Anyone know anything about Parkinson's

[parkinsonsquery]

DF has Parkinson's, has been diagnosed for a couple of years. Uses a stick to walk, reasonably well controlled on meds, lives with DM pretty independently (can for eg decide to go to a shop, get a bus alone, get home safely etc).

On Friday morning he had a sharp deterioration where he was walking around but totally unresponsive and behaving strangely, very agitated. He previously had strokes/TIAs so DM called ambulance, taken to hospital with v high blood pressure. Difficult in ambulance as was resisting lying down etc. Urgent CT, negative for stroke.

They then spent the day in A&E where they gave sedation, still couldn't get bloods because of extreme agitation, initially said couldn't test for UTI due to incontinence pads (?), couldn't do chest x ray because again too agitated.

Now on acute medical ward. Unable to speak, being spoon fed, behaviour still very strange.

Apparently no UTI (he previously was unwell 6 months ago and turned out to be UTI).

Doctors are querying whether this is Parkinson's progression or new onset dementia. But would this happen literally overnight? Nothing I've read seems to suggest people go from independent to totally incapacitated overnight.

I'm worried they've seen old man with Parkinson's and are not investigating possible infection. Does anyone have any experience of this?

An acute delirium is more likely than a permanent deterioration. people with Parkinson's are prone to delirium as they already use more of their "processing power" doing the ordinary things. PD meds also give a slight increase in likelihood of delirium.

Can be made worse by missing meds so please make sure he is taking the right doses at the right time or is on a suitable replacement (like a rotigotine patch)

Can be made worse by constipation, dehydration, environment or infection. I hoep the team are keeping an eye on this.

TIAs don't always show up on scans but strokes usually can be seen on an MRI if not a CT

Does he have idiopathic parkinson's disease or parkinsonism related to his TIAs and strokes??

this must be very worrying for you. I'm so sorry
The medical team will never have seen him at his best...so may think he is usually more disabled than he is. Usually the tests come back over time and the cause becomes apparent. So long as they keep feeding him, giving fluids, giveng his PD meds and addressing his basic human needs

Parkinsons disease does not usually deteriorate rapidly but they do become more ill and are more frail than others without long term illness.

Some people who experience delirium will be discovered to have early signs of dementia, which s common both with PD and after strokes.

Thank you both. He has (I think) idiopathic Parkinson's disease.

They've just taken bloods for the first time to check for infection (he's been in since 9:30am yesterday!) as he's now less agitated. So hopefully they'll start getting to the bottom of it.

I’m so sorry to hear this. My DF had late onset Parkinson’s and went through something similar shortly after he went into a nursing home.

He was then admitted to hospital and within a few days returned to a much better state. They were very good at making sure he got food that you like to eat and also ensuring that he got his medication on time every time which is crucial for people with Parkinson’s.

My first thought would be infection.
But with my dF there did not seem to be a gradual decline, it was more like a series of incidents like what you've described, over a period of years. Like a sudden jump into the next stage.

My beautiful nan passed away age 72 with Parkinson's she was a nurse and hid it for a good 3 years.

Once diagnosed she deteriorated very quickly.

Unfortunately the meds for Parkinson's didn't work for her and she had to stop them two many side affects and back then there wasn't many other options 14 years she's been gone now.

My nan lost the ability to swollen and caught pneumonia and uti she was acting strange 3 days before she went x