Mother of daughter with early PD

[Connie_123]

My daughter had a car accident not long after her senior year. She hit her head on mirror and cracked windshield. I would also mention that before the accident she started having an unusual gait. She was also on meds for depression. She is now 36 it as been several years since her diagnosis of a form of parkinson.

[enjoysalud]

I am the single mom, 76 years old, of a single 54 year old male who was DX with PD Jan of 2015. My son has a great deal of formal education. No head traumas.

I've decided that Parkinson's is a catch all for anyone with generic symptoms (involving the neurological system) attributed to PD and not ruled out by ALS or MS. It takes so many different forms...like lumping chicken pox and measles as one (because they both have spots and high fevers)

My son does NOT live with me, 10 minutes away in his own house. He has no long term insurance and a limited Disability Retirement pension. I am his sole caretaker (he is not married nor does he have a girlfriend) and I pay his monthly health insurance. He is presently in the middle of a pneumonia bout. I think the condition or the antibiotics have visited some slight dementia on him. His mind/personality is different than a few days prior to the pneumonia. I realize that meds, especially pneumonia can presents dementia like symptoms. the proof of the pudding will be determined by time.

It has taken over two years to wrap my head around this PD. I was very optimistic when it came to visit, but not so much anymore. His worst symptom is DOUBLE VISION (slightly controlled with prism glasses) along with blurry vision. Because of this he does not drive...since February, 2016. Until a week ago he could walk without problem but with the pneumonia and antibiotics he has severe gait problems and is deathly afraid of falling.

Being the mom I think is more challenging than being the spouse or sibling or child, but who knows? PD is different among each person and maybe so is the caretaking.

His general practitioner states that my son has an AGGRESIVE form of Parsonism. Time will determine that too.

My prayers and good thoughts go out to you.

[parkie13 in reply to enjoysalud]

My heartfelt prayers to you and your son it's a hard hard life some people Sail through unscathed but most of us don't Mary

[enjoysalud in reply to parkie13]

Parkie13, amen!

[silvestrov in reply to enjoysalud]

What antibiotic is your son taking?

[enjoysalud in reply to silvestrov]

Hi Silvestrov, he is taking Cefpodoxime (200mg 2X daily for ten days) and Doxycycline Monohydrate (100mg 2X daily for ten days). Today was his 6th date completed.

I have him on ULTIMATE FLORA 100Billion (upped from 50Billion) once a day. I called the company and they said 2-3 hours after his antibiotics.

Tonight he was more himself. For the past few nights he has been staring off with his mouth hanging open, but tonight he was connected. He's also better able to stand and with help can walk. HIs primary doctor (not Neuro) today said to just let him rest and forget about doing any bike or doing any walking exercise. He said he was one VERY sick guy.

I googled pneumonia and found articles that mentioned dementia symptoms.

I think he was misdiagnosed with Acid Reflux and in truth had the beginnings of pneumonia.

I am very tired and going to bed.

[silvestrov in reply to enjoysalud]

Glad to hear he is doing better. I asked about antibiotics because many have been shown to be either effective in PD models or to improve some form of parkinsonism.

No such relationship between PD and cefpodoxime has been established but doxycycline is has known therapeutic potential in PD:

Doxycycline restrains glia and confers neuroprotection in a 6-OHDA Parkinson model.

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/235...

[enjoysalud in reply to silvestrov]

Silvestrov, today is his 7th day on the two antibiotics. As I shared the first few days were scary...my son was unresponsive, mouth open, VERY SLOW to respond to requests or to move.

Our Kaiser doctor (saw him yesterday for him to see how my son is doing) keeps telling me he's a sick guy. That's when he told me to lay off him having to do the bike and walks. He's been my son's primary MD for over 20 years and they seem to both be attached to each other. I have had him (MD) for about 10 years when mine died of a heart virus.

Last night and today it's almost as if he has NO PD except for the walking. In the early morning, 6am, he does not do well (when he gets his first dose of DOXYCYCLINE away from food), but by 8am he is lucid. After breakfast about 9:30Am he is doing marvelously. There's all kinds of restrictions (no magnesium, calcium, etc) with the DOX. The cefpodoxime is easier management. The antibiotics have messed up his elimination. He hasn't pooped in two days and he was so regular. His blood pressure is going down....was up in the sky, but MD told me not to worry.

Thank you for reaching out to me. I appreciate it!!

For a few weeks I am getting help (9:30-6pm) two days a week. HEAVENLY.

[Sleeplessparki in reply to enjoysalud]

I will keep you and your son in my prayers. May the holidays and up coming new year bring your family peace.

[enjoysalud in reply to Sleeplessparki]

Sleelessparki, Thank you!

[Sleeplessparki]

Your very welcome. I have a question your son and I are of similar age and diagnosed roughly the same amount of years. Although it sounds like he is progressing faster then me. Does he suffer from incontinance? I find myself having to go to bathroom not only frequently but very abruptly and I'm beginning to have a lot of accidents. I wake all most every two hours having to go ergently and many times don't make it because I freeze up. The docs say I should wear a diaper(which I'm not ready for) or try a catheter at night.

[enjoysalud in reply to Sleeplessparki]

No, no incontinence. He did have an accident in bed (one) during the first of the high fevers of pneumonia, but now is back to his old self, although not out of the woods with his pneumonia. His fever is gone.

Yes, in the night he does get up every few hours to urinate. Right now because of his balance he has two 32 oz urinals by his bed. Fills one completely and about a third of the other. Going to the bathroom frequently at night started AFTER the start of his PD. There is no past or presence urgency to his urination.

During the start of the pneumonia he did have freezing incidents which he had not experienced prior. Yesterday and today I did not notice any freezing. The staring into space, etc, has disappeared, but his cognitive level is still not back to before the pneumonia arrived, but much better.

As the mom who had to wash the sheets I think it might be easier on you to wear a diaper (depends). My son agreed to do this, but after three dry nights is back to not wearing them. Think of the depends as a non-invasive tool for your present PD. Wearing or not wearing one does not make your urgency greater or lesser. It's just a tool of convenience.

[Sleeplessparki]

Thanks for the input it is appreciated