Back on the PD Meds
I considered not going back on the meds, but we will be out of town for Christmas, and it didn’t seem prudent to have even a slight possibility of ending up in a strange ER. So I stuck with the original plan, and went back on the full PD regimin yesterday afternoon.
It was very interesting to see what my right foot did last night when I got ready to go to sleep in my recliner. It must mean something, and I wish I had a video of it to show my doctors.
The toes and ball of my foot cramp sometimes very painfully, and no amount of pressure will make it stop. Hubby will get up and stand in front of my recliner, and I will push my foot into his thigh, which normally stops the cramp pretty well. But last night, each time he released the pressure, the cramp started again. At one point, when I thought it had quit, I moved my leg away from the pressure, and my foot went into this exaggerated flopping back and forth, up and down, and sideways. I had no control over it at all. It didn’t hurt, and it looked so funny that I started laughing. Hubby thought I was doing it on purpose, and was surprised when I told him I wasn’t. You should have seen the look on his face. Then, in an attempt to stop it, I pressed my foot into the recliner. At that point, my knee started bobbing up and down, as if to say, “You can’t stop ME!” It was so funny that both of us ended up having a great big laugh out of it all. And then, just as suddenly as it had started – it stopped all on its own.
So again, I ask myself – if not Parkinson’s – then what in the world could make my body act like that????? The only explanation that makes any sense to me is that this is all psychosomatic, and there is nothing really wrong with me at all. No, I don’t think I am going crazy, but the mind can play terrible tricks on the body. Just think about the Stigmata – that someone’s palms could bleed. I know there is such a thing as hysterical paralysis, so I don’t put anything past what my mind could be doing to control my body. Yes, I spent the last 10 years or so under great stress, taking care of parents and our older daughter. And, our daughter was hospitalized with, of all things, Peripheral Neuropathy! Not that my symptoms look like she did, but it does seem odd that I would be diagnosed with a neurological disorder not too many months after taking care of her.
I’ve had this conversation with myself before, about this whole thing possibly being psychosomatic, way back in August of 2006. And here I am, a year and a half later, still wondering.
Please don’t doubt yourself so much, DB. You must wait to see the specialist, before you decide that you are somehow imagining all the things that have happened.
They WILL find a diagnosis. There are many diseases that mimic PD, but I was told by my doctor that generally they are a precursor to PD.
Please hang in; have a great time away, and put it out of your mind for now, if you can.
I am glad you went back on the meds, however.
I appreciate the encouragement and the wisdom of your advice, Marion. Give me a few more days, and hopefully I can see that half full glass. Right at the moment, it’s looking empty.
Hi DB. I’ve been reading some of your entries with interest. 3 years ago my Mum was diagnosed with Parkinson’s, which has devestated her. She had battled for 25 years with rheumatoid arthritis, but was (and still is) fiercley independent. She had to retire from a job that she adored. The day she retired I think she actually gave up. Although she is fairly independent at home, my Dad is her primary carer. He too has had to make enormous life style changes. Some of the things you have been going through is exactly the same as she is going through. A highly intelligent woman, my Mum is convinced that the massive amounts of steroids she had been prescribed over the years for her rheumatoid, have actually given her Parkinson’s. In all your research, have you come across this theory? If so, I might get her to find a differnt neurologist to see if her treatment needs to be reviewed. I would like to send her your blog, as I think she would benefit from reading your amazing journey; however she is as stubborn as ever and finds computers challenging! I trust you had a wonderful Christmas with your family and I wish you all the very best for New Year.
Kind regards
Wendy
Wendy, I’ve spent a good bit of time today trying to see what I could find to support or deny your mother’s theory about her long term high steroid use for the rheumatism being the cause of her Parkinson’s. I never did find anything that was definite, but I did find this article, The Brain from Top to Bottom, which, if I understand it correctly, states that corticosteroids effect the Serotonin, Norepinephrine, and Dopamine levels in the brain. All three of these are involved in the appearance of Parkinson’s symptoms.
The only thing I know for sure is that the ER doctor, and my own Neurologist, think the Celestone shot I had for the poison ivy did react adversely with my PD meds, bringing on much worse symptoms, which did not completely reverse once the steroid was out of my system.
Even if she does not want to be involved in using the computer to deal with her Parkinson’s, you obviously can. By all means, don’t hesitate to email me about anything you want to ask. I would also suggest that you join as a caregiver on the PatientsLikeMe site. Ask your question again there. Some of those folks are very knowledgeable about all things related to Parkinson’s – far more than I am.
Ask your neurologist about the possiblity of dystonia in the affected foot.
I had wondered if that could be what it is. Thanks for the suggestion! Of course, right now, he’s not even sure I have PD!
Hi DB.
Many thanks for that information. I will relay that back to Mum. What you said about the celestone shot was very interesting. Mum has regular injections to her hip and shoulder to assist her with the rheumatoid. She is also on weekly morphine ‘patches’ for the chronic pain she experiences. I will get her to go back to her neurologist to check if there is some sort of interaction between her rheumatoid and parkinson’s drugs. Even if there is nothing they can do, at least she will be aware of why her parkinson’s ‘episodes’ are worse some days than others. Thanks too for the recommended article and site. I am going around to my Mum’s a little later on and I will make sure she is sitting next to me when we look at them! My very best wishes to you and your family for a wonderful New Year. If you don’t mind I would like to ‘pop in’ now on then on this site to see how you are going.
Warm regards
Wendy
Wendy, almost any problem that makes her feel bad is going to make her PD worse, so it’s not surprising that her Parkinson’s symptoms are worse when the arthritis is acting up.
By all means, stop by any time, and keep us all up to date about your mom.