Parkinsonism and cervical spinal cord injury

[Mo51]

My husband has had a cervical spinal cord injury for around 10 years that adversely affects his mobility a lot and also his hand function. He walks with aids and is very slow and needs a lot of care as there is much he cannot do for himself.

Recently his mobility has deteriorated and after many consultant visits the Neurologist has decided he may have PD. He has a lot of dizziness and this is the symptom that led us to the consultants for help after GP ruled all the simple things out. He also has some facial masking, some drooling, and some vivid dreaming and his voice has become a little slurred. His memory is also not what it used to be. He has had 3 falls in the last 6 weeks though luckily no serious consequences. He is 73.

The plan is to start him on a low dosage of Levodopa (this coming week) and increase gradually in the hope we see some improvement which will confirm PD diagnosis. The consultant said it's a hard one as his mobility issues mask some symptoms and he has no tremors - though he does sometimes get spasms because of his injured spinal cord .

We have no idea what to expect and a lot of the advice I am seeing centres around adequate exercise etc which is obviously difficult for him though we do exercises every day and he has an electric bike that he can use with his wheelchair. He also has weekly sessions with a Neuro physio who also treats people with PD.

I guess I am hoping for any helpful insights or advice at this stage or if there is anyone here who has a combination of these two conditions and can offer any experience. At this stage we aren't sure what to wish for. He doesn't want PD but the idea that the meds might make him feel better is appealing. If the meds don't work and they have ruled out all other possibilities they have no futher suggestions of treatment.

Sorry for the long post and thanks for listening

[park_bear]

No need to apologize fora long post. It is the short cryptic ones that are problematic.

Not convinced he has PD but his response, or not, to levodopa is a good test.

[JANVAN]

Hi Mo51

>>> perhaps you can look in this Link...the doctor is a bit controversial (especially his treatment), but it would be interesting for you and your husband to do there an examination......

caringmedical.com/prolother...

[Mo51 in reply to JANVAN]

Hi Janvan and thanks for this. I have had a quick scan and will read properly later. It's a complicated issue. We do know that Peter's cervical spine Injury (brought about by an op to correct stenosis that made him worse not better) is perhaps worsening due to myelopathy. But neurologist and neuro surgeon don't think that his dizziness, facial masking, drooling and occasional freezing is related to his spinal problems. They think something else going on. Hence the levadopa to rule PD in or out. I was suprised to be told that people with SCI are much more at risk of PD. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/272....

[JANVAN in reply to Mo51]

And Mo51>>> how are you and Peter doing ?? Some news

( improvements ?)

[LiveRideCure]

My wife was diagnosed with PD in 2012. She was in a bad car crash in 2017. This resulted in neck surgery where screws were put in to repair damage to her spine. She has been left with a very stiff neck and often bent somewhat forward posture. She takes baclofen primarily to combat the neck issues but also exercises a lot which improves her health in many ways including her neck. Best of luck to you!