My father has had DLB/Parkinson's disease for 15 years. My fear is that my mother has begun abusing my fsather's senimet to keep her energy up. She was told at one time that if drug abusers new what Senimet could do for them Senimet would become a street drug. I have heard my father's
(Baylor Medical Center) neurologist state this. Over the past year my father's health has declined drastically and the stress on my mother has escalated drastically. I have tried mant timrs to help but she is resistent. Her friends say she "is popping pills". Her personality has gone from sweet and loving to paranoid and mean. Could this be Senimet abuse and if so what can I do.

A Daughter who loves her parents,
Houston Texas

Hi slross.

It sounds like your mother may have her own neuro issues that have gotten "lost" in the caregiver merry-go-round. I'd approach her about getting thoroughly checked out herself, before scheduling an "intervention" around drug diversion. As a hospice professional, I've found that when you confront people around drug diversion, your relationship with them is effectively over. So leave that part to a professional. If there is a social worker on your dad's case, he/she should be notified. Let your mom be furious at the social worker and ban her from the house, not you....

egad.....

good luck

gershonb

You can try talking to your mother about your suspicians. It won't be easy at all, or you can ask his doctor to try to track his drug intake, since you think there might be some abuse.

you can speak to your dad's doc and ask him to test your dads blood level. if he is taking all of his pills like he is supposed to, his levels will be up to par. If not, you will know he is missing doses. Since you havent seen momma take those pills, and you dont know for sure its happening, a good place to start is with dad. Getting his levels checked will give good evidence. Ask the MD to not give any warning that he is going to check those levels. If he comes up shy, that is an open door to start a dialogue with mom about her condition. Without evidence, it will add to her burden if she thinks others are keeping tabs on her.

tough spot to be in. hang in there.

my dad has some mean and paranoid moments himself. he does not abuse any drugs, other than ice cream. i like dejibo's idea.

we are doing a bathroom remodel at the moment. dad fired the handyman with good cause so now we are doing it ourselves. dad gets angry at every little aggravation and blames any missing tool on the handyman stealing it. he says some hurtful things to me regularly. that and no working toilet two days and no bath/shower 2 wks has me depressed bigtime. when he sees me depressed its like he wants to rub it in. his motive is to pull me out of it but that is never the result. there are no missing tools btw. his paranoia is real because he can't remember enough to know we have found all the potentially missing tools. this has made it a miserable holiday. i want to crawl in a hole but can't relax for a minute till we have working facilities again.

for all of you. Mom just moved in with us. BIG adjustment but one that had to be done.

Sinemet does not make you "high".... I doubt she is abusing it or that it can be abused in the way you mean. It sounds to me like she's dealing with some hard core stress. My advice is to talk to her about your concerns directly and see how she responds. Caregiving is a hard and sometimes thankless job. It is not unusual for a caregiver to deal with depression, anxiety, or mood changes due to the enormous stress. I would keep trying to convince your mother that she NEEDS to allow support for herself.

If she's "popping pills", they are probably for anxiety (benzodiazapines like Xanax or Valium). Can you talk to her about what you have heard?

Good luck!

Sinemet is in fact a dangerous drug. A co-worker of mine was given it for R/L/S. It made her hallucinate at work.
That Neurologist sounds like he is one of the few who tells it like it is.