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Sid Gudes wrote:

Does anyone have comments about the confusion?  His neuro asked my
mother-in-law if she preferred him confused or able to get to the bathroom.
Since she is not phisically strong she said she needs him to be able to get
around physically. She is very discouraged since she now believes she has to choose whether to have a mate with a functioning mind or one that can help her get him out of bed.


My Dad, too is currently quite confused, and according to the new Neuro, it is "probably" related to medications, so he's been removed from Eldepryl and Symmetryl, and he's only on Sinemet. The jury's still out on what effect this will have (it's been less than a week since the change), but we're all hopeful.

In discussing the medications with us, Dr. Stern (the Neuro) explained it this way.  Each of the Parkinson's medications can cause some degree of mental confusion.  They can also help the physical disabilities.  The trick is to find a balance between the two.

In Dad's case, once he's stable off the 2 drugs, we're to start "experimenting" with the amount of Sinemet.  Since our goal is to clear his mind as much as possible, Dr. Stern suggested that we start again at a relatively low dose of Sinemet, then slowly add a bit at a time.  Somewhere along the line we'll hit the point where the mental state will start to slide below what we consider "acceptable", so we go back one level in the dosage, recognizing that this will bring back more physical challenges.  Our challenge will be to find that fine line and balance there.

Good luck!

Diane McHutchison
Long distance CG for Dad -- 69/6+
Englishtown, NJ USA
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