My husband has had diagnosed Parkinson’s for a year and is generally doing well. However, he is increasingly becoming jealous of male friends and is constantly checking up on me. I try to talk to him about it but he always says he trusts me but not them. Our relationship is now beginning to suffer.
I’m no Agony Aunt/Uncle but you need to talk about it more, may be look at your own situation, are you friendly with a lot of men ?? Perhaps you should try and make more female friends, try going along to Parkinsons meetings and get talking to other wives and compare notes on their husbands behaviour. You may like to find interests that involve more female only activities so that your husbands fears can be put to rest. May be you are more comfortable in the company of men but if this is the case then your husband has every right to be suspicious/insecure/jealous of these friendships no matter how innocent to you they seem. You need to get your relationship back on track and if it means not seeing these male friends anymore then so be it but something needs to change for you to regain your husbands trust. If you value your marriage you will do something about it. Sorry I can’t be of more help to you than this but the main thing is I have responded and if you want to talk more, I am about. If it helps, I do read the agony columns in the national press every day and so am trying to relate what i’ve read there, it may also help you if you did the same, you may read a story that sums your situation to a tee and see what is the recommended course of action. All the best and have yourself a great xmas.
Les.
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Hello Babs12,
a fellow PD sufferer of mine had the same problem at the early stage of PD, and the family situation got really bad, but eventually the PD medication helped to make it disappear. I was not aware of jealousy being one of the PD symptoms, but since this case I heard about it a couple of times… just to let you know that you are not alone with this issue
Koru
Thanks Koru. I am going to talk to our Parkinson’s Nurse about it. Hoped you have a lovely Christmas. X
I hadn’t heard of this but a quick search revealed something called Othelllo Syndrome - a delusional jealousy. You might want to take a look. Good luck.
Hi Babs - this is a well-known problem in Lewy Body Dementia which as you know is closely related to PD. My MIL was affected and it’s not easy to deal with. Talk to your PD nurse, medication changes may help.
Look after yourself. 
We’ve had exactly this problem, Ropinirole can cause delusions of spousal infidelity. Once my PwP came off it, life improved significantly.
Hi Babs hope you’ve had a decent xmas. Having read the other posts it makes good sense that your husbands medication could be at fault. I remember being on a drug that had me saying stuff that just wasn’t true but having got that sorted life is so much better, Talking to the Parkinsons Nurse will help your cause greatly and give you clarification of your husbands problem. Wishing you all the very best for the New Year.
Les
I think this is in general life, I have met quite a few folks that show signs of jealousy, I am surprised it’s connected to PK. Could it be vulnerability perhaps? The journey of Parkinson’s can feel a tough one, I can only go on how I felt at the beginning, however, other life changes were also included, it was hard to know the real me… hence to say writing and recording my experiences etc was a life saver. Now I’m nearly back to my old self but this time able to see clearer with experience. Sometimes what we think is the problem is so far from what is really going on. I have written a lot also, there is a lot of info out there already so it’s hard to know if more will add to the confusion. It’s worth a try, maybe it may help?
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In my experience, jealousy and thinking one’s spouse is having an affair is considerably more extreme and irrational than is usual in general life. It often causes serious problems e.g. my MIL was convinced her husband was having an affair with one of her care assistants and often refused to let them through the front door, barring the way. They were both in their early 80s by then! As she was totally unable to care for herself and her husband could not cope with the situation, she was admitted to a nursing home where sadly she died only 6 weeks later. We had all hoped to continue caring for her at home but her delusions (that was only one of many) made it untenable.
Thanks for all your support and helpful comments. I am speaking to our Zparkinsons nurse about it next week. B x
Babs, be sure to come back on here and let us know how you got on with your Parkinsons Nurse and let us know their thoughts on your situation. If your PN is anything like mine then you will be in very good hands and they will advise you to the best of their ability to the extent of getting your husbands medication changed to something that agrees with him and brings him back to his normal self. Take care. Remember, you are not alone and that we are all here to help one another.
Les