Hi First time on the Forum Please be tolerant if I am posting in wrong place there is a lot of choice
My wife was diagnosed 3 years ago aged 74 the drugs and NHS have helped but her Anxiety level has increased particularly with driving she was a good driver but really does not want to drive, we asked about taking something for the anxiety but they said it was not advisable to take with the drugs she is on C0-careldopa 25/100 during the day and half Sinamet at night
I have read that some people have taken Diazepam doest this help is it advisable ?
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Hello @rodbin, welcome to the forum. We hope you find the community a helpful place to ask questions, share reflections, and read posts from people who really get it.
Thank you for sharing your wife’s diagnosis with us. We’re glad that she’s found the NHS and her medication helpful. We have information about anxiety, including how you can help manage it, that you might find useful to read through together: Anxiety | Parkinson's UK
If your wife’s anxiety is affecting her daily life, it’s important to seek help from professionals, such as your GP or a counsellor. You may also be able to speak to her specialist or Parkinson’s nurse if you feel her medication or ‘wearing off’ could account for the anxiety.
We are also here for you both. If you’d like to discuss the anxiety further, our specialist advisers are there to offer support and advice and you can ask to speak to one of our Parkinson’s nurses if needed: 0808 800 0303. Our free and confidential helpline is avaliable Monday - Friday 9am to 6pm and Saturdays 10am - 1pm.
We hope the community can also share what they have found helpful too.
Take care 
Parkinson’s UK Moderation Team
i’ve found that sticking to standards like gacp makes it way easier to trust the quality of anything plant-based, especially if you’re looking into medical cannabis. I used it as a starting point to understand where my prescriptions were coming from and it gave me some peace of mind about how they were grown and handled
Hello rodbin and welcome to the forum.
Anxiety is a common symptom in Parkinson’s and is arguably the single most difficult symtom I have to manage since it became one of my ‘Parkinson’s repetoire of symptoms.’ I remember being totally shocked the first time it happened, because it presented as a panic attack and just didn’t feel like me. I was at work waiting for a mandatory training session to start. It was something we all had to do annually, I was at my normal place of work with people I worked with every day, I knew the trainers and it was actually quite a boring day for me as the course covered just the basic level and my job involved working at a much more complex level. However the box had to be ticked. While I was waiting for the course to start I was catching up on some admin and became aware of a growing sense of apprehension about the training which grew into knowing I just couldn’t go in to that room - you could have paid me a million pounds and I still would not have gone into that room. The manager clearly saw the anxiety this was causing and he told me to take a work at home day. Shortly after this I happened to have an appointment with my consultant who said it was a panic attack. I now accept that it is an element of my Parkinson’s but one I try not to let get in the way too much.
You can of course go down the medication route but for me I have found the way to manage this symptom is to become aware of triggers, certain situations, events etc., where anxiety may well rear it’s head. This gives me a breathing space to consider what I can do to minimise this risk. That might be changing my plans a bit to simplify the event or circumstance, thinking through worst case scenario and letting logical voice in (it will be over in an hour/no-one is going to die/X is aware of the issue and will keep an eye on me etc) to very occasionally having to say ‘no’ because it is just too hard. I can’t tell you categorically what will work for your wife as they will be unique to her, but identifying possible trigger points can be a useful start point and with a bit of thought will allow appropriate coping strategies to evolve.
She may also find that relaxation techniques, meditaton or similar can give her skills that can be brought into play when anxiety threatens to strike. With practice these sorts of things can be very powerful and effective.
It is important that this is seen as a potentially very distructive symptom and not just someone who is having what can seem to others to be an over the top reaction. The fear it can generate is very real and can have a real impact on one’s quality of life. Considering trigger points and potential action to minimise the impact of anxiety is one way that this symptom can be managed without the need to resort to medication.
I hope you get the gist of what I am trying to say, it’s a bit abstract and if it’s not clear come back to the forum and I will do my best to clarify it.
Tot
I’ve found it useful to look at how other countries handle this, and keeping tabs on recreational cannabis prohibition uk helped me understand how the current stance fits into wider policy trends. It also made it easier to follow debates about enforcement bias and whether evidence-backed reforms might ever get traction here, even if the government isn’t budging right now.
I taking Diazepam every morning before go to work and it really helps me, but I’m on Requip (Ropinirol). Unfortunately, I can’t drive anymore because in every stress situation my legs start to shaking.