Good Afternoon. I am the wife of a recently diagnosed Parkinson man. My husband was diagnosed at the end of October 2018 and is now on Sinemet which has saved him. It was a very sudden onset due to a major operation in September and he has not had time to accept or understand the disease. We are receiving good care from our Neurologist but he has been suffering from insomnia (which we have I hope under control now) and the last three weeks depression. We have reached out and we hope to get some help with this also. We looked into various organic tablets etc with an effort to help the depression which is bad and saw 5-HTP. We are not sure about the effects of this tablet and if it will actually help. Can anyone throw some light on this as is a bit scary. Also can you tell me if balance is effected and occasionally he stumbles. Sorry very new to all of this. Thank you.
Hi Ginger,
Welcome to the forum. Sorry to hear about your husband’s diagnosis. We have lots of information and advice for the recently diagnosed on our website, which you might find useful: https://www.parkinsons.org.uk/information-and-support/newly-diagnosed-parkinsons
We also have plenty of advice and support for carers and family members, which you can find here: https://www.parkinsons.org.uk/information-and-support/caring-someone-parkinsons
You can find information on the different kinds of support available to Parkinson’s patients and their families here: https://www.parkinsons.org.uk/information-and-support/our-support-services
You might also find the following information on treatments and therapies useful: https://www.parkinsons.org.uk/information-and-support/treatments-and-therapies
Finally, we’d also recommend you contact our Helpline team, as they’re able to advise on a wide range of queries and issues affecting Parkinson’s patients. You can reach them via email at [email protected], or call free on 0808 800 0303. Lines are open Monday to Friday from 9am to 7pm, and on Saturday from 10am-2pm.
Hope this helps.
Best wishes,
Owen,
Moderation Team
Have just read your plea for hep. What I noticed was every sentence had ‘we’ not me or I. What a lucky man. You two are going to fight this together, that alone will give him strength.
Fortunately, I don’t suffer from depression, I have the odd day when I feel sorry for myself. I have a loving, husband too and I know it gives me strength to fight Parky.
May I suggest finding out if there is a gym/exercise class in your area? I have one in mine, and it is really good - we all have PD in varying degrees, we have a laugh, BUT we have our serious time too you mention your husband stumbles well, we learn how to get up should we fall and many other practical things.
As one person put it, we are a special family who are all there for each other. The Physio who takes the class is brilliant, not only does JD (physio) help us with exercise, etc. He seems to have an instinct to see behind the face if anyone is on a downer. He then while not stopping our class, manages to give the person some extra power to fight this thing called Parkinson. I tried other classes before finding this one. You need to find one to suit your person needs and temperament.