Chapter 113 - Black Things in the Night

I think I mentioned in a recent post that one morning I checked all over, top & bottom, inside & out, the drapes on our bedroom window in search of a large spider she saw there. A couple of mornings ago she told me that she sees spiders on the ceiling every night, yet she knows they are not real because they disappear when she blinks her eyes. Not so the spider she sees on her pill bottle kept on her bedside table for her midnight & 6am meds. That one goes only when she shines her torch on it, the torch I bought her a long time ago now when she was in that clinic down south, when she first had hallucinations due to over-medication. That is hardly the cause now. Perhaps green tea? She has one cup at breakfast now. Her hallucinations remind me of her father's cousin who, in conversation with us in the middle of the day kept referring to a fire raging in trees in the garden outside his house. He was PWP.

She has tolerated well a busy week and the family get-together yesterday. Today we pack the truck to head north to Kevin Kountry (she is disappointed that the country's government changed hands last night) for our embroidery conference. Packing includes taking her special mattress from of the van.

Chapter 112 - The Truth & Anything But the Truth

My apologies to anyone who may have dusted off an old copy of "Murder on the Orient Express" as I did for bed-time reading. Unless my eyelids drooped at the pertinent part, I found no reference to green tea in that woeful plot. My, how who-dunnits have changed in 70 years! As she said, her friends comments, invalid as they were, prompted her to check on the impact of green tea, and large quantities at that, on her well-being. She wonders now whether she may try drinking a little green tea daily, but not before we head north next week to an embroidery conference, about which she has fears anyway without additional complications thrown in.

On Friday she showered & dressed herself. She complained of a "thick" head & a dull ache. Later in the morning she was shaky, her head was strange as if she had slept for a month. She did not go shopping with me when I went to buy food items to take with us to the fruity melodrama out at Spud Town that evening. A large coach collected us & friends at our village hall. We were relieved that she had no difficulty either entering or exiting the coach as she had doubted. She neither ate nor drank during the evening, and delayed her 7pm meds to help her cope with the trip home. I think this was a trial to see how she will adjust to the conference.

Laying in bed Saturday morning revealed more spiders on the ceiling. Large as a hand, many in number, blinking makes them go away. Afterwards she showered & dressed without much difficulty. Then she caused herself a case of "thick" back by doing some washing. The worst washing in my opinion, when I have to strip the beds, hang it all on the line, remove it all before evening dampness, then , should I remember, remake the beds well before bed-time around perhaps 11pm. One of my shudder horror experiences is to shuffle off wearily to a bare mattress needing sheets upon it.

For a couple of hours during the last few days I have given her a tutorial on using our digitising software. Apart from minor difficulties manipulating her track ball she coped well. I am hoping she will be able to stitch an ID badge for herself. Unfortunately, her laptop choked when we became enthused adding too many objects to the design. KISS.

This morning she needed help drying and dressing after a shower. A short time ago she returned to bed, asking me to wake her at 10am.

Chapter 111 - Agatha Christie Solves PD Problem

Perhaps a little too early to acknowledge Agatha Christie's role in our PD puzzles. This is how matters came to a head yesterday. Tuesday night she did not sleep well due to her old problem of her feet not wishing to stay in bed. At 6am she felt she needed to keep her feet pressed to the floor and by 6:30 she was sitting outside in her chair and took 2 Panamax. By 7:30 her shakes had calmed enough for her to shower & dress without my assistance yet by 8:30 she needed to return to bed to sleep. She woke at 10am for her meds. At noon another 2 Panamax to calm the shakes. We had planned some grocery shopping today but her increasing unease and stress prevented that, and the state she was in I did not wish to go on my own. She was unstable on her feet, perspiring around her head and had difficulty rising from her chair. She was feeling much like she did when she had a chocolate binge a few months ago. Around 3pm a friend rang hoping to come over for coffee, but she discouraged her by fibbing that we were about to go shopping. In chatting, the matter of green tea was raised and the friend said "Be careful about how much green tea you drink because it can cause hallucinations etc etc", and referred to the plot of "Murder on the Orient Express". Not having read the book, saw the movie ages ago, I could not comment, but she immediately searched the big library in the sky to find at http://nccam.nih.gov/health/greentea/#cautions where she read

Side Effects and Cautions

• Green tea is safe for most adults when used in moderate amounts.
• Green tea and green tea extracts contain caffeine. Caffeine can cause insomnia, anxiety, irritability, upset stomach, nausea, diarrhea, or frequent urination in some people. Caffeine can also raise blood pressure, and in very high doses, it can cause seizures, delirium, or irregular heart rhythms.
• Green tea contains small amounts of vitamin K, which can make anticoagulant drugs, such as warfarin, less effective.
• Tell your health care providers about any herbA plant or part of a plant used for its flavor, scent, or potential therapeutic properties. Includes flowers, leaves, bark, fruit, seeds, stems, and roots. or dietary supplementA product that contains vitamins, minerals, herbs or other botanicals, amino acids, enzymes, and/or other ingredients intended to supplement the diet. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has special labeling requirements for dietary supplements and treats them as foods, not drugs. you are using, including green tea. This helps to ensure safe and coordinated care.

