I subscribed to the PARKINSN List about a week ago. I received the
welcome letter and I am just now getting an introduction of my situation
to you. I am a science teacher in rural La Junta Colorado. My sister
is a writer for her own publishing company in Ft Collins Colorado. I am
the one who has the internet address at the moment and will be doing the
communicating with the net. Our mother has Parkinsons Disease and we are
seeking any help the members of the PARKINSN list may provide. I would
like to thank everyone involved with this list for their time and
assistance. The following letter my sister wrote describes the situation
and questions we have about our mother.
We are a brother and sister whose mother was diagnosed with Parkinsons's
about three years ago. We are puzzled, confused and very alarmed by her
rapid mental decline. We are hoping others can share information with us
that might be helpful.
Until the onset of the disease, Mom was extremely intelligent, creative,
artistic and talented. She was an avid reader. She wrote plays,
designed and made clothing, drew, painted, and organized everything from
4-H groups to school programs. Now she does little but sit all day, and
she is only 65 years old.
Much of the time now she can't tell time, write, figure out how to dial a
telephone, cook, or even get her clothes on properly. Worse, she has
bizarre hallucinations. We simply don't know what to do to help her.
Here are some questions we have:
%Mom is taking carbidopa and levodopa, and right now is on, we believe, a
low dosage.
She also takes lozol (for high blood pressure), premarin (estrogen),
paxil (for depression) and prescription-strength ibuprofen three times a
day for pain in her leg (probably bursitis).
She often acts drugged to us. Furthermore, she usually seems to get
worse whenever the doctors give her a new drug or increase the strength
of an existing one. We have seen improvement when my father, frustrated,
has given her half the amount of some of the prescriptions. Yet the
doctors insist there is no problem with over-medication. Can that be
true? Has anyone else had a similar problem with a disparity between
what the doctors say and the behavior you observe? How did you handle
the problem?
*Has anyone heard of ibuprofen being associated with hallucinations? We
have a young friend with lupus who had problems with hallucinations while
taking ibuprofen and now cannot take the drug. We sometimes believe we
are seeing an association between ibuprofen and the frequency and
severity of Mom's hallucinations. We would like to hear if anyone else
has observed problems with ibuprofen.
*Is there anything we can do to help Mom's mental functioning? The
physical problems, though very difficult, seem manageable. It is the
bizarre mental problems that are breaking our hearts and leaving us
baffled. (note: a neurologist has ruled out Alzheimer's. The primary
care doctor who sent her to the neurologist, however, says that he thinks
she "probably has it or something similar," despite what the neurologist
says.)
A few examples of her behavior: She came into the kitchen last week
and asked what her daughter was doing on top of the refrigerator. Her
daughter was in the kitchen, but there was only a bag of potato chips on
top of the refrigerator...At our Christmas Eve celebration she asked what
Mildred (a friend in attendance) was doing in a coffee cup...She has
"little friends," children without fingers, whom she sees everywhere.
The started appearing about nine months ago. They are generally
"friendly" to her, but sometimes they do things like keep her out of the
bathroom. Sometimes, however, she has "seen" a man who frightens her
terribly. Once she even tried to run away from him, taking off across a
field towards a neighboring farm and frightening our father to
death...She introduced her visiting daughter and her husband to someone
no one else could see...Is this kind of thing typical of Parkinson's?
*Can anyone recommend a doctor in our area who specializes in Parkinson's
and is board-certified in geriatrics? Mom lives in rural area about 70
miles east of Pueblo, Colorado, so a Pueblo doctor would be most
helpful. Other possibilities might be Colorado Springs, Denver, Fort
Collins, Loveland and Longmont. She currently sees a general
practitioner, a neurologist who visits the small town closest to her
every month, and an orthopedic doctor.
*Does anyone have any suggestions that might help our mother?
Thank you.
Cheryl Armstrong
Cottonwood Press
305 West Magnolia Suite 398
Fort Collins, Colorado 80521
Michael Miller
2111 Raton Ave.
La Junta, Colorado 81050
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