Last Wednesday, my father (76, ~3 years PD) fell in the living
room. He did not apparently suffer serious injury, but he could not
get up. He called an ambulance using a pendant which triggered an
automatic dialer. He was taken to the hospital emergency room that
afternoon. (They X-rayed him for head injuries, as I understand, and
found none, although he had a bump over his eye.)
The doctor kept him in the hospital for observation, and to
treat an inflammation on his left leg. Thursday evening, he started
to suffer confusion about his surroundings and condition. The
confusion has continued through today, although the hospital staff
tells me that he has periods of lucidity. The doctor ordered an MRI
(magnetic resonance imaging), which was performed Monday and showed
no apparent abnormalities.
The confusion is severe enough, however, that my father has
trouble eating, and he is often unaware of his surroundings. It has
now persisted for six days. He is taking only Sinemet (5.5 25/100
tablets a day before his hospitalization, and I think the doctor has
reduced the dose.) The doctor stopped his Parlodel a few months ago
after he started having severe hallucinations.
Has anyone else had this problem, or known a patient who has had
it? Is this a common side effect of Parkinson's?
-Bill
