I have had a bad couple of days. Bad headache, chesty cough & runny nose. I got out of bed & bang I collapsed on my bedroom floor banging my nose. I could not move an inch [literally] for about 3-4 hours. My heart was pounding. I managed to crawl to the sitting room window where there is mobile phone reception & I called an ambulance. I was lying on the floor for a further 5 hours, terribly uncomfortable &
I could not move an inch.
When the medics arrived I found I could not walk a step. I was taken to hospital & tested positive for Covid.
Hopefully the Covid has impacted my Parkinson’s & I will recover my walking.
So sorry to read this Steve, neither of us has had Covid yet, and my hwp is fearful of how it may affect symptoms if he does get infected anytime. Hopefully someone will have resssurance to give you soon who has gone through this. We wish you a speedy recovery and hope you have someone who can help you manage in meantime
Hi Steve2, we’re so sorry to hear about your fall. That must have been an extremely scary situation for you, and we’re so sorry you had to go through this. Have you thought about a personal emergency alarm to help you should this happen again? Charities such as Age UK may be able to help you with this, but we would recommend speaking to your GP or Parkinson’s Nurse if you think you would benefit. More information on personal alarms can be found on the Age UK website here.
Wishing you a speedy recovery from both the fall and covid.
Take care and best wishes,
Freya
Parkinson’s UK Moderation Team
Hello Jandc & Freya … Well I have been discharged & am now home about 16 hours after calling the Ambulance. The medics I asked all said the Covid does make our Parkinson’s worse. I still feel as weak as a kitten & have a scratchy cough, but feel a lot better than I did.
I was very relieved to find that it was Covid, it could have been Parkinson’s.
Thank you both for your replies.
Freya I was told a personal alarm costs £2 a week which is a bit stiff for my means.
Hi Steve, My HWP had covid a couple of years ago. It was not very nice for him. Started off with the cold symptoms,cough, aches, etc for a couple of days, then he started vomiting for 4 days, could not keep even water down, could not keep his medication down either so his PD went into massive overdrive in every way. After 4 days of sickness I rang PDUK phone line for advice, as I was worried that he was not keeping any of his parkinson’s medications down and was not able to even keep water down, and a nurse rang us back and advised us to ring 999 if he could not keep his next lot of medication down…the nurse who rang us was very helpful…luckily he managed to keep the next lot of his medication down that night…but it took him about 2 weeks to get back to anything " like normal"…it was alwful to watch how his PD was affected by the covid… Hopefully he won’t get covid again…it certainly affected his parkinson’s massively🙈
Hello Babesbrown … Thanks for your reply. Your post shows the upside of living with someone who can look after them. I spent 4-5 hours lying on my sitting room floor waiting for an ambulance to arrive. I could not move at all, not even 3 feet to lie on a comfy rug. I also had to phone for the ambulance three times. This is a bad strain of Covid.
They categorised me as a C2 on the urgency scale they use. After my third phone call I got upgraded to a C1 [or the other way round]. I felt really annoyed that it had taken so long.
The ambulance medics said that it is dangerous to lie on the cold floor for that long.
Glad to hear you are home now. If you haven’t already, then it might be worth contacting your local council about a personal alarm. Some offer them for free depending on circumstance so it could be worth checking. Totally understand the cost implications, do contact our helpline our adviser may be able to explain options around costs too: 0808 800 0303
It is now 7-10 days since I came down with Covid. My runny nose has stopped running & my chesty cough is better. BUT my Parkinson’s mobility issues are no better / really bad. I seem to be walking like a 90 year old & not a very mobile 90 year old at that. I have come so close to falling over [again].
Still I’ve got a phone consultation with a Cardio consultant or his assistant to look forward to on Wednesday.
Oh & I forgot to say that since I caught Covid I am sleeping better.
