Clonazepam for freezing gait?

[Perrywrinkle]

My husband's CBD has progressed to the point where he can hardly walk at all, even holding on to me. Getting him down the hall to the toilet and back to his lift chair is challenging. He drags his left foot and every few steps he freezes and can't continue for several seconds. I'm wondering if clonazepam would help. It seems I read something someone posted about either that or lorazepam helping. I love this forum and wish I could visit more but getting time is hard.

[AnneandChris]

Hello there

Your story is so familiar. This happened to us and physio recommended a special shoe but events overtook us and by the time it was ready to be fitted my husband was using a chair to be pushed around.

We used a Conveen (an external catheter with bag) which meant only one or two trips to the loo. And we had a Sara Steady to transfer from wheelchair to recliner or bed.

We only used Clonazepan at night as there is no real treatment for PSP.

Hope this helps

Anne

[Perrywrinkle in reply to AnneandChris]

Anne, thank you so much for your reply. I did a Google search for Sara Steady and Conveen . Both look promising and I plan to ask our wonderful O.T. about tbem. Things have gotten a bit worse in the last few days with walking and we now put him in the transfer chair and roll him where he needs to go. I feel like we're on a roller coaster and there's nothing we can do to stop it so we just hang on. Again, thank you!

[bichonbear1]

Hi There, my mum has CBD and when we were going through this stage in my mums deterioration we tried to delay the progression through a specialist physio who specialised in treatment for those with motor neurone and other brain diseases. It helped to an extent but it was very short term and the disease took over quickly than we would have liked. No medication could help mum overcome the anxiety of movement. The best advice I can give is to keep muscle memory going for as long as possible. When mum froze we used to do ‘stomp stomp’ to get her going again. This just meant stomping on each leg on the spot to get a foot movement going. We supported mum by hand or by holding onto her frame walking backwards to support confidence in movement, the main priority was keeping mum moving at every opportunity without pressure and a lot of patience. I hope this helps a little. Treasure every day whilst movement exists, it’s a precious memory.

[Perrywrinkle in reply to bichonbear1]

Thank you Bichonbear, your description of walking your mom and the "stomping" is exactly how we do it. As I said in my response to Ann, yesterday things deteriorated to the point it wasn't safe anymore and now we use a chair to roll him. I'm anxious for our O.T. to come here, observe and offer advice. I so appreciate your taking time to reply to me.

[Poppypolo]

my husband was given half a tablet at night of clonazepan to help him relax other wise the feet and body were twitching all night, it really helps his sleep

[Perrywrinkle in reply to Poppypolo]

Hi Poppypolo, my husband has been taking one tablet of clonazepam at night and it used to help but not so much anymore. Maybe it loses effectiveness over time, but that's why I was curious if it helps others. I'm happy it helps your husband. Thank you so much for your reply.

[Poppypolo in reply to Perrywrinkle]

that’s very interesting that it has stopped working something I will keep in mind

[Poppypolo]

as I notice from a previous person my husband has a conveen at night, once you get use to using it and husband does not mind, so much cleaner and not laying wet all night or you having to get up.