My son was diagnosed with early onset Parkinsons a couple of years ago just under age 40. It was a devastating!
2 years on and I now feel I need some help and advice on how to help him
He often has times when meds wear off quite a while before the next med is due. This impacts his mood and has now meant he won’t go anywhere to visit family etc in case the “mood drop” occurs. He only feels comfortable around me
I feel he is missing out on seeing other family members who could also try to support him, especially now my dad has been diagnosed with cancer so I want to take him to visit.
I am at a loss what to do as every time I suggest anything he starts to become angry and the last thing I want is for him to fall out with me
I love him to the moon and back but feel so useless as I can’t see how I can help him. As his mum it is heartbreaking to see him suffering and if I could take it away from him I would
We have no idea why he has this as their is no family history
If anyone has any advice please I would certainly welcome it
Hello @Kaz1606, welcome to the forum. We hope you find it a helpful place to connect with others, ask questions and hear from people who really understand what you’re experiencing.
Thank you for sharing your son’s diagnosis. It must be hard seeing your son not want to go out and spend time with people. You can clearly see how much you care about him, and you want to support him.
Your son may be experiencing apathy. Apathy is a loss of motivation for doing things. It can appear in different ways, such as not being interested in activities someone used to enjoy. Feelings of apathy can be temporary, but frustrating if you’re looking after someone who experiences it. We’ve got tips on our website on managing if your loved one has apathy, which you might find helpful: Managing apathy if your loved one has Parkinson's | Parkinson's UK
We’ve also got support and information on young onset Parkinson’s, which your son may find useful. This includes different places he can chat to others in a similar situation to him: Young onset Parkinson's | Parkinson's UK
Sorry to hear about your son and his diagnosis and medication issues. I am also 40yo and symptomatic with an atypical syndrome that includes mild cognitive impairment followed by some incomplete parkinsonism signs and other unusual symptoms for the past 10 years.
The good news is that it seems to be very slowly progressing, the bad news is that it is quite atypical and no one can really bring it in context with my young age, the atypical symptoms and unexplained abnormalities of copper metabolism.
Did the doctors also rule out Wilsons disease and took the Ceruloplasmin blood test? Wilsons disease can resemble Parkinsons or Multiple Sclerosis quite a lot and affects mostly people under 40-50.
