My uncle, 79 years old, who was diagnosed with PD six years ago, was
functioning reasonably well, despite tremors, shuffling, and suffering some
memory loss and difficulty concentrating. He was working on ways to get
around his difficulties to revise one of his books on July 4 when he fell
and broke his hip. Since then -- in the hospital and now in the rehab
facilty -- he has hallucinations, is often delusional and paranoid, and has
significant memory loss. Since he doesn't remember or realize that he broke
his hip, he tries to stand up from the bed or wheelchair, and has fallen
again. His progress in physical therapy is slow and erratic, partly I think
because of the memory problem, and perhaps because of the off/on of the
L-dopa. He went for a CAT scan last week, though the results aren't in yet.
Sometimes conversations with him are like old times, especially if we talk
of the past, but his grasp of what's going on in the present is pretty
wild. He seems very passive, doesn't initiate activities like reading, as
far as I can tell. I'm not the primary caregiver -- his wife and two grown
children are on the scene. His doctor says some of his confusion may clear
up when he gets home.
He is on essentially the same medications he was on at home, though I
don't know the dosages: He was not given a general anaesthetic at any point
because he has hallucinated with them in the past.
Sinimet
Docusate
Florineff
Multivitamin
Prevacid
Ranitidine - xantac
Senna
Ferrous Gluconate
Wellbutrin
I inquired about his potassium levels, since florineff causes them to drop,
but that seems to be in the low normal range. This spring he was on another
Parkinsons drug which gave him different sorts of hallucinations -- don't
know the name of it.
Does anyone have any thoughts or experiences or suggestions about
delusions or hallucinations related to Parkinsons?
Thanks.
Ellen Garvey
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