Alzheimer's & Parkinson's

[Los Gallardos]

Very puzzled, are the diseases related if so how often do the occur together?

My reason for asking is. First we were told my OH had AD then when he started to tremble PD with an added dementia non specified, Sinamet works well for him, then told not PD but similar, the yes it was now not PD but AD and he has to come of Sinamet over a five week period, so now starting to shake badly, On Exalon patched works well and ebixa, read that Ebixa and Sinamet should not be taken together he has also Aslet which he has had to stop, his BP is extremely low on standing so he collapses and looses his eye sight hence removal of drugs, We live in rural Spain so somewhat difficult to ask in depth questions even with a reasonable command of the language.

 

[nitram]

I would query the type of dementia, Alzheimer's is often used as a catch all phrase.
My wife had Lewy Body Dementia and also suffered from uni lateral trembling. As I understand it Lewy Bodies also cause Parkinsonism, it depends on the part of the brain affected, an oft asked and crucial question was which came first dementia symptoms or the trembling. The answer was dementia symptoms. The Adult Movement Disorders consultant said he could control the tremble with Carbidopa or Levodopa (Sinemet is a mix of these) but with a high chance of, maybe irreversibly, turning her into 'a hallucinating gibbering idiot' (his words). I opted for the trembles. If Parkinsonism had preceded dementia the risk would have been far lower.

"...his BP is extremely low on standing so he collapses and loses his eyesight hence removal of drugs...

Hypotension is a common side effect of Sinemet

 

[Los Gallardos]

I would query the type of dementia, Alzheimer's is often used as a catch all phrase.
My wife had Lewy Body Dementia and also suffered from uni lateral trembling. As I understand it Lewy Bodies also cause Parkinsonism, it depends on the part of the brain affected, an oft asked and crucial question was which came first dementia symptoms or the trembling. The answer was dementia symptoms. The Adult Movement Disorders consultant said he could control the tremble with Carbidopa or Levodopa (Sinemet is a mix of these) but with a high chance of, maybe irreversibly, turning her into 'a hallucinating gibbering idiot' (his words). I opted for the trembles. If Parkinsonism had preceded dementia the risk would have been far lower.

"...his BP is extremely low on standing so he collapses and loses his eyesight hence removal of drugs...

Hypotension is a common side effect of Sinemet

Thank you for the quick reply, I must admit I doubt the Alzheimer label but yes there is a dementia, the hypotension started long before he was on drugs when we lived in the UK.

 

[nitram]

Has she had any neurological tests?

If her arm is trembling and you give her something to hold, does the trembling stop?

 

[TinaT]

We lived in Spain when my husband was first diagnosed as having Alzheimers' disease.

He suffered obsessions, delusions, restless legs, spatial difficulties, all of which I later found pointed to Lewy Body Disease and not Alzheimers.

The Spanish consultant did actually prescribe Exelon (Rivastigmine) which subsequent to our returning to England and getting a diagnosis of Lewy Body Disease, proved to be the right drug but also prescribed Haloperidal to dampen down behavioural problems.

I found out that Haloperidal could actually kill a sufferer of LBD and this upset and worried me greatly as he had been several months on this drug whilst we were living in Spain.

It really is important to get the right diagnosis because certain mixes of drugs can be very dangerous depending on the type of dementia.

xxTinaT