Now since I was giving her at least 3 large mugs of green tea each day for the past month then perhaps she was overdosed with caffeine. When I mentioned the green tea to her caring physician a week ago he made no comment. Any way, green tea is now off the menu. It will be interesting to see the outcome.

Late yesterday afternoon she was very sweaty, stressed, aggravated, unable to sit in one position in her chair for long. By 7:30pm after a light meal she became calmer and was able to rise from her chair with a little difficulty. She was too wobbly on her feet, her balance too poor, so at 8pm I went shopping on my own for half an hour. When I returned she said the tremors were easing but a short time later she had to call me on the CB to help her out of her chair. She was reading and shaking until 11:30pm when she went to bed. Once there she needed help to get up from a sitting position. Her head was very hot yet her arms & legs were cool. She had me remove the doona, only having a sheet cover her, although later while I slept she got up & pulled the doona over her.

This morning she was up following her 6am meds, unable to keep her feet in bed, sat in her chair to where I brought her breakfast. Then after 8am she showered & dressed herself. She says she is feeling better.

I went to sleep last night reading Agatha Christie's famous novel without reaching any mention of green tea.

Chapter 110 - Going Down the Other Side

The seasons are changing again in our little world of PD. This morning, dripping wet after a shower, she called me to dry her. I had her grasp the fireman's pole up high so that she stood upright. Then I helped her to the bedroom where I pulled on her undies & jeans while she was seated on the side of the bed. And clipped her bra. She managed her shirt & slip-on shoes. "I had a bad night" she said "My feet wouldn't stay in bed." Seems a long time since she said that. KYB day and she skipped attending.

Analysis time.

We have not been walking down at the park.

Last Saturday we attended a matinee performance by a local theatre group (our local GP always has a prominent role) of "Pirates of Penzance". I had bought tickets for ourselves & friends in the front row, my seating preference, but also to easily position her director's chair she prefers for comfort & stability. The theatre is within the grounds of our local but defunct mental asylum. She mentioned later that the performance caused her stress when her tremors failed to synchronise with the music from the orchestra pit (directly in front of us), instead becoming irregular & uncomfortable for her (more than usual). Also, being in the front row of seats in her own chair placed her on display, contributing to her stress. In re-checking my notes I recorded that she was very shaky after her shower Saturday morning and requested the TENS machine on her lower back.

My cousin who lives in the little "town" (a handful of houses, pub, a couple of defunct churches, a restaurant in a converted mill and a recently opened country cafe) a few kms beyond the spud growing town had called me to remind me that her country garden was on display over the weekend, that her dear 90 something mother was visiting. Sunday was a perfect day for an excursion out there with friends. We sat for quite awhile beneath the shade of a garden umbrella while we had a light lunch at the country cafe. She delayed the meds, usually taken at 2pm, to 2:45pm to avoid the protein of lunch. After lunch we crossed the street to view the cousin's garden; well I chatted to my cousin's mother, our friends strolled the garden and she sat comfortably on a garden seat.

Yesterday I was involved in an embroidery project then entertained by for most of the afternoon by a visiting friend from the other side of our village, so I failed to note any problems.

Our bedtimes have drifted closer to midnight. I have not forced green tea upon her as often as I had.

I am concerned for her next Friday night. I bought tickets for a fruity melodrama production out at the spud growing town, transport by a local bus hired for the occasion. Those productions are always noisy, crowded, and everyone takes heaps of food & any other BYO items to consume between acts. Maybe we should not go.

An added note. After showering & dressing herself Monday last week she called me that a large tarantula was above the bedroom curtain. I got up on some steps, looked all over the curtains, brushed the curtains inside & out without finding any hairy monster. She said when halucinating more than one spider is seen. I don't know. Later that day she was very shaky and her balance was poor. Perhaps the next morning, I forgot to note, she told me she saw & stomped on a spider in the bathroom. Later I found a large dead sugar ant on the bathroom floor. When I showed it to her she thought that was what she saw without glasses .