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Living with Parkinson's Disease - Meet others & come say hi
Parkinson's Disease | Last Active: Dec 7 2:32pm | Replies (532)Comment receiving replies
Hello
I am caring for my husband who was diagnosed with PD 8 months ago; his initial symptom was a profound and severe insomnia--that went on for many months!!!
It's difficult for me to tell this story
Prior to this illness he (and I) led an extremely active lifestyle; we were into avid cycling (both road and mountain) among other sports.
After a long and painful journey in and out of Psychiatry ( MDs were insistent he was having a bipolar illness) we finally were able to see a neurologist and obtain the diagnosis of PD
As of this writing my husband is so overwhelmed with anxiety he can barely get through his day!
We take walks 3-4 times a day ; do other exercises and attend a dance class on the weekends but he and I will tell you he is a shadow of his former self
We both feel since he has started taking these meds his anxiety has increased to the point of craziness
His MDs keep asking us to increase his meds (carbidopa/levodopa and pramipexole) but we both feel these are contributing to his anxiety -- as he is not feeling any relief since he has started them (he started the pramipexole initially several months ago, then the carbidopa/levodopa was added last month.
He tried taking other meds for anxiety but we found them not to be helpful
Prior to this illness he was not an anxious person at all!
To confound this he is now not sleeping very well; of course we are trying to keep the balance of healthy living/mindfulness/low stress/good support all in play here
We are both 62 years old; we live in Northern California
Replies to "Hello I am caring for my husband who was diagnosed with PD 8 months ago; his..."
Hi, Sandy-- terribly sorry to hear about your husband. My deepest condolences.
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Hello @melmaury and welcome to Mayo Connect. My name is Teresa, and I'm a volunteer mentor with Connect and also diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease (PD). I would first applaud you for advocating for your husband and seeking out help for him. He is fortunate to have you on his side!
How unfortunate that you had such a long time before you reached a diagnosis of PD, but that is often the case. You mention anxiety as his main symptom, but I'm wondering what other symptoms led to his diagnosis of PD? For example, were there also gait problems, like foot dragging when he would walk, or balance problems? Any tremors?
While carbidopa/levodopa is the traditional medicine to try for PD, there are others available as well. Is your husband seeing a general neurologist or a movement disorder specialist? A movement disorder specialist is a neurologist who has special training in neurological disorders that include PD.
I'm sure that you have done a lot of reading and research regarding PD and your husband's symptoms, but I'd like to draw your attention to some links where you can learn a little more. Since you mentioned insomnia, here is a lecture from U of Michigan about sleep problems and PD, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6s4A6HFkjGo&feature=youtu.be.
Here is a link to a pdf copy of a book about mood and PD, http://www.parkinson.org/pd-library/books/Mood-A-Mind-Guide-to-Parkinsons-Disease.
Connect is a great place to receive support, encouragement and information. I look forward to hearing from you again.
Teresa
Hi, @melmaury -- you are on my mind today, and I'm wondering how things are going with your husband and his Parkinson's. You'd mentioned he was having quite a bit of anxiety and that he was not sleeping well. How are things going with those?
Hi there
I take an old med called
Diazepam for anxiety. The Dr put me on it as is effective for a longer period of time than some of the newer drugs. I find it works very well but does make me very tired
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PLEASE REMOVE ME FROM THE LIST. MY HUSBAND DIED LAST WEEK FROM PARKINSONS COMPLICATIONS.