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Help with anxiety 78 years old

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Parkinson's Disease
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Posted 4/2/2009 5:13 AM (GMT 0)
Hi, my dad has been having anxiety and hasn't been sleeping well as his tremors have progressed.  Along with his usual Car/Lev Parkinson's meds he was put on Lorazepam.  The Lorazepam works wonders, even on the tremors.  The dosage is .5mg twice a day as needed. 

He was taking them from time to time but more now due to the effects overall and tremors and anxiety.  Thing is, it is a short-term med and it appears he has been becoming codependent on them.  He is 78 years old and most of his care has been through the VA, although sis and I have been looking more outside now for further assistance. 

Ok, to cut to the chase, I did not like the fact that his options with the meds he gets through the VA.  They don't want to up his dosage as they say he is too old for so much med in his system.  I so agree that I don't want him to just continuing with increase in dosages.  I would like to see him on less and some med for anxiety / depression that is more long term working.  Yet the VA said for him to just take a vacation from the Lorazepam for 2 weeks.  He doesn't feel he can quit cold turkey like that so we are not going that route.  I went to an outside Psychiatrist with him hoping for some longer term med for anxiety / depression.  I was looking for less, not more.  This is what the Phsychiatrist prescribed:

Lexapro .10mg once a day

Clonazepam .5mg 3 times a day

Restoril  22.5mg at night

When I did the research this seemed to be going the opposite direction that I wanted to go.  I wanted less, not more.   Also didn't like the horror stories on Lexapro. 

Anyway, I know you all probably cannot tell me what is right for my father and I wouldn't just go on an opinion anyway but I really would appreciate some opinions regarding what others may think and even suggestions. 

Has anyone tried anxiety and / or antidepressants to help with anxiety of dealing with Parkinson's?

And yes, we also do some outside stuff like support groups, going out when he feels well.  We are seriously considering chip implant / deep brain stimulation. 

Thank you so much in advance.  Looking forward to responses so don't be afraid to respond.

God bless you.

JP

 

Posted 4/2/2009 5:20 AM (GMT 0)
Forgot to mention.  He was going to start the new meds for anxiety / depression today but I spent a good deal of the night doing the research and quite frankly, I was worried so I called him early this morning and told him to hold off and continue with his old routine until I can look into things further.  I don't want a short term solution that may become a long term problem so will be looking into other options, just still would like input from others.  I am not real knowledgable in regards to meds and effect and such so just looking into the side effects and such makes me nervous, especially at my dad's age.
Posted 4/2/2009 11:52 AM (GMT 0)
JP5,Welcome to HealingWell.I've been taking .5 mg of lorazepam at bedtime for at least 7 yrs.If I have a stressfull event coming up I will take an additional .5 mg.It works wonders at keeping my anxiety at bay.This is my case,and I have no clue what might work for others for anxiety.Wish you and your Dad the best.Ed
Posted 4/2/2009 8:43 PM (GMT 0)
Thank you so much!!!  It is greatly appreciated from the heart. 

I feel better now going with the route of sticking to his old routine until I can look into it further. 

I just have no peace about all these meds, especially at his age.  I can see if someone younger had to ween off some meds do to the negative side effects and having it worse for awhile but at his age I am concerned about how anxious that may make him if it came to that and I really don't want to put him through that. 

I am probably going to call his insurance Monday and look into a therapist instead to help him cope with his thoughts and stuff that may be contributing to his anxiety. 

And others, please feel free to share your experiences with Parkinson's and dealing with the anxiety and depression, whether it was through meds or more natural means or both.  I have had little success finding much on what others that may be experiencing anxiety and depression with their Parkinson's.  I feel those that are going through it can give wonderful contribution there for they are going through it themselves. 

Thank you much for yoru reply!  It has helped and look forward to reading what others may contribute there too. 

God bless you all.

JP

 

Posted 4/2/2009 9:54 PM (GMT 0)
I assume/hope that you are also working with a neurlogist-movement disorder specialist.  If you live within driving distance of a large city or university hospital there should be someone there who is more knowledgeable about the proper medications for a PD patient than someone at the VR or even a psychiatrist.  I live in the southeast and UAB at Birmingham and Shands at the U of Fl are excellent.
Posted 4/2/2009 10:33 PM (GMT 0)
Yes, we wanted more from a Neurologist than what he was getting at VA so now we are also consulting an outside one too but that just started recently. Though my sis takes care of things more on that end in regards to appts for Pa. While I have been more involved in helping Mom. Yet I have been looking to cross over and get more involved in regards with his end of things because I felt his anxiety was not being looked on more seriously so now I am educating myself as much as I can so I can help there.

I also felt Therapist may do better for him now because they cannot prescribe meds but can make suggestions there and that way we can have the others' opinions too.

We are in Florida and are also prayerfully considering the chip for brain stimulation and making the appoitments to see if he is a good candidate. We also learned of a doc in Naples I believe that may help with injections, so sis is making appointments into that too to see if it may benefit him.

Overall he is in very good health. Yet the last few months he has had a good deal of weight loss and slowing down some. Constipation was a problem too but natural remedies like drinking his prune juice and such appear to be helping, along with prayers.

