The boys took the MIL to the neurologist today. She's been having more than a few bouts of hallucinations lately and today she apparently fell or slid out out of her wheelchair.
I do believe most of her hallucinations are from being elderly and on Sinemet (a levadopa medicine). Any, and I mean any changes to her medicine taking schedule or changes in her dosage can cause her to go into LaLa land. Either she is slurry with her words/language or she sees/hears things that aren't there or gets ideas in her head that aren't true.
There is also a part of me that believes that she is getting some cognitive decline from age and Parkinsons. I've read stats that say 20, 30 or 40% of all Parkinsons patients develop dementia. I also read that the meds such as Sinemet don't cause the dementia: from this website: Click for Parkinsons dementia info here.
"The drugs used to treat Parkinson’s do not cause
dementia but may exacerbate or bring to light the
symptoms of dementia, such as hallucinations,
confusion or aggressive behaviour."
My worry is that if the hallucinations cannot be controlled then she won't be able to stay at the assisted living place. She'll need to be in a more hands on facility. She would hate that. Especially since the dementia seems to come and go...so there would be times where she'd know she's in a different type of place. Sadly it wouldn't matter what causes them, if they are present for lengths of time where she cannot help herself.
I'm very worried. I don't think that the dementia is something to worry about (as in placement) in the very near future but I have a feeling it is coming. Every time I see her she is less and less intact.
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Good luck, you guys. You might be at the beginning of a very difficult phase.
The neuro changed some of her dosages so hopefully that will help. Personally I think most of it is her meds...there is a hairline balance between being functional and not.
I just wish, well, I just wish a more difficult phase doesn't start.
I think that a big part of the problem is that she's not sleeping restfully. It's just a hunch, but I think she wakes up at night frequently and has a hard time getting to sleep. On the way home, she fell asleep and, although she said she was hungry, was apparently more tired. This extreme fatigue has come up before.
You don't think she's staying awake all day do you? I think she gets a lot of sleep during the day. But I don't know, I'm just going by her old patterns.
I know she says she doesn't sleep but I remember watching her sleep and then she'd deny she was asleep.
And if she is sleep deprived that also can be from the meds...but it does seem like the meds make her more sleepy than awakey.
Did you mention the severe fatigue to her neuro?
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