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^^^^^^ WARM GREETINGS FROM ^^^^^^^^^^^^ :-) Ivan Suzman 49/39/36 [log in to unmask] :-) Portland, Maine land of lighthouses 79 deg. F :-) ******************************************************************** Hi Rosemary and Dex, Good morning from Maine! Sorry you guys have had it rough lately! Rosemary, from what you have told us (reposted berlow), I guess you couldn't do any harm by jointly monitoring Dex's pill-taking, at least for a while. I ask my caregivers to remind me about my pills, because I frequently get involved in doing something, and sometimes, time slips by, and I miss taking them at the right time. Also, especially when I've just awakened, or when I'm half asleep, I let them help me manipulate the actual pieces of pills I have to take out of the portable pill container, and they place these pills in my palm. We have my daily medication schedule neatly charted,and posted conveniently on the kitchen refrigerator door. Close monitoring is VERY essential. If Dex missed a dose the previous evening,or even the morning of the shaving incident, he might get stiff and lose balance from being undermedicated. Meanhwile, Dex might have also had a residual "sleep benefit" that could trick the two of you. He could function better after he gets up from sleep, from having rested, but then falter after a short while of good functioning. Rosemary, I am assuming that what you describe happened farily early in the day, after arising. Is that true? In any case, the key issue is to keep Dex ON his dose schedule. A SECOND issue is whether his meds are slowing his heart, or lowering his blood pressure. He may have orthostatic hypotension (his pressure drops when he stands up). Some of the PD meds can cause this, in some PWP's. If so, or if he has lowered pressure for other reasons, it would be safer for him to shave SITTING DOWN. My pressure dropped from 110/70 (the usual) to 70/40, even sitting down, on Mirapex. I had to give it up because it made me dozy and light-headed. Or, he might have lowered blood sugar, and need something to prevent sugar - related drowsiness. I wonder if the shaving incident was before, or after his breakfast? Hope this helps you and Dex decide the next steps to take. Good luck with the next few days, Sincerely, Ivan Suzman 49/39/36 :-) On Thu, 1 Jul 1999 22:04:30 -0700 Rosemary & Rollin Dexter <[log in to unmask]> writes: >Hi, I appreciated the responses I got when I asked about PD freezing >while >in bed. He has had another episode. This time he was in the >bathroom >shaving and I heard him fall. Apparently he just fell against the >wall >because he was standing when I got in there. But he was about to go >down >so I helped him get to his bed as quickly as I could. His symptoms >were >exactly like they were a week ago when he couldn't move to get up >except >that this time he was moving albeit slowly. He didn't appear to be >rigid. >He was somewhat incoherant, very weak, confused and he can't remember >now >some of the things that happened. Figuering it was PD related I >didn't >immediately do anything but he didn't seem to snap out of it and so I >called his doctor. He said to wait about 30 minutes and if there was >no >change to get him to the hospital. He still seemed about the same >but >insisted he didn't want go in an ambulance so I got him my mother's >walker >and he made it out to the car. > >At the hospital they took all kinds of heart tests. Seems his heart >rate >was way down. He had a complete cardiac work-up and everything was >normal. > He came home today. Still seems extra weak but is getting around >slowly. > >If PD can cause the digestive system to work sluggishly isn't it >logical >that the heart might also be sluggish at times? Has anyone had this >kind >of an experience? > >My other concern is that I had to get his medication to take to the >hospital and I found his medicines in a mess. It makes me think >perhaps he >has not been taking the right dosages. The thing is that he worries >about >not taking the right meds so much that he is always double checking >his >layout. He puts them in individual bottles for four days at a time and >it >is a good system if it works right. I hate to have to take over >another one >of his jobs so I will just oversee it for a while and see how it >goes. > >Thanks for listening. Rosemary c/partner for Dex 75/6