My hubby just got home from the hospital after collapsing on the sidewalk outside a restaurant and being taken to hospital to be checked out

He has PD and Dementia. They thought it was his heart but every test was negative so they said it must be his PD - they blame everything on PD when they can't find anything wrong! He got very combative one night and they gave him Haldol which made him sleep for over 14 hrs. and really scared me. I wanted to take him home but they wouldn't sign him out until a Neuro saw him who immediately said he shouldn't be in there - see "I told you so" I said to the nurses. His routine meds were given to him but not on the schedule I had him on so that has messed up his walking ability and now he is having so much trouble trying to get those legs moving which sucks because he was doing so well before all of this. Like most PD patients, sleep is also hard to come by. The Neuro gave him a script for Risperdal so am going to try that although I hate giving him meds to knock him out. Has anyone out there taken this med for sleep????? Hospital stays are just not worth it for a PD person because it screws everything up!! Next time, I plan on dragging him to the car and taking him home - lol! I sure do appreciate all the people who came to our rescue and helped us. It's nice to know people really do care.

[driller]

I think it is his PD I have that problem as well, if you go Canadain Parkinson's stite they have a booklet with that info

Good luck to you and your husband

EJG

[Hidden in reply to driller]

Thanks, I will check it out.

[wifeofparky]

If you have a blood pressure cuff, try taking his BP when he is sitting and then a few minutes after he stands up. My husband has orthostatic hypotension. Sometimes his BP goes so low, he will go down and nearly pass out. He takes fludrocortisone to keep his BP on the high side. His Movement Disorder Specialist put him on it. He also had trouble when in the hospital last year. They kept him sedated with atarax and had him in restraints. I was so Pissed about that. I made them let me take him home. It took a couple of days to start to get normal.

[Hidden in reply to wifeofparky]

I do have the cuff so will try doing that. He is on Coreg 2x day but his blood pressure usually stays fairly low. He also had the restraints last year when he was in and, like you, was pissed and I took them off which made the nurses mad but I didn't care. This time they restrained him with a belly restraint and then gave him the sedative so I told them I was checking him out. If this happens again, I swear I will have someone help me get him in the car and just bring him home and then if I need to call an ambulance, I will. Hopefully, he will be himself in a few days but so far, I have seen a decline in his walking as well as his needing more assistance with everything. Thanks for response.

[wifeofparky in reply to Hidden]

They had him on Diltiazem (Cardizem) which is a calcium channel blocker. It brought his BP even lower and he couldn't get out of bed. I stopped it and we saw the MDS and Cardiologist. MDS started the fludrocortisone and Cardio put him on Digoxin for his atrial fib. You have to ask why about everything and everyone blames it all on the PD. Sometimes it is something else and we are ever vigilant. Good luck

[purelabor]

I had a similar experience, I was sitting in a cafe and suddenly felt full, I had only taken 2 bites, and I passed out in my wife's lap. The hospital did all the heart tests and said nothing was wrong. They just sent me home. My Movement specialist said it was probably the Parkinson's that caused it. But no one will answer the question"what happened?".

It is hard to get straight answers from the medical field and my wife is a nurse, they won't even tell her.

[Hidden in reply to purelabor]

I think it is difficult nowadays to get an answer to any thing from GPs or Hospitals.

It all seems too much trouble.

Quite often I dont think they have an answer as to why?

We just have to carry on best we can.

Good Luck

[cabbagecottage]

Sounds very much like my husband .. He also has Atrial fibrillation , takes Warfarin forusamide and Bisoprolol. I stopped the Calcium channel blocker because his blood pressure is usually around 98 /55 without . They also gave him Digoxin which was dreadful caused hallucinations and all that goes with it !!!!.. as soon as I stopped it went . Although he is troubled with Hallucination in his sleep at night NOT NICE !!

[Hidden]

I just recently had a visit to the ER by ambulance! I was having a panic attack! And of course for the third time in three years they had to do a stress test and all the heart stuff! I told them it was just a panic attack, but they have to do all the tests to cover themselves! My husband now knows when it happens to just have me do deep breathing and maybe take xanax! And I had to remind them 1/2 hour before it was time for my meds to get them on time! I have ordered the Hospital Kit for the next time! I can't remember what it is called, can some one give that info to Raven? Thank you!

Blessings,

Carol

[ronn]

Raven & Carol. The U.S. version of the hospital kit is called "Aware in Care" and is distributed, free gratis, by the National Parkinson Foundation. They are online at www,awareincare.org or toll-free at 1.800.4pd.info (473 4636). Hope this helps.

[Hidden]

Thank you so much for the information. I have looked it up and placed my order for the kit. Sure wished I had it before the hospital experience.

[kkamegranny]

I ended up in the hospital after passing out also. Their diagnosis was dehydration! Had all the heart tests and nothing. Next time I'll just stay home! Messed up my meds so badly. Had ordered the hospital kit and it arrived shortly after I got home.

[Hidden in reply to kkamegranny]

I received the kit after my hubby's hospital stay also - a little bit too late though for this hospital visit. I did write a letter to the hospital asking them to please provide their health care providers with more information regarding PD and related Dementia. The meds were also screwed up and it took a couple of weeks to get hem stablized again. The Haldol they gave him also made his speech much worse, at least in my opinion. At least now, with the information in the kit, I can be prepared for the next visit although I don't plan on taking him back unless I absolutely have to. God Bless!