Hi my name is Sharon and I am new to the listserv. My uncle who is 68
has had Parkinson's for 15 years. Prior to just before Christmas he
was on Sinemet (4 X per day), Selegeline HCL, Lorazepam, and Levocarb
(unfortunately I don't know exact dosages due to recent deterioration
of my uncles condition). Prior to December 20th he was functioning
independently living alone, driving his car, cycling (stationary) and
managing a large farm. My father had noticed some mild memory loss but
no other problems other than the usual tremors, masked face, swaying
walking, difficulty sitting for a long period, take care to cut food in
smaller pieces etc. Although some daily tasks were getting difficult,
he had a positive attitude. Then my uncle sent himself to hospital by
ambulance thinking that he was having a heart attack (panic attack?).
He was diagnosed with pneumonia.
However then the trouble started - he was delirious and had to be
restrained and sedated. It was a country hospital which had little
knowledge of Parkinson's and they eliminated all the drugs except the
Sinemet (my uncle had brought a list of all his drugs with him to the
hospital). He was then transferred to a city hospital for a through
physical (including CAT scan) all was fine and by then the pneumonia
was clear. He was then transferred to a psychiatric hospital as (in
Canada) there was no physical reason to keep him in the regular
hospital. (NOTE - my uncle had no prior "mental problems".) He remains
just on Sinemet. However his condition in less than a month has
deteriorated to a point where he often does not know his brother, he
can barely swallow, he can not shave himself, he is in diapers and they
have now moved him to a different ward where only wheelchairs (not
walking) are allowed.
What can cause such a rapid deterioration in one month when all other
physical causes are ruled out? The psychiatrist wants to use electric
shock treatments to bring him out of this. Has anyone ever heard of
using this means? The neuro was planning to put him on Requip on
January 5th before my uncle's turn for the worse. Does anyone have any
advise. (My apologies for the lack of the exact dosage info - I have
had calls in to the psychiatrist for 2 days to confirm). The neuro and
psychiatrist are to give us their recommendation for further treatment
next week.
Thanks
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Unfortunately he lives several hours from any relative and trying to
organize things over the phone is very difficult.
