Re: Drug interactions

["Kathrynne Holden, MS, RD" <fivestar@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Dear Kat,
I think your concerns re medications are valid and should be addressed.
One question: is your father's neurologist a Parkinson specialist? or at
least a movement disorders specialist? Neurologists who are
"generalists" don't see as many patients with PD, and have less
experience with the symptoms and the PD medications and their
interactions with other meds. If he is not seeing a PD specialist, then
locating one would be the single best thing that you could do for him.

Another thing to rule out is nutrient deficiencies, such as B vitamins.
As your father has lost weight there is a distinct possibility that he
has suffered nutrient depletion, and sometimes this can be masked by PD
symptoms or medication side effects.

Another thing you might try is to e-mail your question to a neurologist
who is a PD specialist. You might want to ask for a recommendation for a
PD specialist in your area.

1) Dr. Abraham Lieberman, a leading specialist in Parkinson's disease,
answers
e-mails at no charge on the National Parkinson Foundation website at:



Scroll down the page to:

 Ask Dr. Lieberman, NPF Medical Director

Click on this, and follow the directions. You can then
e-mail your concerns to Dr. Lieberman. He usually answers
within 48 hours.

2) University of Cincinnati, Case Western Reserve
U., and  Ohio State U. Click on  the Ask an Expert section,
then click on Parkinsons in the list of diseases. Dr. Arif
Dalvi, a specialist in PD, usually answers within two days.


3)Parkinson's Disease Foundation's website -- Ask the Expert
 
May take 2-3 days

My very best regards to you and your father,
Kathrynne Holden


Kat Ward wrote:
>
> Dear List,
>     My name is Kathryn Ward and my father has Parkinson's. He is 68 years old 
> and was diagnosed in 1996. He was coping as well as to be expected given the 
> added burden of macular degeneration and retinal detachment in one eye. He 
> became a candidate for DBS and in April 2001 had one stimulator successfully 
> implanted. During the past month he has been experiencing  fairly severe 
> "spells" of dizziness, nausea, extreme dry mouth, flushing of his upper body, 
> confusion, lightheadness, muscle pain and weakness, abdominal pain, loss of 
> appetite and weight loss and erratic blood pressure. These "events" had been 
> occurring prior to the neurosurgery but they were not as severe as they have 
> become in the past month. Every one in his medical community seems stumped by 
> these symptoms ( which appear to read like the side effects of Sinemet ) and 
> last month his neurologist told him that these symptoms were not symptoms of 
> Parkinson's.
>     He has since been to the cardiologist and been tested ( Negative on all 
> counts-- the cardiologist told him that he thought it WAS Parkinson's) and 
> two weeks ago he was in the local ER for five hours because his BP was so 
> high that my mother was fearful of an aneurysm and called 911. Again nothing 
> was uncovered to account for these mysterious "spells" which came and went 
> all day long, some being more severe than others but always knocking him down 
> and keeping him from leaving the house. He has even had an abdominal CT which 
> also was clear of abnormalities.

--
Kathrynne Holden, MS, RD
Author: "Eat well, stay well with Parkinson's disease"
"Constipation and Parkinson's" --  audiocassette & guidebook
"Guidelines for Medical Nutrition Therapy for Parkinson's
disease" & Risk Assessment Tools
"Risk for malnutrition and bone fracture in Parkinson's
disease," J Nutr Elderly. V18:3;1999.


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