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Dear Friends: I am writing to ask if anyone has had unusual GI symptoms associated with PD. My husband is 62 yrs old and has had PD for over 15 years. His disease has been well-controlled over the years with Symmetrel at first and then Sinemet CR in later years. He has had chronic problems with gastritis but over the last year has had more severe GI problems. While I know that constipation is a common problem in PD, what happens to him is much more than constipation. Approximately 40 minutes after eating (anything at all) my husband experiences a sequence of events that consists at first of pressure and pain in the abdomen that then extends to his head giving him a headache with the sensation of a band of pressure around his head. His abdomen becomes distended and he cannot wear any belt around his waist. His veins stand out on his abdomen and neck. The attack may last for hours. We believe this is some sort of vascular reaction caused by some abnormality in the gastrointestinal handling of food and digestion but we don't know if it is directly related to PD. We know that his stomach is emptying properly and his small intestine works from specific studies that have been done, but the motility of the large colon is very slow. This problem has become so severe, that his weight dropped from 155 lbs. to 118 lbs. at one point after which he was put on total parenteral nutrition (TPN; which is intravenous feeding providing almost 1,700 calories/24 hrs) for 6 and 1/2 months. This had its own set of complications considering, for example, that proteins (in the form of amino acids) were fed IV continuously and interfered with the PD meds. He recently stopped the TPN because of quality of life issues and is now back to losing weight at a rate of about 1 lb. per day. He has been labeled as a "failure to thrive". My questions are: Has anyone experienced any of these symptoms and could they be associated with PD? Has anyone with PD ever been on TPN? If so what was your experience? Thank you all for any insight you can give us. Sincerely, Delana Vaughan CG 39 yrs for 2 PWP in tandem ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn