Help--Mom's Convinced She Has Parkinsons

spiderweb

spiderweb

Final Approach
Joined
Feb 22, 2005
Messages
9,488
Display Name
Display name:
Ben
Her mother, my grandmother, DID have Parkinsons, with all the classic symptoms.

My mother has bad knees, but thinks that her slowness in walking is due to Parkinsons. She's seen several doctors and a neurologist who all say NEGATIVE, but she thinks they are all wrong.

This is eating me up.

I got a referral from my student's dad, a neurologist recently retired from the Army, and a Colonel (featured on 60 Minutes, by the way), for a very respected neurologist.

Next step is for me to go get the consult. My worry is that my stubborn mom will think even this person "doesn't understand."

Anyone--docs, patients, ANYONE--have any advice for me?

(I really just think she needs two new knees.)
 
Has she seen a orthpod for her knees. If not maybe an evaluation by an orthpod and treatment for her knee issues may help. One other option if this does not help is a consultation with a movement disorder specialist(typically a neurologist) at a university center.
 
Ben:

How old is mom? My partners father in his mid 80s whose wife died about 5 years ago. My partner is constantly driving him to the doctor because he is convinced something is wrong. They always say he's fine. I joke with my partner that he won't be happy until they find something terminal.

His dad spent a lot of time taking care of mom before she died that I think now he has too much free time and is depressed. I'm going to suggest that perhaps you take mom to a Psychologist, not trying to be crass but it could be in her head.
 
Sorry about this Ben.
I have an employee who's mother had it. This employee is convinced she is destined to get it too and scares herself silly every time she has an ache or pain or loses her balance or gets a little dizzy or flubs a word. She goes to the Dr. on a regular basis and I think she is just trying to get confirmation that she has it. So far it has always been stress or dehydration or the results of working out at the gym.

I don't have any advice for her, but I advise you to continue to show her you love her and don't try to argue with her and convince her she is wrong. Just help her try to cope and get to the truth (like you seem to be doing). I still have serious guilt trips for not following that advice with my mother when she was alive.

Best of luck Ben, to you and your Mother.
 
Ben

As I may have related to you (or, perhaps, I did not), my Dad had Parkinsons (it was, in fact, the stated cause of death, although one supposes 93 years is beyond TBO for most of us).

Anyway, he had Parkinson's, and tried at first to deny it; but when acceptance came around, he was helped - mightily - by the folks at the Texas Voice Project, where they focused exclusively on assisting Parkinson's victims to retain or regain their voice, as well as their ability to swallow (which is so often lost to Parkinson's sufferers). They gave my dad several years of good life.

They were local then (and, imho, revolutionary in applying research and techniques to life improvement as they did), are now part of the Parkinson's Foundation, and do amazing work, often with people who ad given up.

My point is, Your mom old visit with them, and get (1) some close-up view of people who are genuinely afflicted (it's not just hand tremors), (2) some time with experts and counselors who could help her recognize whether her concerns are legit or not.

Not suggesting the Docs can't diagnose, but in the treatment environment these days, they have so little time to spend with patients, and it is getting worse by the minute as a result of the impending sea change in health care (presumptively, well-intended, being disastrously implemented); any resource she can tap to get a more-textured view of her condition would be good.

If she is so-afflicted, she can have the drop on learning and doing the many things that can and do dramatically improve life for Parkinson's victims, as well as seeing first-hand how well they can do. If she isn't, she'll see that too, and draw some each from it.

$0.02.

http://www.parkinsonvoiceproject.org/
 
My wife thought she had MS despite all the negative test results . That was 7 years ago . I wish she was wrong !
 
Ben,
Sorry to hear this, but it happens. Does she exhibit any other signs of diminishing mental accuity?
My mother actually thought herself to death, beleiving the break your hip, you die.
Get a good handle on her nutrition. I have known several elderly (mom included) who lived alone and let their diets slip. This led to loss of mental facility and yhis type of ideation.
 
Good luck with your mom, Ben. My dad had Parkinson's, but it didn't kill him; the colon cancer did.

Sometimes it seems like the drugs (L-Dopa?) seemed worse than the symptoms.
 
AdamZ said:
Ben:

How old is mom? My partners father in his mid 80s whose wife died about 5 years ago. My partner is constantly driving him to the doctor because he is convinced something is wrong. They always say he's fine. I joke with my partner that he won't be happy until they find something terminal.

His dad spent a lot of time taking care of mom before she died that I think now he has too much free time and is depressed. I'm going to suggest that perhaps you take mom to a Psychologist, not trying to be crass but it could be in her head.
Click to expand...

Not at all--I agree. Ironic that my mom IS a psychologist.

Mom is 74. She's really fine--and I'm going out on an uneducated limb here, but I REALLY think she doesn't have Parkinsons.
 
JOhnH said:
Sorry about this Ben.
I have an employee who's mother had it. This employee is convinced she is destined to get it too and scares herself silly every time she has an ache or pain or loses her balance or gets a little dizzy or flubs a word. She goes to the Dr. on a regular basis and I think she is just trying to get confirmation that she has it. So far it has always been stress or dehydration or the results of working out at the gym.

I don't have any advice for her, but I advise you to continue to show her you love her and don't try to argue with her and convince her she is wrong. Just help her try to cope and get to the truth (like you seem to be doing). I still have serious guilt trips for not following that advice with my mother when she was alive.

Best of luck Ben, to you and your Mother.
Click to expand...

Thanks, John. I guess a lot of us go through this!
 
Thank you so much, sir!

SCCutler said:
Ben

As I may have related to you (or, perhaps, I did not), my Dad had Parkinsons (it was, in fact, the stated cause of death, although one supposes 93 years is beyond TBO for most of us).

Anyway, he had Parkinson's, and tried at first to deny it; but when acceptance came around, he was helped - mightily - by the folks at the Texas Voice Project, where they focused exclusively on assisting Parkinson's victims to retain or regain their voice, as well as their ability to swallow (which is so often lost to Parkinson's sufferers). They gave my dad several years of good life.

They were local then (and, imho, revolutionary in applying research and techniques to life improvement as they did), are now part of the Parkinson's Foundation, and do amazing work, often with people who ad given up.

My point is, Your mom old visit with them, and get (1) some close-up view of people who are genuinely afflicted (it's not just hand tremors), (2) some time with experts and counselors who could help her recognize whether her concerns are legit or not.

Not suggesting the Docs can't diagnose, but in the treatment environment these days, they have so little time to spend with patients, and it is getting worse by the minute as a result of the impending sea change in health care (presumptively, well-intended, being disastrously implemented); any resource she can tap to get a more-textured view of her condition would be good.

If she is so-afflicted, she can have the drop on learning and doing the many things that can and do dramatically improve life for Parkinson's victims, as well as seeing first-hand how well they can do. If she isn't, she'll see that too, and draw some each from it.

$0.02.

http://www.parkinsonvoiceproject.org/
Click to expand...
 
The Old Man said:
Ben,
Sorry to hear this, but it happens. Does she exhibit any other signs of diminishing mental accuity?
My mother actually thought herself to death, beleiving the break your hip, you die.
Get a good handle on her nutrition. I have known several elderly (mom included) who lived alone and let their diets slip. This led to loss of mental facility and yhis type of ideation.
Click to expand...

She doesn't. My mother can rip me apart in any argument in fractions of a second!

Another reason I love "arguing" with her!
 
bbchien said:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j86omOwx0Hk The halllmark gait.

Tremor with intention.
Pill rolling tremor.....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY1uEmgvp0U

....combined with difficulty initiating motion (bradykinesia).

There is a dementia associated with advanced stages of the disease. Get you mum to a neurologist....
Click to expand...

We are going next week.

Thanks so much for these videos! I am going to forward them to my mom, because they should show her how much she is NOT suffering from Parkinsons.

Thanks again, Dr. Bruce!
 
spiderweb said:
Not at all--I agree. Ironic that my mom IS a psychologist.

Mom is 74. She's really fine--and I'm going out on an uneducated limb here, but I REALLY think she doesn't have Parkinsons.
Click to expand...

Hoping that she is really OK other than the bad knees. (it's hard to get across the tone of voice, but I think you know what I mean).

At least it's not the other way around, that is, isn't it better than if she was in denial about having Parkinsons and refusing treatment.

Is part of the problem that she isn't getting treatment for her knees?
 
Bob Noel said:
Hoping that she is really OK other than the bad knees. (it's hard to get across the tone of voice, but I think you know what I mean).

At least it's not the other way around, that is, isn't it better than if she was in denial about having Parkinsons and refusing treatment.

Is part of the problem that she isn't getting treatment for her knees?
Click to expand...

I think it could be. She's had a couple of operations, but the doc said she needs at least one new knee.
 
Old Thread: Hello . There have been no replies in this thread for 365 days.
Content in this thread may no longer be relevant.
Perhaps it would be better to start a new thread instead.
Back
Top