Chapter 611 - A Day of Discovery

  Last Thursday and Friday in my memory were the worst most active dyskinetic days for her that I can recall. Once again I went searching for "solutions". There are none. Except for references to Amantadine, also known as Symmetrel which she had taken between September 2018 and March 2019. My notes give no clear explanations of why she began or stopped taking Symmetrel. I assume West Beer prescribed and agreed with ceasing the dose for soon after cessation Exelon 4.5 patches were prescribed "to make her feel better". What my notes do show is that she ramped up beginning with  one Symmetrel on Sunday 30th September 2018  to three on Sunday 14th October 2018 and was only taking two Symmetrel  at cessation on 7th March 2019. She had many hallucinations, bad dreams and talking in her sleep during this period.

In reading the Consumer Medicine Information sheet I found under the heading "To Treat Parkinson's Disease .............Adults over 65 years old: Take only one capsule daily." So why had she once been taking three?

Distressed with the dyskinesia she was suffering I looked in the cupboard where I kept the left over pills she once took prior to Duodopa, not expecting to find any Symmetrel because I had thrown out anything that had exceeded its use by date. There was only a Symmetrel bottle with three tablets in it. So she took one Symmetrel on Friday, Saturday and Sunday . Friday was an "average" day but Saturday I made notes throughout the day saying "No Dysks" but there were some instances on Sunday. Yesterday I asked our GP for a script for Symmetrel to continue with one tablet a day. Today she became very tired and confused during showering so we returned her to bed until 1000, then she finished breakfast before she had her session with M who rings for a chat and to play Trivial Pursuit for an hour each Tuesday. At 1120 her legs were mildly dyskinetic  when she told me she felt like going to sleep. So by 1145 I had her back on the bed where she quickly went to sleep, breathing gently and quietly; Her BP was 135/90 and pulse 71. I am assuming this is an example of a "Zombie Attack" (as I call it) which she periodically suffers and for which she has been admitted to Emergency several times. I remember vividly being told by a doctor on Xmas Day several years ago to "let her sleep before calling the ambulance". So at this stage there is no need for panic, she will continue having a Symmetrel each day and I will advise the neurologist when she sees him at the end of this week.

PS At 1315 she woke, I slid her from the bed onto her wheel chair and she is now eating lunch.