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Nelson, my husband, 74, began having some problems about six years ago. He had no tremors (and has never had them) but his left side was impaired. He swam regularly at a spa, but found he could no longer swim. He lacked coordination. He was overcome with weakness. His limbs were stiff and he experienced numbness in his left leg and foot. Eventually, in May 1991, he was diagnosed Parkinson's. After three years of treatment, the diagnosis was changed to Multi-System Atrophy. He had very low response to Sinemet and the disease progressed rapidly and relentlessly. Currently he is immobilized and requires 24 hour care. He remains here at home and we are fortunate to have two young women nurse aides to handle his needs for bathing, etc., and to feed him. His mind and cognitive processes remain unimpaired, although his voice is very soft and he has trouble forming the words. Each day I print the Parkinson's List and read it to him. With great effort he dictated the following. On behalf of Nelson this responds to several postings over the last few days......Barbara Q. 1. Re: Scaly, blotchy skin. Have never used amantadine or Eldepryl, but have had the skin problems described since sometime after the onset of Parkinson's. Particularly irritating were the itchy spots which were from very intense itchiness to painful. They felt like needles. They were small red eruptions and some formed a crust. I treated them with a daily topical application of 50% DMSO/50% distilled water. Irritation was greatly reduced and itching is almost all gone. (This was not doctor prescribed)There has been no apparent connection between the skin irritations and the various medications over the years. At one time I had reached a level of 1600 mg. Sinemet daily. 2. Re Non-Protein diet. This was recommended to me by one of my doctors, and followed and it resulted in a weight loss from 153# to 129#. My alarmed internist said I was starving to death! We located mail-order company (Healthy Balance @ Elan Pharm.) whose food is designed for Parkinson's patients. It has a ratio of 7 to 1 of carbohydrate to protein. There is a range of soups and other canned an powdered foods. Also my doctor recommended Ensure Plus. My weight was regained and so was my strength and energy to the level allowed by the disease. 3. Re: Constipation. This has been an extremely difficult problem to address, especially since I have become immobile. The usual roughage of fruits and vegetablel are supplemented with strained prunes (baby food) and metamucil. Early in the morning of every third day, my health aide gives me a dulcolax suppository. In th early afternoon, I am tuned on my side and my aide presses on my stomach with successful results. The whole process takes less than 15 minutes. Compared to earlier efforts with stool softeners, enemas, the discomfort, etc., this is easy. 4. Re: Low Blood Pressure. Low BP was a problem very soon after diagnosis. It happened frequently that BP was 60/40. It was accompanied by visual distortion and weakness, but I was able to walk to my recliner where I rested. BP restored to normal within 30 minutes to 2 hours. When it dropped to 50/30, I woul lose consciousnes, and one time I ended up in the ER. Acardiologist recommended florinef which I still take , 1/2 0.2 mgs every other day. This was to effect a leveling of BP between the very high BP in the morning on arising and the BP drops later in the day. Since I am now confined to bed the drops are fewere and less dramatic. No cause for this variation could be established. Best regards, Nelson and Barbara