My mother is 82, and has had Parkinsons for 11 yrs. About 10 yrs prior to that she had a 6 inch tumor removed from her spinal cord, and functioned well after that until the parkinsons. She takes sinemet cr 25/100 every 4 hrs, or sometimes after 3 hrs. When she is ON she still hangs laundry out, works around the house, etc. She is tremor dominant, and when she is off she becomes very weak, can barely walk, and more recently has trouble swallowing and breathing. She says it feels like her throat is swollen on the inside, and it feels like there is a shelf behind her nose where mucous gets stuck. She becomes very nasal / hoarse,her voice and appearance change and she is also depressed during this off time. Benadryl does not work for this, says it makes her head 'roar'. This does not happen with every off time, it is every evening at 6pm and last 2-4 hrs. It will let up, then starts again when she trys to go to bed, also there is something about laying down that starts all of this also. Her MDS has recently started her on Zelapar in additon to the Sinemet, but she has not taken it the last 2 days, she says there are some side effects, and it doesnt help the symptoms. Has been on it about 3 weeks 1 pill a day. The Dr. wanted her to increase to 2 a day but she did not get that far with it. She is very sensitive to meds. She uses vicks and Astelin during this off time, but they dont help much either. When the off time eventually goes away, so does the sinus, breathing issue. An allergy Dr. ran test on her several years ago and the only thing that she reacted to was the test spot. He told her it may be something in the Sinemet Cr, but if that were true, wouldnt those symptoms be there after every dose? She was also given Remeron, but is affraid to take it. Her MDS said that those symptoms are the parkinsons coming thru, but again why only in the evening?
I have lurked here since old b/t days, but have never posted. I have learned a lot from this forum and from all of you. Thanks.
Narda