Susan Schlager

[Susan Schlager]

Yes, I had heard that Lyme disease, the great mimicker, can manifest itself as Parkinson’s disease, MS, Alzheimer’s, etc,  My husband’s neurologist refused to entertain that thought, actually made me feel stupid for thinking is could be a possibility.  I would like to know what others have heard.

[Susan Schlager]

My husband has Parkinson’s and was diagnosed 2 years ago at 66. He has rt hand tremors and foot flop when running which he now maxes with 1-2 minutes of running. My experience as a nurse is that levadopa only works for so long so save it for when it is necessary for functioning. Sometimes the side effects in the future can be worse than your current tremors. He has seen a neurologist who just said to come back when it gets worse. I found out about a naturopath who has been very helpful. He has acupuncture every 2-3 weeks which has relaxed the right side stiffness he had been having. She has prescribed some supplements and homeopaths which have really helped him along with exercise at least 5x/week which help keep dopamine levels up. Living is more work with Parkinson’s but in my opinion I would definitely diligently exercise and see if that works before I would start levadopa.

[Susan Schlager]

Troy,

My husband had the problem of always being tired and having a hard time waking up  in the morning.  He then told me he had a hard time going to sleep.  He  wasn’t aware of physically acting out dreams until I would wake him to ask what was wrong.  He could tell me his dream and it fit his acting out.  I suggested he take a small dose of melatonin. He started with 1 mg and had amazing results. No more acting out dreams and more rested in the morning. It eventually became ineffective but he has stabilized at 3 mg for almost 2 years now.  His neurologist concurred that this is an effective treatment for Parkinson sleep issues.

 

[Susan Schlager]

Troy,

I fully sympathize with the “vivid dreams” as we call them.  My husband had horrible active, vivid dreams 2 years before he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s.  He would grab me because I was falling off a cliff, swing at me because he was hitting a baseball etc.  He also was tired and never had energy, had problems falling asleep and getting back to sleep after going to the bathroom.  I finally suggested he try 1 mg of melatonin which made a huge difference.  He then had an appt with neurologist who said that was the best treatment for the problem because it effected the dream stage of sleep.  He also thought that was too low a dose to make much difference.  Eventually, the dreams came back and I increased the dose to 2 mg and finally to 3 mg.  He has maintained at this level for over a year.  Even on nights it gets missed the dreams aren’t as bad as they used to be.  He sleeps soundly at night and has energy all day long.  I even have more energy after being able to get a full nights sleep.

[Susan Schlager]

I recommend acupuncture for stiffness. It has been amazingly helpful for my husband. It may not work for everyone, but it won’t hurt anyone and there are no negative side effects. It is worth a trying every 2 week for 2 months.

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