 |
 |
My husband had an even more rapid onset. In May, 1994, I was participating in a convention in Denver. At that time his major problem was some depression. He was setting out his own medications every morning and remembering to take them (and reminding me of mine). On that Wednesday, I came home and spent the day, he was as usual. A son took him to lunch on Thursday and saw nothing wrong. On Saturday, he called me in the morning and said that there was something terrible wrong. Another son picked him up and brought him to Denver and we had lunch together. Everything seemed okay at that point and I told him I would be home the next morning. (Our son stayed with him.) When I came home Sunday morning, he had set out 4 Eldepryl and no Sinemet. We thought that he may have seriously mixed up his medication. He has gone downhill rapidly since then. After six months, the doctor decided to have an MRI done to make sure there "weren't any surprises!". The radiologist said, some slight shrinkage of the cortex, and there was one spot in the frontal lobe, undetermined cause, but consistent with a diagnosis of Parkinson's. We started with Clozaril a week ago. Any comments will be appreciated. Miriam L. Denham On Wed, 20 Dec 1995, George Tomlinson wrote: > To list members: > > I am a new subscriber and I could not find an answer to my > specific query in the archives. > > My father-in-law, aged 64 now, was diagnosed 18 months ago > with PD. He has been taking 3 pills a day of Sinemet 100-25, > medication for high blood pressure, and Prozac to treat > his depression. > > Physically, he has been doing very well, working out with > weights and exercycling. Mentally, he had been unaffected, > until about a month ago. (He just retired from a professorship, > and finished writing a grant proposal about six weeks ago) > Between a month ago and two weeks ago, his mental state rapidly > deteriorated. He is now confused, free-associating in conversation > in a completely uncharacteristic way, and remembering events from > 20-30 years ago, but forgetting recent ones. He is experiencing > some degree of paranoia, being suspicious of his dog, for example. > Last week, he was still reading the newspaper, albeit slowly. Now, > he does not. There are plenty more changes, as you probably > all know. > > He saw his neurologist early on in the deterioration, when he was > quite cogent in his responses to the doctor's questions, so the doctor > thought that his symptoms were mild. Today, his family physician > saw such a dramatic change that she has ordered a CATSCAN. In the interim, > the psychiatrist who prescribed Prozac took him off it, thinking it may > have been responsible. > > The family's understanding has been that the onset of dementia is slow > in Parkinson's and that it is expected after many years of illness. > Is it possible that the dementia that sometimes accompanies PD > could come so quickly and so overwhelmingly? Or should we be looking > for other explanations? Any experiences or pointers to relevant information > would be much appreciated. > > > George Tomlinson > > ______________________________________________________________________________ _ > George Tomlinson > [log in to unmask] > Department of Preventive Medicine and Biostatistics > University of Toronto. >