Parkinson's and CBD oil

[tudorwood]

Hi all, my Wife was diagnosed with pd Sept last, she has a mild tremor in her right leg, she has been on 125ml madapar 3 times a day, because she hasn't been sleeping our Dr put her on pregaboline, this helped her sleep but left her with a sensation fuzzy feeling in her head. Yesterday we had some CBD oil delivered, she tried 2 drops under her tongue about 3pm another 3 about 5pm and then 2 more before she went to sleep, she slept very well but today her mood is rock bottom, feeling depressed, any ideas anyone, I think she may have over dosed with the CBD, she didn't take the pregaboline as well. Andrew

[parkigirl]

Having caregiven my PD spouse for 19 years, my advice is to make changes ever so carefully, titrating up or down cautiously, have very low expectations and monitor changes closely caring not to infer quickly any correlation...managing symptoms and consequences is an art form requiring a very large dose of patience...there is no cure nor panacea for that matter.

[Hikoi in reply to parkigirl]

Parkgirl

I couldnt agree more.

[etterus in reply to parkigirl]

One of the most insightful responses I have read on this site 8 years!

[Hikoi]

It is far more likely that her low mood is a direct consequence of abruptly stopping pergabiline

If you stop taking pregabalin suddenly, you may have headaches, nausea, diarrhea, trouble sleeping, anxiety, or increased sweating.

But i dont know anything about CBD oil. It also could be a combination. I would not stop one med and start an entirely different one without medical advice.

Do you know why the doctor chose Pergabilin? Was it because pain keeps her awake?

It takes a couple of years to get your head around PD and treatment i found. Good luck.

[Astra7]

I doubt the cbd oil would make her depressed. It has virtually no side effects.

She is probably depressed because she's in pain and has a shitty illness that is only going to get worse.

[parkigirl in reply to Astra7]

I believe, with increasing support from science, that depression is an extension of PD where its progression as well as the side effects of various medications affects other parts of the brain and the mind. Predispositions of the PWP's personality and character make-ups would be further 'enhanced' or 'aggravated' depending on where you stand. In our case, I consider that impulse controls are 'negatively' affected in the sense that 'pleasurable' activities are 'multiplied' in a way that the decision-making judgmental processes are hindered and thus create 'wanted actions' yet 'undesirable' outcomes. Therefore the caregiver is also tasked with 'carefully managing' the PWP's behaviour without incurring the accompanying wrath which might be an outcome of 'interfering' with a 'pleasurable activity'.

She understandably feels bad because of the very fact that she has PD, accompanying pain and quite separately REALLY suffers from depression. Managing PD, medications, pain, behaviour, living environment, depression and consequences must be included in the care-giver's position description, every hour, every day.

Extending that analysis to the more serious 'symptom of freezing', when the mind wishes to accomplish several tasks (pleasure as in wants to do) and almost simultaneously engages in their accomplishments, the PWP's automatic (since the crawling stage to the walking stage of mobility) complete physical response is quite simply not there, the body balance and forward gravitational pull is engaged, the legs/feet do not move and the body falls. Picture moving/carrying a large pot of boiling water or a large ceramic dish full of hot food from a counter to a table...and falling forward head-on on a ceramic floor!

As often as not an ER visit is then required.

CBD appears to offer some relief to some symptoms but from what I have learned so far I agree that (especially THS-free) there would be little or no side effects.