Demenita in under 65s

Hi everyone, hope you're all doing as well as you can be. My Mum has had PD since 2004 and was only 42 at the time when the symptoms first appeared. She's almost 53 now and her condition has unfortunately, progressed quite rapidly. I'm worried that she's showing the first signs of dementia as she tends to talk non-stop at times and during these periods, she is sweaty and very shaky.

She has been in hospital for almost 6 months and the consultant (not a PD specialist)on the ward thinks this is anxiety and it is behavioural and she's doing this for attention. I strongly disagree with this as do both her neuropsychiatrist and neurologist who think it may be anxiety too but related to when her medication is wearing off. I disagree with this theory too because she does not get in a state like this every time her next dose is due. Before she was admitted to hospital, the GP thought it may be depression so prescribed my Mum some citalopram. She has experienced depression 20 or so years ago but if this was the case, the anti-depressants may have had had a better effect.

Various MRI and CT scans have shown some atrophy of the frontal lobe which is an early indicator of dementia but the reduction in size is not significant enough for a concrete diagnosis of dementia. When she is talking constantly, she can be having 2-3 conversations at the same time so it does come across as gibberish- she may be offensive to myself and her carers/nurses but also apologetic and praying at the same time. She isn't very responsive at these periods when we attempt to calm her down. 0.5 - 1mg of diazepam has been administered during her hospital stay when she gets like this but as they are planning discharge, this has been stopped because as required medication (PRN meds) would not be able to be given at home.

I'm asking you all for help because as you can see from above, the doctors aren't reaching an agreement and it is very distressing for both my Mother and I when she is having "panic attacks" like this. I'm worried that as she did get PD quite early on, the dementia may manifest earlier than usual too. I was wondering if anybody with Parkinson's has experienced symptoms like this and what the diagnosis and/or treatment was or if this is uncommon in Parkinson's and may be a behavioural trait.

Thanks in advance and apologies for a long post.

hi shazia sorry to hear your mums unwell have you tried phoning pd help line top of page they might suggest something .gus

Hi Gus, yes I did, thank you! The PD nurse put me in touch with the local information support worker who came out to see us at the hospital.

thats good