Does anyone have any suggestions for things that can help with the cognitive decline that comes with some Parkinson’s patients?
Thank you in advance!
Does anyone have any suggestions for things that can help with the cognitive decline that comes with some Parkinson’s patients?
Thank you in advance!
I do Wordle, Spelling Bee and the mini crossword from nytimes.com. It is free. Any puzzles that you enjoy. It seems to help my brain active stay active.
puzzles, word, maths, jigsaw.
Reading
Talking to people is very important
Get hearing tested to make sure conversations are being followed
Play scrabble, chess or bridge at a club
Exercise
Supplements like fishoil, citicoline
Ari Whitten has a range of supplements, some of which are supposed to delay ageing. The latest is called Longenesis.
I've heard Lion's Mane mushroom is helpful... probably anecdotal. There is research suggesting it ameliorates depression. It's something I'm using...
how much, please?
I bought it as a bulk dried powder. I mix a lightly rounded 1/2 teaspoon (a teaspoon equals 5 ml - so probably about 3 ml -- I know, it should be mg, but I don't have a scale for that) in small glass of water with 7 mg mannitol once a day..
That’s great have you noticed any difference with taking it? The doctor has said in the past he didn’t want to try different natural substances because they weren’t tested enough and he was worried about the interaction with the levodopa drugs just wondering if your doctor had said anything about that I think there’s a lot of potential out there for supplements like this.
Have you taken it!
Yes, see above. I think it's helpful. Always hard to know with PD...I see improvements but is it real or placebo?... and if it wanes in a few months is the placebo wearing off or is my intervention helping slow things but succumbing to the relentless progression of this disease. My modus operandi is to experiment and try new things and BE HOPEFUL...(call it placebo effect if you wish) because HOPE increases dopamine and THAT does impact my functioning and quality of life... in brief: Yes, I take Lion's Mane mushroom.
I’ve been trying everything with hubby because his impairment is now pretty severe.
We’re most of the way through Art’s supplement protocol. You might try it:
healthunlocked.com/cure-par...
Make sure you’re getting good sleep, and if not, work on melatonin or CPAP or medication adjustment to fix it.
The other thing that most noticeably helped him in the last year was starting the keto diet and eliminating cola.
Other things that may (or may not) be helping include: exercise, red light therapy, and regular speech therapy with cognitive exercises like word-finding.
LL62,
How long has your husband been on the 5 supplements and has he found any benefit yet?
Art
Well, it’s very challenging. He’s hypersensitive to medications and supplements at this point in his disease, especially anything that affects dopamine levels.
He started around the beginning of this year with melatonin, lithium orotate and vitamin d. He had a reaction to something in May, so I had to stop the lithium orotate and vitamin d for a couple of months, and we’re just getting back on those in lower doses. Meantime he started vinpocetine and seems to tolerate 10 mg a day. So I’m gradually upping everything to see what he can handle.
Given his dopamine sensitivity and history with it, I’m pretty sure citicholine is off the table, so was thinking of doing either omega 3 or lion’s mane perhaps instead. I don’t know, any thoughts? Or maybe a different choline supplement?
Way back when he first started lithium orotate I thought he had a slight cognitive benefit, but it’s so hard to say right now with all the things we’re trying and with the pauses and restarts, etc. It wasn’t as immediately noticeable as the benefit of switching back to a keto diet…that cleared his mind in about 2 days!
Citicoline in studies and anecdotal reports has allowed PwP to reduce their Levodopa products such as Sinemet by up to 50%. This is a possible explanation for the hallucinations he experienced. One of the activities of Citicoline is that it increases levodopa and thus dopamine. This is the reason why people have reported being able to reduce their levodopa dose. Too much levodopa can have many negative effects which include things like hallucinations, dizziness, dyskinesia and pretty much all the things that too much Sinemet can have.
If he is not taking vitamin B1, B1 in the form of Benfotiamine has shown benefit for AD as discussed in this human study :
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...
Of Course this forum has also reported that B1 has shown benefit with PD also. B1 is generally well tolerated as is the Benfotiamine form of B1 at the dosing used in the study.
Please keep us posted on his progress.
Art
Thanks! Yes he’s hypersensitive to B1 also. Maybe if I reduce it down to really low levels or something but the last time he took a 500mg pill he hallucinated for 2 weeks.
It is a tough situation with his sensitivities . Perhaps the four supplements he has tolerated will be sufficient to help him.
Art
One other possibility which he may be able to tolerate is this :
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl....
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...
Art
Regular exercise and eating proper foods (such as Mediterranean diet, lots of fruits and vegetables), no excesses like alcohol, take vitamin supplements, get regular sleep, have social contacts and activities if possible. Activities that engage The mind to some extent, games, conversation, reading, something with a mild challenge.
I was Rx'd Memantine. It's labeled for Alzheimer's disease and for brain fog. The neuro wanted to take my license but I refused. Then she Rx'd memantine. I take Rytary. I used memantine for a while and found it made difficult crossword puzzles easier. I don't have AD but probably suffer depression. Lately I feel like the brain fog is lifting.
I have had good luck with this nutritional supplement, Lithium Orotate. It was recommended to me by a doctor. He insisted that I read the book in the above link. I read it and it changed my life in an amazing way. My debilitating brain fog was completely relieved after countless years of suffering. Way more effective than fish oil and all that other stuff. You can search Lithium Orotate on this website, I posted numerous times all about it and how to establish your doseage. But before you ask a million questions, read the book. I can almost guarantee it will help you.
By the way, Dr Laurie Mischley's work is referenced about 18 times in this book. If you have been around this forum a while, then you know she is a very well respected physician dedicated to researching nutritional medicine to treat PD.