Guest guest Posted March 7, 2011 Report Share Posted March 7, 2011 Katy, as I read what you describe I wondered if your mom is taking Sinemet. My mom developed jerking actions while taking Sinemet. Once confined to a wheelchair we reduced then removed the the med and the jerking stopped. Removing that drug was one of the many difficult decisions that had to be made on her behalf. She could not tolerate the extended release Sinemet at all. It really brought her down physically and cognitively. > > My mom has recently started having what she calls the " jerks " and I'm wondering if they are myoclonus. They are sometimes confined to one side, but usually involve her whole body. Her feet and arms will twitch and sometimes her whole body will rock. It may last a few moments or close to an hour. There is no apparent rhyme or reason as to time of day. She uses a walker most of the time, but knows to ask for help getting to her wheelchair when these are happening. She is so afraid of falling. She says they don't hurt, but they make her tired. She is taking Sinement, both fast acting and extended release. I know we must walk the tightrope - more meds to help movement disorders may make her congition worse and visa-versa. Any words of wisdom? Have any of you experienced this with your loved ones? > I will appreciate any insight. > Katy; daughter to Jill, age 71 > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 7, 2011 Report Share Posted March 7, 2011 It does sound like myoclonus. My mil got them when given a full adult dose of ativan (anticholinergic) and later when she was taking cipro ( <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinolones> quinolones ). I just looked at Wikipedia and under causes it lists both of these. Other than those instances where medication was the cause she hasn't had them, but she does have restless leg syndrome at night which I understand to be different. My mil said they did not hurt but were alarming but there were times she did say they hurt so that made me very interested in finding out how to stop it if possible. I did not know until now that quinolones were a possible (known) cause. For my mil quinolones cause mental changes that are not good (extreme agitation, anxiety, etc.) and the worst offender was avelox. -Dorothy From: LBDcaregivers [mailto:LBDcaregivers ] On Behalf Of klaunchbaugh Sent: Monday, March 07, 2011 7:14 AM To: LBDcaregivers Subject: muscle jerking My mom has recently started having what she calls the " jerks " and I'm wondering if they are myoclonus. They are sometimes confined to one side, but usually involve her whole body. Her feet and arms will twitch and sometimes her whole body will rock. It may last a few moments or close to an hour. There is no apparent rhyme or reason as to time of day. She uses a walker most of the time, but knows to ask for help getting to her wheelchair when these are happening. She is so afraid of falling. She says they don't hurt, but they make her tired. She is taking Sinement, both fast acting and extended release. I know we must walk the tightrope - more meds to help movement disorders may make her congition worse and visa-versa. Any words of wisdom? Have any of you experienced this with your loved ones? I will appreciate any insight. Katy; daughter to Jill, age 71 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 13, 2011 Report Share Posted March 13, 2011 It is hard to determine what is actually happening when the legs are moving a lot in bed. I used to do that because of my spinal injuries. This stopped after I was taking Lyrica...so I am wondering if there is any research that shows that Lyrica is bad for someone with LBD. > > It does sound like myoclonus. My mil got them when given a full adult dose > of ativan (anticholinergic) and later when she was taking cipro ( > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinolones> quinolones ). I just looked at > Wikipedia and under causes it lists both of these. Other than those > instances where medication was the cause she hasn't had them, but she does > have restless leg syndrome at night which I understand to be different. > My mil said they did not hurt but were alarming but there were times she did > say they hurt so that made me very interested in finding out how to stop it > if possible. I did not know until now that quinolones were a possible > (known) cause. For my mil quinolones cause mental changes that are not good > (extreme agitation, anxiety, etc.) and the worst offender was avelox. > > > > -Dorothy > > > > From: LBDcaregivers [mailto:LBDcaregivers ] > On Behalf Of klaunchbaugh > Sent: Monday, March 07, 2011 7:14 AM > To: LBDcaregivers > Subject: muscle jerking > > > > > > My mom has recently started having what she calls the " jerks " and I'm > wondering if they are myoclonus. They are sometimes confined to one side, > but usually involve her whole body. Her feet and arms will twitch and > sometimes her whole body will rock. It may last a few moments or close to an > hour. There is no apparent rhyme or reason as to time of day. She uses a > walker most of the time, but knows to ask for help getting to her wheelchair > when these are happening. She is so afraid of falling. She says they don't > hurt, but they make her tired. She is taking Sinement, both fast acting and > extended release. I know we must walk the tightrope - more meds to help > movement disorders may make her congition worse and visa-versa. Any words of > wisdom? Have any of you experienced this with your loved ones? > I will appreciate any insight. > Katy; daughter to Jill, age 71 > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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