My dad is 80 years old and has Parkinsons and Parkinsons related dementia.
My dad has always suffered with low blood pressure whilst on Parkinsons medication and has been prescribed Midodrine10mg 3 x day for many years.
Over the last few weeks my dad’s blood pressure has been dropping significantly when standing, readings are as low as 66/44 on a daily basis causing him to fall or faint every time he stands up meaning he can’t do simple tasks like going to the toilet or shower. On a few occasions when he has fainted he has lost bladder control and it has took him a few minutes to come around. This last two weeks in particular it seems to be getting worse and he is a lot more confused than normal and having hallucinations which is unusual for him. I’m concerned his deterioration in his dementia is linked to his low blood pressure as it has worsened so rapidly.
The Parkinsons nurse has been linking in with my dad’s consultant and they have added in Fludrocortisone which has made no difference, and they have also slightly reduced his Parkinsons medication.
His consultant is talking about increasing the Midodrine to 15mg 3 x a day although has previously said 10mg was top dose. I don’t want them to reduce his Parkinsons medication further as I can already see the slight reduction they have done is causing him to tremor more. It feels like they don’t know what to do with him as everything they try isn’t working and in the mean time my dad is getting worse and can’t be left home alone.
I’m feeling quite desperate and wondered if you had any suggestions?
Also do you know of any private consultants in the Manchester area that you could recommend?
Kind Regards