The anxiety is the worst to witness for me, and it is also very hard on him too so working on getting his overall well being back. Support from us also seems to be doing well as we could all use support.

Thank you and feel free to ask and share.
JP
Posted 4/3/2009 12:55 AM (GMT 0)
Dr. Michael Okun at Shands is my neurologist.  You can look him up on the net and he will quickly answer an email.
Posted 4/4/2009 9:21 AM (GMT 0)
I will, thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted 4/8/2009 2:11 AM (GMT 0)

Hello there,

I'm completely understand what you are going through trying to help your dad get the right medications.  I am a caregiver for my mom who recently passed away and she had Parkinson for almost 10 years.  The 2 depression/anxiety medications that doctor prescribed and told me that they are suitable for Parkinson people are Cymbalta (20 mg) and Zyprexa (2.5mg).  They seemed to help her with anxiety.  They tried to give her Xanax for depression but I refused for them to do that because of the horrible side affect.   As far as Parkinson meds, she was taking Requip quick released 5 times a day and Carbidopa-Levodopa 25/100mg.   My mom also had high blood pressure so she was taking high bp pill on the top of that.  One thing you have to be aware is that one of the side affect of Parkinson meds is to lower the blood pressure.   So, the doctor had to put her off from some of the bp pill.  What shocking for me is that my mom passed away due the the massive heart attack but she never had a sign of stroke or history of heart attack before in the past.   She was 84 when she passed away.   I wish you best of luck in taking care of your father.   You are on the right path in doing research on all medications that they prescribed to your dad.  Also, checking his blood pressure for any sign of high/low condition.   Take care.

Chat

Post Edited By Moderator (yekkimo) : 4/8/2009 7:57:52 AM (GMT-6)

Posted 4/8/2009 5:43 AM (GMT 0)
Thank you for taking the time to share. I so appreciate it! I will do some research on it. He saw primary doc today and she is willing to start him with something else if we decide against the lexapro. No decisions made yet, beyond him starting the restoril (along with park meds and lorazepam) as he so wants a good night's sleep but again, that is another short term med. Wonder if anyone has taken restoril before and for how long.


JP

Posted 4/9/2009 12:50 AM (GMT 0)
Mom took restoril for quite a while before she passed away. She took paxil for anxiety. Sometimes it helped and sometimes it didn't. One of the symptoms of PD that she had was unreasonable anxiety, almost a frantic fear about being unable to move and feeling trapped in her bed. My son used to sleep on the floor next to her bed and wake up and move her every 15 minutes all night long for the last two years of her life. That was the only way we could cope with her anxiety. In the daytime she was fine but at night she was a different person. She didn't understand her illness and didn't really want to learn about it at all. We did the best we could.
Posted 4/9/2009 3:27 PM (GMT 0)
Hello everyone
My mom was the same way. She was on Paxil for 3 years and that causing hallucination. So, the new doctor prescribed her Cymbalta and Zyprexa. Sometime it did help but like you mentioned, my mom also having anxiety that she not going to be able to move or walk again. I was taking for a walk whenever I visited her in the nursing home. she was fighting this disease until her last day. One thing that you have to watch out for people with PD is that the PD medications tend to cause BP to be up and down and that what probably causing my mom to have a heart attack. I think the best we all can do is to be there for that person and to make them feel comfortable with their daily living as possible as we can. I think if they feel good then they tend to forget about their illness. Take care all..

Chat
becaregiver
Posted 5/22/2009 4:42 PM (GMT 0)
HI  yeah I ALSO HAVE SIMILAR PROBLEM.  I  TAKE SEROQUEL 25 MG A DAY 2X DURING THE COURSE OF THE DAYLIGHT HOURS, IF NEEDED FOR ANXIETY [I PREFER TO TAKE ONLY ONE 25 MG, BECAUSE I ALSO HAVE TO TAKE SEROQUEL 100 MG FOR INSOMNIA.  BOTH SYMPTOMS ARE PD RELATED.

WDJORDANGRAY  

Posted 5/24/2009 12:41 AM (GMT 0)
Just a note:Seroquel may antagonize the effects of Dopamine agonists,and levodopa.Check with your neurologist before making any drug changes.Ed
Posted 5/27/2009 4:42 PM (GMT 0)
Hi

Sorry to hear your dad is having problems with anxiety and depression, my dad was diagnosed with PD 5 months ago and is yet to start any medication but his symptoms are becoming worse which is a real worry. I have generalized anxiety disorder and depression and have been on a number of different medications to help me deal with my anxiety/depression and have yet to find one which helps me. What has helped me most is talk therapy and i am on a waiting list at the moment to start CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy) this type of therapy has great success in helping people deal with anxiety and depression for what ever reason and maybe something you could look into for your dad? It will be something i will suggest to my dad if he starts to suffer with anxiety and depression as i know he does not like taking medication. I hope you find something to help your dad and my thoughts are with you and your dad.

Take Care
Posted 6/9/2009 12:14 AM (GMT 0)
Thanks all for your replies. Things were going well but now there seems to be a bit of a setback.

I'll keep praying, trusting in God and taking it one day at a time.

His routine has been changed and that may be part of it. I'm somewhat concerned about the new increase in dosage of Simenet that docs want him to try but allowing Pa and docs to make those decisions.
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