Glad to find this group!

[Guest guest]

Hi! My name is Donna and my Mom (78) has been diagnosed with

LBD. About 3 yrs ago my Mom had several falls within a short period

of time and we suggested that she see a doctor. He immediately

suspected Parkinson's and referred her to a neurologist. For several

years she was treated for Parkinsonian symptoms. She did not have

the tremors but she did develop many of the other signs -- shuffling

gait, lowered voice volume, smaller handwriting, etc.

During the last year or so she also started having Alzheimer type

symptoms which led the neurologist to suspect LBD. During the last

six months Mom has started having major problems. It reached the

point that my Dad was unable to care for her alone so I moved home to

help.

Her symptoms now include all of the Parkinsonian symptoms listed

above, night disturbances (almost seems like she is sleep walking --

very incoherent and strange behavior when up during the night),

hallucinations, confusion, problems with word-finding, memory lapses

(althought short term memory is not gone -- it fluctuates), and much

more rigidity.

We just went through a trial run of Seroquel to help with the

hallucinations and it turned my Mom into a zombie. All she wanted to

do was sleep and it made her hard to wake up. I have now read where

studies show that even the newer antipsychotics such as Seroquel &

Clozaril -- while maybe exhibiting some initial improvement -- are

believed to increase mortality rates 2 TO 3 TIMES! We have removed

her from the Seroquel and see the doctor in a few weeks to discuss our

next options and share with him what we have read about the risks

involved with antipsychotic drugs.

I would appreciate ANYTHING that might be of help -- do's and don'ts.

I have also cared for an Alzheimer's patient so have had a little

practice dealing with dementia but find this situation more

difficult....maybe because it is my Mother and it is so hard to see

her deteriorating. Thanks for providing a place to share!