Parkinson's Disease Support Group
Parkinson's disease is a movement disorder often characterized by muscle rigidity, tremor, a slowing of physical movement, and in extreme cases, a loss of physical movement. The primary symptoms of Parkinsons are due to excessive muscle contraction, normally caused by the insufficient formation and action of dopamine, which is produced in the dopaminergic neurons of the...
My hubby has had PD for 15 yrs and each time we are asked about his symptoms and did he ever "freeze"? The answer was alway "NO".
But he has been having problems for a couple of months. He will be using his walker and moving pretty good and then he will stop and he is off balance and kind of confused. I keep trying to talk to him and he will answer but not really respond right. I get behind him as he is holding onto the walker and brace him. After a few minutes I can feel his body relax. He does have PD dementia but I just wondering about the possibility of something else. I have been checking for information and I am still not sure. If anyone can help it would sure be appreciated. firelady
But he has been having problems for a couple of months. He will be using his walker and moving pretty good and then he will stop and he is off balance and kind of confused. I keep trying to talk to him and he will answer but not really respond right. I get behind him as he is holding onto the walker and brace him. After a few minutes I can feel his body relax. He does have PD dementia but I just wondering about the possibility of something else. I have been checking for information and I am still not sure. If anyone can help it would sure be appreciated. firelady
My mother, who also uses a walker, as you may recall, does this from time to time, too, without being off balance. I attribute it to the PDD, specifically, slow mental processing with, perhaps, some memory loss. I try to read her face when this happens and get a feeling that she may have stopped because she's wondering where she was going. I'll say something to trigger her memory like, for example, "Are you heading to the laundry room?" seeing how she was heading that direction; it may take a couple of seconds and then she'll either just continue to walk to the laundry room or say something to the affirmative and then go there. It doesn't happen that often, but I've noticed it since becoming a more hands-on caregiver on an almost-daily basis in recent months.
My suggestion is to say something to your husband when this happens to help trigger his memory about where he is planning on going, which then should get him oriented and focused again. If that doesn't help, then it may be something else. His neurologist might be of some help and/or, perhaps, others will respond to your posting with their suggestions. When I have some free time later this week or weekend, I'll see if I can find info. about it on-line; if so, I'll pass it along to you here.