he may have suffered from the disease since 1970. Over the next seven years he ran up £400,000 debts living the high-life including enormous credit card bills at casinos, horse racing, brothels, sex lines and porn websites. He posed as millionaire on a Caribbean cruise on the QEII and travelled to luxury resorts in New York, Florida, Tenerife, Tunisia, Morocco and Dominican Republic.

Pete hired a helicopter to go to the Grand Canyon and rented Bentleys, Ferraris, Porsches, TVRs and Jaguars and toured Scotland staying in luxury hotels for Hogmanay. He bought flash cars with personalised number plates got tickets to boxing matches, concerts, Wimbledon tennis finals, and owned executive boxes at two football clubs. During one week in Las Vegas Pete blew £10,000 on gambling, hotels and flights. Pete also developed a transvestite tendancy and dressed up in stilettos and tights and hung out in car parks looking for sex. He finally discovered a link between his compulsions and Cabergoline after searching the internet his life went back to normal when he stopped taking the drugs. Pete now takes different medication to treat his Parkinson’s Disease and has no savings or house.