We went months without the blood pressure drops. Today out of the blue my MIL had a spell and almost passed out. Luckily I was right there. Poor lady did not remember ever having had one before so it really scared her. She's been in bed now for three hours because she is weak from it. I reassured her that this was not something to get worried over, but I know it threw her for a loop. I'll have to watch her like a hawk and maybe get out the gait belt again just in case.

Yes, you don't want a fall to happen and then have her having sprains or broken bones.

I am sure this won't be a one time thing, so yes your are right you will have to watch carefully, I recently had surgery and my B/P medications were all mixed up due to the surgery and I myself got to feel what these people are going through when their B/P drops suddenly and trust me it is scarry and to an already confused person it must be horrible at least when it happened to me I could understand it !

OMG! I left her for a minute and found her in her closet without her walker. She had already forgotten about her episode. She has had compression fractures in her back so if she falls, it's off to the ER for us. Of course, she has no memory of the compression fractures. It's never easy, is it?

Welcome to my world. We have had the firemen over three times in the last week, picking my husband up off the floor. Love those guys. It is because he goes walking without his walker, just like your mom, although he really isn't that safe WITH his walker.

Usually he and I can manage to get hm up but he is so weak lately that he can't move his body into the positions I need him to be in so that I can help him get up. I cannot lift him at 150 # with a bad back.

There is no advice I can offer you. I am pulling my hair out, too, trying to find a solution to all the falls. If anyone out there has advice....we're listening.

Nan (67) Del (74) Washington state. DX Parkinsons's '99, PDD '10

Eventually they will not be able to walk, which is one of those mixed issues - they are less likely to fall since they can't stand up, but then transferring them is a HUGE issue too, unless the CG is really strong. And, at first they forget they can't stand up or walk and try to, and thus a lot of falls. It's like raising a baby - there are times when you have to keep your eyes on them every min. to prevent accidents. Not easy by any means.

We kept the gait belt on mom at all times, just loosened it when she was in her lift chair. We kept the chair unplugged and reclined so she wasn't able to get up without calling for us. That helped avoid some falls. We have had the compression fractures too and the meds used the surgery causees more mental problems. During the night, we used full length bedrails so she had to call us in order to get up. We also used baby monitors to hear her. Both were very, very helpful.

Unfortuantely (but also a mixed blessing), she grew weaker and is now unable to stand, walk, turn over, or adjust herself in any way in the bed. I still try to get her up once a day by using a hoyer lift, which is a great tool.

Immobility is the downside. Without exercise they grow weaker and more prone to falls. With exercise they can still move and are more prone to falls. With bedrails and lift chairs they try to climb out and are prone to falls. Damned if you do and damned if you don't.

There are so many times I think he will be safer when he cannot move. What a painful choice to make. Poor Del got a lift chair...loved it...got up to sleep in it one night...tried to get out....didn't get the chair all the way down and fell, breaking hs wrist.

The sinemet helps him to move more easily. That makes him safer. The sinemet does a number on his cognition, making his choices more risky.

You love 'em and are awed by the magnitude that this disease has changed their life, and yours, and all of your family. Darn this Lewy.

Nan, we've also had to make the painful choice between more Stalevo=better mobility vs. less Stalevo=fewer hallucinations. We chose mobility. I believe that once my husband loses his mobility [and it's hanging by a mere thread now!], he will lose his will to live. And, as you point out, what mobility they have left keeps their muscles toned. I'm always amazed at how strong his muscles are even now and when he complains that his legs are too weak to walk I point out that his legs are strong but the signals from his brain aren't reaching them to make them work. I'm not sure he fully understands this but I think he likes to know that his muscles are still strong.

About Blood Pressure problems.... My husband (59) has fluctuating blood pressure.... different when he stands up from sitting down.... gets worse when he is hot.... He was on 2 blood pressure meds but now on one and I have to watch it because several of the meds, carbidopa/levadopa included, can drop blood pressure. It seems like it is getting to the point where the parkinson's meds can make the non-parkinsons-related symptoms worse... Cheryl

Dealing with some symptoms definitely requires a balancing acts. I may've posted here a couple of years ago some non-pharmaceutical treatments for OH (orthostatic hypotension). A very important one is water intake.

One thing you can try during the summer months to prevent over-heating is an ice vest.

Sinemet can cause BP to drop. To check out the side effects of any medication, look at a website such as rxlist.com.

Midodrine is very helpful to those with OH; I guess they'd rather have the side effect of supine hypertension in exchange for knowing that they aren't going to faint after eating or when they sit up (or stand up).