My husband starts talking,and then cant r... - Cure Parkinson's

Cure Parkinson's

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My husband starts talking,and then cant remember what he was going to say,also when out driving forgets where he is going ??This is worrying

Crosshalls profile image
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Crosshalls profile image
Crosshalls
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10 Replies
wifeofparky profile image
wifeofparky

I'd convince him or have his doctor tell him to stop driving. He is showing signs of dementia. For his sake as well as the others on the road that he could injure or kill. Get him out of the driver's seat.

Crosshalls profile image
Crosshalls

The problem is he just re sat his driving test,and passed it

wifeofparky profile image
wifeofparky in reply to Crosshalls

He may have been having a great day the day of the test but as we know PD people have good days and bad and can't always tell the difference. I'd speak to his doctor. My husband thought he could still drive but really had little depth perception, drove too fast or too slow and meandered across the lanes. His perception was he was OK to drive but he was an accident waiting to happen. It was difficult to make him see reason but he did finally agree and my quality of life improved as I was afraid to drive with him and other people felt the same way.

cabbagecottage profile image
cabbagecottage

I started to notice that my husband wasn't the driver he previously had been . Partly because of the blank face which isn't always something to go by but then he kept on hitting kerbs or drifting to the centre of the road . He went to get his eyes checked but they were ok . Bought a smaller car which was also automatic . None f this made a scarp of difference .

I read up on it and discovered how Parkinson's can affect the social awareness.

He was aware of anything wrong but he trusted me when I told him I felt unsafe and started to have to hold my breath sometimes .

He listened to me , it also made a big difference to my way of life because I do not drive myself , I had driven many years ago but didn't feel it would be right for me to do so now .

The speech is a different thing .

He knows what he wants to say but it sometimes comes out all wrong . I am used to this now and can usually recognise what he means to say , we laught it off .

Has anyone else sat with him while he is driving ask them their opinion .

Of course not everyone I'll admit and give up driving as easily as others .

You do get used to not having a car , it's not nice but I

DO MY BIG SHOP ON LINE NOW THESE DAYS .good luck

JohnPepper profile image
JohnPepper in reply to cabbagecottage

Hi Cabbagecottage. I have been through this, but not badly so. I found my mind wandering, instead of concentrating on the job in hand. My late wife used to shout at me, which normally brought me back to my senses. I actually fell asleep once, when I got to a ttraffic light at the end of and off-ramp, as the car pulled to a stop. That only happened once and that was enough. My wife drove most of the time, after that incident, But sometime since then I have been able to drive, with no problems. I believe in what you don't use, you lose! If we stop doing things we lose the ability to do them and the downhill slope gets much steeper. As far as short-term memory is concerned, I often cannot access a word I use regularly and often forget what I was talking about, usually when other outside influences intervene. Maybe aging has something to do with it.

Kind regards

John

cabbagecottage profile image
cabbagecottage in reply to JohnPepper

Yes don't give up unless you absolutely have to , they do encourage you to do so it's getting the right balance and then recognising when you need to before anything serious happens . Until it started to happen to my husband I always felt completely safe in his hands .

As far as the speech is concerned I don't think it is the aging although of course that does happen . it's more complex than read . I did read somewhere about it can't remember where but it can happen in Parkinson's it was something to do with how we store words in our memory and we pick up similar words instead .

Sorry can't be more exact than that . My husband will use a word that is completely wrong but I can usually tell what he is trying to say . Don't worry about it just makes it worse ,

jillannf6 profile image
jillannf6 in reply to cabbagecottage

Hi,I am just same

Gave up drivingb4 dxd with PSP and do all my shopping ,online

Which means Incan still,buy things which I want / like

Lol Jill

:-)

cabbagecottage profile image
cabbagecottage in reply to jillannf6

Yes that's the good bit isn't it . You soon get used to it don't you , it helps keep less dependant of our daughter as well .

driller profile image
driller

I have the same problem, I think you should speak to him and remind him of the damage he could cause other people. Some days I am alert to drive and others I stay away ftom the car

REGDS<

ERIC

Dennis profile image
Dennis

I have the same condition with more memory loss. Parkinson's forced my retirement

as there is difficulty walking and lots of shaking.