Dear Jennifer: My husband has much the same problems you experience. I share
some of our approach, simply as something to consider-
He's had PD for l2 yr. and from the beginning we realized massage helps.
It
just makes him feel better, don't really know if there is med. reasons or long
term
affects on progression, but I can feel much of the stiffness and rigidity
leave him as
I massage- some days he's "loose" , others tight, but always the contact
helps.
It sounds like what you are doing in exercise, showers, etc, is great- I wish
he had
the overall energy to do that -I encourage and help all I can.
Our reasoning also tells us to keep the Sinimet as even in the system
over a
24 hr. period - so we have always gone to the trouble of taking medication on
a 6
hour interval, including 1-2 A.M. . When he started with a new Neuro- he was
told
to drop the overnite dosing, and compress the intervals to 3 hr. - No good for
him.
It caused too much fluctuations and he felt terrrible. Several times and ways
we
have tried to wean off the overnite pill, always with bad effects. We find
that as
long as he gets 4 hr stretches of good sleep at a time, overall he feels
better. This
works for us- may not for you but thought I'd give you the input anyway...
The depression is something we also have dealt with "together" - a couple
of
times Dr. have prescribed mild sedatives but he has found it better to stay
off the
medication and deal with it from other aspects of his life. If you want more
discus-
sion about this, let me know - I know many people believe strongly that
medication
is the way to go, but pertaining to depression, my recommendation if to keep
talking and explore the best solutions FOR YOU- my door is certainly open for
any private discussions- and I feel the list is a great source of help...
Hoping this 2cents worth gives you some ideas, if nothing else,
encouragement that can help you through the nights...
Marie
