Dear List,
My name is Kathryn Ward and my father has Parkinson's. He is 68 years old and was diagnosed in 1996. He was coping as well as to be expected given the added burden of macular degeneration and retinal detachment in one eye. He became a candidate for DBS and in April 2001 had one stimulator successfully implanted. During the past month he has been experiencing fairly severe "spells" of dizziness, nausea, extreme dry mouth, flushing of his upper body, confusion, lightheadness, muscle pain and weakness, abdominal pain, loss of appetite and weight loss and erratic blood pressure. These "events" had been occurring prior to the neurosurgery but they were not as severe as they have become in the past month. Every one in his medical community seems stumped by these symptoms ( which appear to read like the side effects of Sinemet ) and last month his neurologist told him that these symptoms were not symptoms of Parkinson's.
He has since been to the cardiologist and been tested ( Negative on all counts-- the cardiologist told him that he thought it WAS Parkinson's) and two weeks ago he was in the local ER for five hours because his BP was so high that my mother was fearful of an aneurysm and called 911. Again nothing was uncovered to account for these mysterious "spells" which came and went all day long, some being more severe than others but always knocking him down and keeping him from leaving the house. He has even had an abdominal CT which also was clear of abnormalities.
I live 300 miles away from my parents and tried to get my mother to really keep track of when the spells were happening and what he was doing, had eaten, timing of meds etc. but she is so overwhelmed that I wasn't able to get much help there. I have been to see my father twice in the last two weeks and have observed what is going on. I began to really question the combination of his meds. He is taking Sinemet, Hytrin and Valium. All three have almost the same side effects-- especially the Hytrin and Sinemet. My research is leading me to strongly suspect a negative synergistic effect caused by the combination of these three meds. The Hytrin was prescribed over a year ago by a urologist for enlarged prostate and the Sinemet and Valium were prescribed by the neurologist. My sister and I have both read that Valium can interfere with the action of Sinemet.
My father re-visited the neurologist two days ago ( and my sister went along with my parents to ask questions ) and the only thing the neurologist could offer at this point was that the symptoms are indeed Parkinson's moving into Stage 4. When questioned specifically about the possibility of a negative drug interaction he was noncomittant and suggested that my father see the neurosurgeon and get a second stimulator and told Dad to make his next appointment for a month from now. When asked why the Valium was prescribed for my father the neurologist said to help Dad "relax" and gave no indication that taking Valium and Sinemet at the same time was a problem in his mind. (Needless to say, we are not pleased with this treatment but right now our primary concern is Dad's condition.) I am hoping that someone on the List can shed some light on these mysterious symptoms...are they "just Parkinson's getting worse" or are they indeed indicative of a drug toxicity? I'm pretty sure from research and observation that the Sinemet alone isn't causing these symptoms. Is there anyone taking Hytrin and Sinemet or Valium and Sinemet or all three medications? Is anyone having similar kinds of "spells" as simply a part of Parkinson's? Has anyone else had a stimulator implanted and experienced these symptoms? ( I tend not to suspect the stimulator because immediately after the implant the tremors and arm/leg waving that Dad was experiencing stopped and he looked and felt really well, but I have to look at all the issues).
Any information or suggestions from the Parkinson's Community will be appreciated greatly.
Thank you
Kathryn Ward
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